Security Basics mailing list archives
RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality?
From: "David Gillett" <gillettdavid () fhda edu>
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2006 16:40:46 -0800
There has always been a conflict in my mind that one who persues Forensics needs to first be a Security/IT type, I have seen where this looks to be true and where it does not, perhaps someone can comment on that.
There are at least two common definitions of "Computer Forensics", which *do* overlap. Undoubtedly, some of the sources you've seen are using one and some another. 1. Investigation of Computer Security Incidents A lot of this is recognizing what's abnormal and figuring out how it came about. Obviously, someone without an IT background is going to be ill-equipped for this. 2. Recovering Evidence from Computer Systems This is all about being able to testify, as necessary, at termination hearings, lawsuits, and even criminal trials, as to things like standard procedures, sanitary methods, chain of custody, and the like. Detailed IT knowledge is helpful, but is more essential to tool authors than to tool users. Although the evidence is stored in a digital information system, the acts of which it provides evidence need not involve any violation of computer security, but are more often evidence of fraud, infidelity, or other sorts of non-computer malfeasance. Certifications come in both flavors, too. My impression is that the particular certs you've listed are attempting to certify expertise under the first definition; under the second, courts have decided to accept evidence retrieved by a few specific tools *when used by a vendor- certified operator*, and so each tool has its vendor certification program. (Jobs in the second category have so far mostly been with law enforcement and prosecutorial agencies, although I expect that at some point there will begin to be a market for these skills on the defendant side as well.) To those who use the second definition, activities under the first definition are a subset of "Incident Response", and you may find it easier to get into that general field and then specialize in the particular aspect that interests you, than to try to go directly into specialization. David Gillett
-----Original Message----- From: listbounce () securityfocus com [mailto:listbounce () securityfocus com] On Behalf Of reapersoft () gmail com Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 5:04 AM To: security-basics () securityfocus com Subject: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? Hello, I am a software engineer working in the VoIP space. I am looking to change my career path and get into Computer Forensics. Without any experience its going to be a tough road but I believe my troubleshooting skills and software experience can help. My troubleshooting ability can be valuable on the investigation side of things, I generally will "chew" on a problem until its solved or at least until I have another way to debug it and gather more information. My programming skills can come in handy for gathering information during an investigation when its a network intrusion or for malware analysis, at least this is my reasoning. Some things I am doing now is reading books (File System Forensic Analysis, Real Digital Forensic etc...) and listening to relevant podcasts but that only takes one so far. My other thought is to get one of the many certifications out there so that when I attempt to gain employment I am at least showing some initiative and not just a passing interest in the field. Spending some of my own money shows a committment to my goal. There has always been a conflict in my mind that one who persues Forensics needs to first be a Security/IT type, I have seen where this looks to be true and where it does not, perhaps someone can comment on that. I am looking for opinions on what certifications I might spend my money on. Should I go with a security cert, a pure forensics cert, some combination of both or neither. Some of the Forensic specific certs I have been evaluating are the SANS GCFA and ISFCE CCE. I have posted this to the SecurityFocus Forensics list but it was rejected because it was off topic. I did however get some good feedback from the lists' moderator, thanks for that! I wish to get some more feedback from others so hopefully the Basics list is the place to post. In a nutshell: Can one get into the field of Computer Forensics thru self study and getting a certification or is it such a closed field that I should look elsewhere for a career change and not waste my time/money? Is the field primarily based on experience and not certs? Any and all opinions are welcome. Thanks in advance, MH -------------------------------------------------------------- ------------- This list is sponsored by: ByteCrusher Detect Malicious Web Content and Exploits in Real-Time. Anti-Virus engines can't detect unknown or new threats. LinkScanner can. Web surfing just became a whole lot safer. http://www.explabs.com/staging/promotions/xern_lspro.asp?loc=s fmaildetect -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------
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Current thread:
- Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? reapersoft (Dec 06)
- RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? David Gillett (Dec 07)
- RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? Paula McPherson (Dec 08)
- RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? David Gillett (Dec 12)
- RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? Paula McPherson (Dec 08)
- Re: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? Kurt Buff (Dec 07)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- Re: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? reapersoft (Dec 08)
- Re: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? reapersoft (Dec 12)
- Re: RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? qxlr (Dec 13)
- RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? Justin Ross (Dec 13)
- RE: Is a career change to Computer Forensics fantasy or can it be reality? David Gillett (Dec 07)