Computer forensics program builds ranks of cyber investigators

Albert Gonzalez, the man accused of pulling off the largest American data heist to date, acquired a portion of his breathtakingly colossal bounty-more than 130 million credit card numbers-while cruising the sunny streets of Miami, hacking into the wireless networks of supermarket and clothing retailers.

Hackers less sophisticated than Gonzalez operate everywhere, wreaking damage on a smaller, albeit no less serious, scale.

Digital forensics expert Brett Shavers fights hackers on the front lines of cyber crime in the Seattle-Tacoma region. Shavers will teach a winter-term course on Computer Forensics Tools and Process as part of the Computer Forensics Certificate program offered by the University of Washington Tacoma KeyBank Professional Development Center. The fall term course, Law and Computer Forensics, will be taught by Jodilyn Erikson-Muldrew, an attorney with the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorney's office and instructor for the FBI's Computer Analysis Response Team Moot Court. The program begins Oct. 6; students earning the certificate must successfully complete a series of three courses over nine months. Classes will be held Tuesday evenings, 7-10 p.m., on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.

Participants will be instructed on the basics of civil and criminal litigation, while exploring the limitations and potentials of forensics analysis. They will gain an understanding of how digital evidence can be combined with other resources to effect a successful investigation, and learn about tools and processes to assist in competent evidence gathering, both in the field and in the lab.

While not every investigation leads to the indictment of a criminal kingpin, there is no shortage of rewarding work in computer forensics. Shavers, a court-appointed special master in computer forensics who has worked on numerous criminal investigations, notes, "The field of digital forensics, whether it is in the civil or criminal arena, places the forensic examiner in the middle of some of the most notable and important cases today. The excitement of finding a key piece of evidence that can make or break a case is something you won't find anywhere else."

For more information and to apply, visit the University of Washington Tacoma KeyBank Professional Development Center's website, or call 253-692-4618.