Undergraduate Certificate in Digital Forensics

Overview

An undergraduate student, regardless of field of study, may enroll in the Certificate of Digital Forensics. This program will help prepare the next generation of IT professionals to fill positions in the Law Enforcement, at the corporate level anything from forensic to incident response, data misuse, hacking, intrusion and theft, for the Government including the Department of Defense, the National Security Agency, and the Department of Energy, and Military Investigations.  The Undergraduate Certificate in Digital Forensics is offered by the American Public University.

It prepares the student to seek entry to mid-level career positions such as: 

• Computer/Digital Forensics Examiner, Forensic Analyst, Computer Forensics Analyst, Forensics Systems Analyst, Forensics System Engineer, Digital Forensics Engineer, IT Forensics Manager, Multi-media Exploitation Specialist, Information Systems Analyst, Information Systems Operations Analyst, Information Assurance Engineer, Information Security Crime Investigator, Computer Crime Investigator, Cyber Forensics Analyst, Cyber Ninja, Cyber Athlete, and Cyber Gladiator. Program graduates will know through various tools, techniques, and methods, how to properly acquire and collect evidence for use in legal proceedings for criminal or civil forensics requirements, present rules of evidence, and maintain integrity of the chain of custody.

Upon completion of this program, the student will be able to:

• Examine common incident response procedures via basic computer investigation processes and a good computer forensics lab for the development of investigative reports following first responder procedures.
• Investigate forensics of wireless network attacks, both caused by mobile and wireless peripheral devices, then evaluate security and access procedures within wireless Internet use subject search warrants and chain of custody in a forensic investigation.
• Explore web attacks, router forensics, e-mail tracking techniques, e-mail crime, and network forensics through investigation logs.
• Discuss corporate espionage and prevention techniques and computer-related crimes, such as sexual harassment and child pornography and the law.
• Analyze image files using forensic processes, recovered files on deleted partitions, data acquisition and duplication procedures, and steganography tools to create a forensic investigation case.
• Analyze file systems, hard disks, various types of digital media, tools, and applications that utilize password cracking on various operating systems.

Accreditation

American Public University is part of the American Public University System (APUS), which is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). The HLC accredits degree-granting institutions located in a 19-state region, and is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).