By: Danny Garcia, Senior Director of Certification and Learning Technology | CFCE CCME CCPA CCO
I can look back and say with confidence that I have made a difference in the quality of training programs delivered throughout my tenure for numerous organizations since 2008. However, it was not until I started as a contract trainer with Cellebrite in 2013 that I knew I could make a substantial difference in what is taught in this space. Since joining Cellebrite’s Global Training Division team, I have been part and parcel in identifying, repairing and improving the quality of curriculum and our certification courses.
If you do not know, you do not know!During my career in law enforcement, I attended and participated in over two thousand hours of documented training and conference presentations in the field of digital forensics. I can honestly say I have been in the presence of some of the greatest minds in the world. Unfortunately, I have also witnessed some of the worst, unorganized presentations as well. From the time I became a Certified Police Instructor in the State of Florida back in the 1990’s, I promised myself never to be afraid of saying "I do not know" when asked a question by a student. I also promised myself never to make up an answer – just to have an answer! Finally, I pledge to my students at the commencement of each class that if I did not know the answer to a question, I would do my best to find the answer before departing that day or week.
When I started at Cellebrite, I managed and directed curriculum – an absolute challenge to say the least. If you are one of our customers, you know that our products are updated quite frequently to not only support new device extractions but also to assist in the analysis of data using Physical Analyzer. With so many new updates and capabilities, our team is regularly challenged to keep the curriculum current and relevant. Working closely with our trainers and developers, we were able to write and publish updates to our participant guides multiple times per year.
From the training perspective, because of their outstanding dedication to our mission to train the profession, our forensic trainers discuss and show newly released features and capabilities soon after a release – even when the curriculum is not ready. I salute our entire cadre of real-world practitioners around the world who do what they do, at the level of professionalism they do it in – thank you all for your dedication to the profession!
A short time ago, the curriculum was left in very competent hands, and I am now tasked with the direction of our certification programs and learning management system. Along with some of the brightest minds in the industry serving as subject matter experts, we are reviewing and updating our core competencies in not only our core forensic track but each certification program we offer. The goal is to ensure each is grounded in research and driven by best practices, allowing us to meet quality assurance standards and a peer-review process. We, as a team, are dedicated to this because we want to ensure the highest quality instruction and student learning experience for our customers.
Going through this process will not be simple. However, we have initiated the journey to ensure that every one of our loyal customers, as well as new, current and former students, have access to the best-in-class digital forensics training and certification program in the industry!
About the author:
Danny is the Senior Director of Certification and Learning Technology for Cellebrite where he manages the development and relevance of mobile forensics certification programs. In addition to his prior experience as a digital forensics practitioner and laboratory manager with the Miami-Dade Police Department, Danny is a seasoned instructor of computer and cell phone forensics. Since 2008, he has taught thousands of students in basic-through-advanced level cell phone and computer forensics courses worldwide in English and Spanish.
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