Listening to the speaker describe how he came into the field of digital forensics, I was impressed by how much this field is essentially similar to that of the social sciences. Digital forensics isn’t merely a matter of technical skill—it’s more a matter of understanding human nature, human behavior, human social structures, human organizational dynamics. The speaker discussed how much of his work isn’t merelyabout recovering digital evidence but being a diplomat where secrecy, trust, and human fallibility are of priority concern. It all comports with basic social science theory such as how behaviors are influenced by environments, where abuse takes place in multifaceted social structures, like a workplace setting.

I also appreciated that he came to a career in digital forensics from abackground in accounting. His story shows how careers are sofrequently shaped by random opportunities as well as passion, asopposed to a linear academic route. His ability to be adaptable, spot an opportunity, and learn on the fly demonstrates how transferable skills of critical thinking, communication, and knowledge of group dynamicsare applicable to this field—all at the core of the social sciences. Digital forensic examiners, like social scientists, are forced to read evidence in context, pose the right questions, and think critically about what human decisions and behaviors produced digital artifacts. Overall, the speaker’s story reminded me again that cybersecurity and forensicscience are not technical endeavors per se—but are actually aboutknowledge of society and people.