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How to become a digital forensics investigator and fight cybercrime

Learn about a forensics career that gets more important every day.

What do digital and computer forensic experts do?

Computer and digital forensics is the use of analytical and investigative techniques to identify, collect and examine magnetically stored or encoded evidence.

The job of a computer—also called digital—forensic investigator is to dive into an infected or compromised program or software to learn about a digital breach or a hack. They specialize in recovering data from computers used in criminal or corporate breach investigations. Their primary goal is to help law enforcement investigators recover data and trace the source of the breach. They work closely with police, investigators and law enforcement officials to provide the evidence they’ll need to arrest hackers and cyber criminals.

Job duties

The first step in many computer or digital forensics projects is to make an exact duplicate of a hard drive and then run tests on the copy to get as much evidence from it as possible. This often involves retrieving deleted or encrypted documents. Computer forensics experts often find this the most challenging and fun part of their job. They also work on cell phones, tablets and cameras, or any other source of compromised digital information.

Computer forensic experts work in a variety of places including police departments, local and federal government agencies, prosecutors’ offices, law firms, accounting firms, identity protection agencies, banks and other financial institutions and insurance companies. They may also work as contractors and hire their services out to private companies and agencies.

Daily tasks

In a day’s work, they’ll perform such tasks as:

• Gathering evidence 
• Recovering and reconstructing data from damaged or erased hard drives 
• Using forensic software to collect and analyze electronic data 
• Writing investigative reports 
• Reporting findings to law enforcement
• Providing expert testimony about digital evidence 
• Identifying system vulnerabilities 
• Evaluating the breadth of a cyberattack

4 steps to become a digital forensic expert

Computer forensics education, certification and licensure

Most computer forensics investigators learn their trade while working for a law enforcement agency, either as a police officer or a civilian computer forensics expert. Some go into law enforcement specifically to get this training and establish a reputation before moving to the private sector.

To get computer forensics training outside of law enforcement, a computer science, cybersecurity or accounting degree is a good place to start. A computer science degree gives you the technical skills needed, and an accounting degree provides good background knowledge for investigating financial fraud. More and more colleges and universities are offering bachelor’s or master’s degrees in computer forensics.

Because of the growing popularity of this field, many schools now offer bootcamps and certificate programs in computer forensics. These short duration, intensely focused programs are for law enforcement officers, paralegals or others already finished with a degree program, working in a related field and/or involved in investigative work.

Professional certifications

Because they work with rapidly evolving technologies, computer forensics experts never stop training. They continually learn about the latest software programs, operating systems and methods of fraud detection by attending conferences and taking additional computer forensics courses. Professional certifications, such as the ones listed below, are also a great way to advance or expand your knowledge once you’re already working in the field.

Some professional certifications to consider include:

• Certified Computer Examiner (CCE)
• EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE)
• GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA)
• GIAC Certified Forensic Examiner (GCFE)
• GIAC Network Forensic Analyst (GNFA)
• Certified information Privacy Professional (CIPP)
• Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator

There are no licenses specifically for computer forensic investigators, but some states, such as Texas, require them to be licensed private investigators.

What types of tools do computer forensic investigators use?

Tools for digital forensic investigators get more sophisticated by the day—and it’s easy to see why. To catch cyber thieves, an investigator’s tools need to be at least as complex and savvy as the cybercriminal’s. According to Lifars Securityscorecard, many of today’s tools are “wrappers” or one toolkit that contains hundreds of technologies with different functions. Though there are hundreds open source and proprietary sets of tools and applications out there, here are just a couple of examples of state-of-the-art applications and tools used on the job:

Median annual salaries

According to the 2023 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics, computer forensics experts working as private investigators and detectives earn a median annual salary of $49,540. Information security analysts on the other hand, earn a healthy $120,360 annually.

If you practice computer forensics for a police department, your salary will depend on your rank and seniority. The median annual salary for police and sheriffs is $72,280, while forensic scientists earned a median annual salary of $64,940.

Here are salaries for information security analysts and forensic scientists by state:

Job growth and outlook

Computer forensics may be a relatively new but well-established field within criminal justice but with more than 1,400 publicly acknowledged data breaches in 2021 alone, and another 400 not publicly reported, the job growth forecast for experienced digital and computer forensic investigators is much stronger than the national average for all other careers.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics information security analysts can anticipate a 31.5% job growth through 2032 compared to the 5% growth for all other careers combined. Add to the fact that some 422 million individuals in the U.S. alone experienced some form of compromised data in 2021, and you can see why digital and computer forensic investigators and experts should experience a healthy job market for the foreseeable future.

_{Sources: computerforensicsworld.com; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}

Updated: February 21, 2023