Digital Forensics Certificate at GSU

Computer crimes and cybercrimes are on the rise with more occupations requiring the use of computers and more people conducting business online.  In order to combat and investigate such crimes, digital forensic specialists are needed.  Law enforcement and government agencies, organizations and companies all require digital forensics professionals to better protect digital assets and to investigate cybercrime.  

At Governors State University, our division of Computing, Mathematics and Technology offers a Digital Forensics Certificate designed for full or part-time undergraduate and graduate students. This certificate program will provide you with theoretical and practical knowledge in digital forensics, which is the fastest growing segment of computer security. 

To get your certificate, you must successfully complete challenging courses as well as the prerequisite, Computer Science Workshop: Digital Forensics Preparation or its equivalent.  Students are able to take courses each semester and can complete the program in as short as two terms.  The courses include Digital Forensics, Contemporary Issues in Digital Forensics, Special Topics in Information Security, and Special Topics in Digital Forensics and required prerequisite knowledge or courses. 

The job of a digital forensic investigator is to recover, analyze and present data from computers for use in investigations or as evidence.  Investigators use their skills to determine the details behind an intrusion into a computer system and are experienced in recovering data from encrypted or erased files.  In addition they have the ability to recover emails, website logs, and deleted passwords. 

To illustrate the growing need for digital forensic investigators, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received its 3 millionth complaint in May 2014 with overall dollar losses exceeding 2 billion dollars.  The majority of reported cases involved some type of fraud and financial loss due to cybercrimes.  Source: "May 2014 Public Announcement," Internet Crime Complaint Center.

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