Career Paper

• CYSE 201S

The world of Digital Forensic 

Career Paper 

Shekhinah A. Green 

April 7, 2024

Old Dominion University 

Have you ever wondered how law enforcement and attorneys get phone recorders or sneaky text messages in high-profile cases? Well, that’s where a digital forensics investigator comes in. In the cybersecurity field it’s a somewhat hidden job however this fascinating career is displayed in popular crime shows like NCIS and Law and Order and is highly crucial in criminal justice.

What is Digital Forensic?

According to “EC-Council”, “Digital forensics is a branch of forensic science”, mainly focusing on identifying, gathering, processing, analyzing, and reporting any information stored in technology mostly commonly in computers and phones. Digital forensics is a multidisciplinary field that can be utilized in criminal justice and cybersecurity and the people who major in this subject are digital forensic investigators.

What is a digital forensics investigator?

A digital forensics investigator is a professional who specializes in gathering and analyzing information from technology that is used as evidence in legal proceedings. They help solve crimes with evidence they have gathered, the majority being cybercrimes like hacking, identity theft, or fraud.

Social Science, digital forensics, and investigations

This career embodies the latest module on cyber criminology. Cyber criminology is the study of criminal offenses that occur in cyberspace and their physical impact on society. Cybercriminology is key to understanding digital forensics because it supports cyber law. Stopping cyber crimes like hacking, data theft, and white-collar crimes, comprehension of cyber law, and thoroughly analyzing technology, utilizing found material as compelling evidence in cases. Another key concept can be the Overall social behaviors a professional has to master in this field. Communication is an essential skill that applies to every aspect of digital forensics. Communicating through writing, speaking, reporting, and listening transferring information about security risks, cyber attacks, prevention strategies, and, discussing found evidence. In the criminal justice field, digital investigators gather evidence to support victims but they also aim to stop cybercrime in a cybersecurity sense.

Who do they protect and the challenges

 Digital forensics is used to navigate weaknesses in networks and mitigate ways to further protect them. This career is used to protect victims of cybercrimes, evidence to further hold criminals accountable, and systems at risk of cyber attacks. DF(digital forensic) investigators face numerous challenges throughout their careers like rapidly evolving technology. A constant change in technology means that investigators must adapt to this constant transformation and adjust their knowledge and skills. Another challenge can be encryption security. With the increase of encryption in technology and the lack of proper decrypting keys, it becomes strenuous to gather information.

Digital Forensics and Psychology 

Digital forensics incorporates all social sciences however psychology is applied more often in the cybersecurity and criminal justice setting. Psychology is so important in digital forensics because understanding how and why cybercrimes occur and discovering a person’s human factors is the formula for finding the solution to the crime. In compliance with the article “ The Role of Psychology in Digital Forensics,” they explain that “profiling the cyber attacker, understanding organizational vulnerabilities, and understanding data with perspective” are the essential roles of psychology in digital forensics. 

Digital Forensics in Society 

Digital Forensics is extremely vital in society. In criminal justice, they aim to aid legal proceedings with evidence skillfully found in technology which in turn helps victims, in cybersecurity, they investigate cyber threats and find ways to protect systems, and finally in very helpful to corporations and businesses. As specified by the article “The Need for Digital Forensics: Why Digital Forensics is Important?” Digital forensics is very important because it effectively decreases incident response time. This career benefits society widely by how universal it is for protecting computer systems and using their hacking and decryption skills to reveal supporting evidence in cases. 

Credited Sources 
Cybersecurity Exchange (2024, March 6). What is Digital Forensics? EC-Council. https://www.eccouncil.org/cybersecurity-exchange/computer-forensics/what-is-digital-forensics/

Johns , R. A. (2021, August 24). The Role of Psychology in Digital Forensics. Paraben Corporation. https://paraben.com/the-role-of-psychology-in-digital-forensics/

(2023, December 26). The Need for Digital Forensics: Why Digital Forensics is Important?FinancialCrimeAcadamy.https://financialcrimeacademy.org/need-for-digital-forensics/#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20digital%20forensics,to%20the%20incident%20response%20process.

Yalpi, D. (2024, April 1). Conceptualizing Cybersecurity as a Crime – Part 1 [Powerpoint slides (module 12)].