Center for Cybersecurity fosters digital forensics training opportunity for law enforcement
PNW’s Center for Cybersecurity facilitated a professional development training for 30 local law enforcement officials in the assessment and processing of digital evidence during March 2024.
Supported by a U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant, the center hosted a four-day training that covered topics concerning Internet of Things (IoT). IoT is a descriptor that captures the wide range of computing devices that have significant processing and connectivity capacities with not only internally-held data, but also the digital transfer of information with different networks. One can think of it as a confluence where physical items, like cell phones, security systems, device cameras, and more support digital ecosystems. These devices can be of interest to law enforcement in the processing of digital evidence.
Over four Fridays, faculty, staff and graduate students with the center led sessions on examining low and high-profile IoT device forensics, database basics, smartphone forensics and analysis of smartphone forensics over digital networks. Participating law enforcement officers were able to join in hands-on activities to better understand how digital evidence and artifacts can first be extracted from consumer-grade technology and then analyzed for telling evidence.
PNW’s Center for Cybersecurity’s core research mission is to improve security and resiliency in cyber systems, develop strategies for mitigating cybersecurity incidents and promote high-quality education for future workforce training. As a designated National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency, the center’s leading researchers serve as subject-area experts who can provide impactful change and learning for local communities grappling with cybersecurity concerns.
“We want to reach out and engage with our community, not only with academia but also industry, and of course, the law enforcement community,” said Michael Tu, professor of Computer Information Technology and director of the Center for Cybersecurity. “It will not only help us to promote PNW, it will also help with the regional law enforcement community. This can foster future collaborations and be applied to other industries and sections as well.”
In addition, since IoT is a contemporary focus area of Cybersecurity research, PNW’s Cybersecurity and Computer Information Technology students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are receiving opportunities in their class curricula and research to be exposed to IoT trends.