Our cyber world is so rife with threats and breaches that most information security professionals have realized that a compromise is fairly certain at some point. Rather than focus on this bleak reality, the important questions to ask are: After you’ve been breached, what steps will you take to mitigate the damage? And, what will you do to minimize or eliminate the effects of a breach next time around?
In the field of cyber forensics in particular, these concepts are vital to preserving evidence for investigations and prosecutions of criminal cases in a court of law. Digital evidence is entrusted to the experts when presenting to a jury (quite a task, especially when that evidence is digital and cannot be presented in a traditional manner like a gun or a knife), which is why credentials are so important in this industry.
With an anticipated growth rate 3-4 times more rapid than the global economy, cyber forensics is a field in need of global standardization for its most coveted, trusted experts. This type of standard was unprecedented in cyber forensics, so (ISC)2 took this opportunity to professionalize the growing field. As the global leader in certifying and educating information and software security professionals, (ISC)2’s venture into the cyber forensics realm was a natural progression, as forensics is already covered at a high-level under one of the CISSP domains.
(ISC)2 is proud to announce the expert-level Certified Cyber Forensics Professional (CCFPSM) certification to provide a global standard for addressing an experienced cyber forensic practitioner’s competency and professionalism. The CCFP is designed to provide digital forensics employers and the legal community with validation that a digital forensics professional can lead digital investigations that yield complete, accurate and reliable results.
All CCFP candidates must be able to demonstrate capabilities in each of the six CBK domains:
· Legal & Ethical Principles
· Investigations
· Forensic Science
· Digital Forensics
· Application Forensics
· Hybrid & Emerging Technologies
The Legal & Ethical Principles domain can be customized to follow the laws and regulations in any interested country. We are open to adapt it for countries and their government(s) that want this credential as part of their cyber forensics standards.
The Candidate Information Bulletin (CIB) – otherwise known as the exam outline – is a 29-page comprehensive document comprised of references to study materials that candidates should familiarize themselves with in advance of sitting for the examination. It’s quite an impressive outline.
This certification is intended for the industry’s top experts and the examination is very challenging. As the Executive Director for (ISC)2, I’m pleased that our organization has created a global standard of excellence for the cyber forensics field simply because a gap existed in the industry for a professional-level certification. I look forward to your thoughts and feedback on the CCFP credential.
The first examinations will be hosted in the United States and Korea beginning September 25, 2013. More information is available at: https://www.isc2.org/ccfp/Default.aspx.