- Digital Forensics Certification Training for the Department of Homeland Security and State and Local Law Enforcement
- Project Year:
2019
- REU Student (s):
Hannah Fell | Westminster College PA
- Student 1 Institution:
Westminster College
- Project Mentor:
Christie Nelson
- Project Mentor Area:
Masters of Business and Science in Analytics and CCICADA
- Project Abstract:
Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science involving the recovery and investigation of data from digital devices ("Law Technology" 2018). The increase in cyberattacks and the wide-spread use of technology across the nation has made digital forensics an important component of the criminal justice system. To help avoid challenges when recovering data, digital forensics professionals should be properly trained and receive relevant certifications. The purpose of this project was to analyze digital forensics training and certification requirements for the Department of Homeland Security investigative units and State and Local Law Enforcement, work with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) to identify opportunities and gaps in digital forensics training, and recommend digital forensics training and certification pathways to standardize training and certification across all of Homeland Security. Two analyses were completed regarding the cybersecurity, digital forensics, cyber forensics, and computer forensics fields to address this problem. The first was a labor analysis focusing on the number of job openings, job titles, certifications, specialized skills, and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) skills. The second was a course training analysis, which includes a comparison of the cost, proficiency level, duration, investigation step applicability, forensic category, and delivery method of each course. This is an ongoing project, but perhaps the discoveries from the analyses will contribute to the Criminal Investigations Network Analysis (CINA) project team's research regarding the certification and training requirements for the Department of Homeland Security and State and Local Law enforcement for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC).
