Certification Magazine - October 2007 - (Page 28)

FORENSICS INVESTIGATION AND ETHICAL HACKER CERTIFICATION There are a growing number of forensics investigation and ethical hacker certifications. The following are some of the certification programs now available for these skill sets. CERTIFIED ETHICAL HACKER CERTIFICATION From EC-Council, this credential certifies individuals in the specific network security discipline of ethical hacking from a vendor-neutral perspective. The certification is intended for security officers, auditors, security professionals and site administrators. It’s meant to teach these IT professionals to look for weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and use the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker. COMPUTER HACKING FORENSIC INVESTIGATOR CERTIFICATION Also from EC-Council, this credential certifies individuals in the process of detecting hacking attacks, properly extracting evidence to report the crime and conducting audits to prevent further attacks. It is intended for police and other law enforcement personnel, defense and military personnel, systems administrators, legal professionals, financial professionals and IT managers. CERTIFIED NETWORK DEFENSE ARCHITECT CERTIFICATION Additionally, EC-Council offers the Certified Network Defense Architect (CNDA) certification, which fortifies the application knowledge of security officers, auditors, security professionals, site administrators and anyone who is concerned about the integrity of the network infrastructure. A CNDA is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker. CERTIFIED COMPUTER EXAMINER CERTIFICATION The International Society of Forensic Computer Examiners offers this credential, which provides an uncompromised process for certifying the competency of forensic computer examiners. The certification is available worldwide to both law enforcement and non-law enforcement forensic computer examiners. — Daniel Margolis, dmargolis@certmag.com uses on an as-needed basis. Computer forensic investigators might be required to testify in court to explain their role in the evidence-gathering process and to detail the evidence-recovery procedure used in that case. The need for forensics investigators is becoming very important. With the growth in the general digital forensics area, the need for a good solution for investigators is on the rise. One common trend among law enforcement agencies is that corporations worldwide try not to report any computer abuse to which they might have been subject. Why? According to a recent CSI/FBI report, this is because most of them are concerned that any such report may lead to a leak, and as a result, they might be susceptible to attack from their competitors in the court of public opinion. They are also concerned that the negative publicity might hurt their stock prices. What is the Solution? One possible answer is to hire internal computerhacking forensics investigators. The fact that a corporation has an internal team that is trained and certified to deal with the art of computer forensics will significantly reduce the risk of employees trying to prey on their internal systems. Another benefit is that internally trained and certified personnel will cost a corporation much less than a typical investigation by a consultant. A computer forensic investigator might be called in if the information for which the authorities are looking has been hidden on or erased from a computer. Despite being deleted, the investigator can retrieve all or part of the evidence using specialized recovery programs and the computer’s hard drive. Forensics investigators also can work to crack or decode encryption programs that prevent information stored on the computer from being accessed. This information might be pictures, documents or other sources such as spreadsheets or databases. Computer forensics investigators also must have good working knowledge of computer construction, as well as hard drive processes and data recovery. They have to have a great deal of patience and should be willing to work for long or odd hours to try to recover information from computers that might have 28 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE October 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Certification Magazine - October 2007

Editor's Letter Contents Data Stream Tech Careers Dear Techie Academic Connection Virtual Village Rebooting Your Career Development Inside Certification Forensics Investigators: Cybercrime Fighters Interface Building Your Skills Through Security Tools Ad Index Endtag

Certification Magazine - October 2007

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