Where Can I Study Computer Forensics?

Porthos asks: "Like many in the Slashdot community (though not all), I'm kind of bored at work. With tech work, there's always something more interesting than what I'm doing because I only have a few years experience and a Bachelor's degree. I want to go to grad school to study Computer Forensics, but I haven't a clue about where to start. Have any Slashdot readers taken this path? Are there any major universities that cater to this field? I know that some organizations, such as the FBI, have teams dedicated to Computer Forensics, but what is the rest of the forensics job market like?"

Comments

Try UNO

[Zelet]

Information Assurance

The college

The university

Lots of people

[Anonymous Coward]

who study data recovery end up going into computer forensics (that's a huge part of the field).

If you watch enough episodes of The New Detectives, you'll see them figure out how to rescue data off of badly beaten and formatted floppies.

Try Utica

[webscathe]

A friend of mine is finishing up his Economic Crime Investigation (ECI) degree at Utica College, which is an extension of Syracuse University, in western NY (though the weather is horrible out there, always grey). They also have an Economic Crime Management masters degree. I don't know if that's exactly what you're looking for but ECI (or ECM for that matter) is a good place to start if you're looking for a background in criminal investigation, law, computers, and white-collar crime. Granted, from what it looks like here the FBI at least don't seem to concerned with the exact degree you get, a masters helps. Just like anything else, you're going to need experience, start small. But what do I know..

Strong backgrounds

[lake2112]

Like with almost any job, employers are not looking for a degree specifically in computer forensics. I would suggest focusing on CS, especially the areas related to forensics. Also exhibit a strong intrest in criminology and work on the connections between the two by yourself. Good luck.

Right here baby

[MaynardJ]

Yeah, I'm sitting in class at RIT right now. There's a new forensics course starting next month (taught by Troell, who rocks), which will be rolled into the new security/IA degree from GCCIS. There is supposed to be a masters program, starting in the fall. press release here

Wanna get their attention?

[NanoGator]

Send your resume to them on a burnt floppy.

Think of what kind of work you want to do

[Inexile2002]

The company I work for, one of the big 4 accounting firms has a computer forensics group as part of their IT practice. They also work extensively with the forensic accounting teams. Most of the people on the computer forensics teams had related skills and then came in and learned most of what they know on the job.

Depending on what kind of work you're looking to eventually get into, consider trying to get a job at an outfit that already does computer forensics.

Australia...

[RedPhoenix]

Probably a little out of your way, but I've heard that Wollongong University in Australia has a computer security degree that allows a specialisation in forensics.

Don't forget SANS

[patbernier]

I'm surprised that no one has mentionned SANS yet.

A search for "forensics" on their home page brings up a list of many System Forensics tracks held at previous and upcoming conferences.

SANS training is not exactly affordable (unless your employer is paying!), but is well recognized and (in my experience) of excellent quality.

Getting started

[El Volio]

I do some forensics for a large company, though not as much as I'd like. There's a couple of ways to get into it:

• Be a cop. Yeah, it sucks for a few years, but it seems like former law enforcement keeps the fraternity going and it's a lot harder for the rest of us.
• Go to a training course and network (see recent /. poll). I took an Encase course last year; if I had been looking for a job, there were probably several ways I could have gotten one just in the one class.
• Know something that the forensics guys in your company typically don't and offer to help out, if you already have some contact with them. Most of them are fairly lost in Unix or Macintosh environments and could use some assistance from time to time.

I don't know how useful a graduate degree specifically in forensics might be; know what you're doing and have a cert or two and you'll be on your way. Then drop out and hang out your own shingle, but that's for another post...