Get Insight into Computer Forensics from a Professional

I first became interested in computer forensics when my mother bought me my first computer. I spent weeks programming it so it would bounce a ball. I really got interested in computer forensics when I learned that just because you delete something it doesn’t mean it is actually deleted.

In my police department, a few detectives were performing digital forensics and I was fascinated by the idea. I really felt strongly that this was going to be extremely valuable, so I took it upon myself to find computer forensics courses and pay for them myself.

When an opening in Detectives became available, I applied and met the qualifications because of the computer training I had done. Once in the position, I was able to do further computer forensics training.

My work schedule is a 10-hour day, Monday to Thursday. I arrive in the morning and spend approximately 30 minutes scanning local online auctions, message boards and personal ads, which gives me insight into what is going on in the community. This activity may seem wasteful, but it has yielded the recovery of stolen property and even prevented a homicide!

Next, we have a meeting known as “muster” where we learn about the criminal issues of the day. Following this 15-minute meeting, I delve into any priority recovery. Obviously any violent crime against a person is worked on first, followed by financial crimes. 

I may write a search warrant, physically arrest a person, interview suspects or witnesses, or prepare for and testify in court. I may also receive contracts from other agencies that do not have their own computer forensic analyst. 

Once I go home for the evening, I remain on-call for any field questions or emails, but I might have to go back to work for an immediate recovery, such as a homicide.

My favorite part of the job is finding evidence that can confirm or deny that a crime was committed. If it is confirmed, the bad guy goes to jail; if it’s denied, an innocent person is cleared. 

The biggest challenge is trying to keep up with technology. I try to attend computer classes; although, working for a public entity, training funds aren’t always available. 

Then there is the career criminal. The average citizen thinks that we deal with many people who have committed their first crime. The truth is that most of the people we deal with are career criminals. They commit multiple crimes and each time they go to court they learn what their mistakes were and how to avoid them the next time.

As I have indicated, monies are not always available for my training. However, computer forensic detectives are a very cohesive group and offer a wonderful networking system. If I don’t know the answer to a problem, I submit an email or a blog post to the group and they exchange an experience they had on a similar case. There are also federal courses at times. Some of the best computer training I’ve had has been through Microsoft.

Learn to be an investigator and keep an open mind. There are two sides to every story, and people aren’t guilty without evidence.

One of my instructors once said, “I can train anyone to do computer forensics, but I can’t teach you to be an investigator.” This is very true. You must have the thought process to do good investigative work or you won’t be a good computer forensics analyst.

I think the best computer forensics analyst would be someone who has a vast experience in life. Work multiple jobs before becoming a police officer to understand how the real world functions.

Overall, I think that this is a great job. It’s a thrill anytime I recover “deleted” information.