LOCAL information and communications technology graduates who have yet to decide on their area of specialty may want to consider computer forensics as a career.
Looking at the increasing number of cybercrime activities that are taking place locally and the fact that many companies are ill prepared to address the issue as well as the number of experts available in this field, computer forensic-related jobs certainly have a bright future.
Computer forensics experts here refer to people who have the skills to use scientific methods and computer technology to collect evidence by way of the digital media to counter any criminal act.
Based on feedback from local computer forensic communities, there are currently not many experts in this field yet as the subject is still new to a lot of people. For companies, the awareness on how to face this computer-age crime is also low.
Currently, there are no major cases of cybercrime involving large amount of losses in Malaysia, but given the expertise developed by cybercriminals, such incidents may just happen any time soon on our shore.
According to a computer forensic expert Mohd Khairuddin Abdullah from HeiTech Padu Berhad, almost 85 per cent of businesses and government agencies worldwide are experiencing increased cybercrime activities ranging from hacking, information theft, industrial espionage, Web page defacement, and intellectual property loss.
What’s surprising is that 71 per cent of the cybercrime activities come from inside the organisation. This shows that the staff themselves are misusing the computers to steal valuable data or help outsiders get access to inside information.
Normally, these cybercriminals get away undetected because companies don’t have the means or expertise to track or trace these people. This would certainly be a job for computer forensics experts.
Demand for such experts is increasing in more advanced countries like Europe and the US where many companies are facing real-time cybercrime activities.
In the UK, for example, computer forensics graduates have been in high demand for jobs with law enforcement since the field first appeared, but that demand is growing even larger as private firms begin recruiting cyber investigators.
Having computer forensics experts in a company is important in handling cybercrime cases because the digital evidence need to be guarded and preserved carefully as it is volatile and can easily be destroyed. Only those trained in computer forensics would have the skills in gathering, analysing, and presenting the needed data in court.
For those interested to venture into this new career option, locally, a number of institutes are starting to offer courses on computer forensics; and perhaps, as companies begin to understand the need for computer forensics experts, the demand for such profession will go up. It’s worth checking out.
