A Career as a Computer Forensic Investigator
A computer forensic investigator specializes in recovering and analyzing data found on computers in investigations. The information they find is usually evidence and can be used in the prosecution of a criminal. Computer forensic investigators regulate the elements of intrusions into computer systems and recuperate deleted e-mails, passwords, and erased files including text, spreadsheets, datasheets, and pictures.
Some computer forensic investigators start off as police officers or detectives. Police departments, law firms, and the government usually employ computer investigators. The work environment of a computer forensics investigator is wide-ranging and intense and requires patience. This is because they spend most of their time away from their office conducting interviews, reviewing files, and making phone calls.
The typical work day of a computer forensic investigator may include taking computers apart, formulating reports on the information found from the computers, testifying in court about the information or evidence found, and training other investigators about computer crimes and issues. Usually, an investigator works alone, but in some cases he may team up with other professionals to get a specific task done.
A computer forensic investigator should have skills including knowledge of hard drives, processors, networking, encryption, crimes involving computers, data recovery, and computer construction. In some cases, there is no formal educational training required to be a computer forensics investigator but may vary depending on the location of the job and the employee for which the job or position is sought. An associate or bachelor’s degree in police science, computer science, accounting, computer forensics, criminology, or criminal justice is helpful for a person seeking this career. Also, some states require that an investigator be licensed. The states that require no licensure include Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
A computer forensic investigator may consider taking courses that include models of computation, introduction to computer graphics, computer and human values, cyber forensics and hardware, investigations, network security and ethics, and networking and database management systems. The average annual salary for an investigator is about $41,760 with the top and most experience investigators earning approximately $76,640 annually.
| Related News: |
