Cyber Cops: A New Occupation

Individuals who are enthusiastic about fighting crime, here is an opportunity for them. Cyber security and forensics are two new fields that revolve around different sides of justice and prepare an individual for spending their life protecting others. A degree in cyber security can open doors to a successful career as computer analyst for a police department, forensic analyst and other law enforcement agencies. Doors to other network security jobs are also opened with this degree.

There has been a startling rise in attacks in Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Attacks in PSAPs were previously handled by IT technicians. With the rise in attacks, there is a need for frontline security to prevent the disruption of vital networks. Cyber security is needed more than ever before.

The blend of law enforcement and information technology will create the perfect cyber cop. A typical cyber officer would have a degree in information networking and technology with a minor in justice studies. This allows cyber officers to protect and maintain law enforcement database that contains information which is of vital importance.

As mentioned earlier, cyber cops will also be working on securing PSAPs from potential attacks. There has been dozens of attacks recently and each has posed its own unique threat. Once such attack is the Denial-of-Service (known as DoS), which makes a network useless. Once this happens, the citizens are unable to get legitimate help from authorities. This puts the state network in temporary suspension preventing requests from reaching authorities.

Another attack is the Telephony-Denial-of-Service (known as TDoS). The attack is similar to a standard DoS but this is targeted to telephone lines and other voice systems. The most recent criminal activities were conducted through TDoS where criminals forced agencies to pay them. On refusal, the cyber criminals threatened the agencies to compromise all telephone lines making it impossible to reach the police department.

Criminals asked for money from agencies which they believed were owned to them by the government. This was the recent TDoS attack where all telephone lines were at risk. The job of the cyber cop would be to prevent such criminal activities in the future.

The increase in the number of these criminal activities in the recent years has led both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to call for cautious and well-trained network analyst and cyber police to enter the field. The expertise that cyber cops will possess will help prevent these activities.

A degree in cyber security is relatively a new field which allows students to specialize in criminal justice studies. The students will receive education on the concepts of technological and operational network security. Cyber security degree is more than just computer science, web development and mathematics. This degree prepares the students for unmatched in-depth study of cyber crimes, cyber criminals and cyber terrorism.

The students getting a degree in cyber crime will also equip them with the skill to identify and stop any intruder in official networks. If there is any threat of intrusion, the cyber cop will identify and stop the threat where it starts. The vital government systems will then stay protected from cyber criminals.

A degree in cyber crime would typically cover the following topics in detail to prepare cyber cops for a successful career:

• Discrete mathematics
• Fundamentals of computer science
• Fundamentals of cyber security
• Web development and telecommunication
• Computer and network security
• Cyber warfare preparation and tactics
• National cyber security and police law
• Operating systems security protocol
• Information assurance
• Ethical hacking and systems defense techniques
• Applied cryptography

Fighting any kind of crime is an interesting field and fighting cyber crime is no different. Enthusiasts looking forward to becoming a cyber cop will have multiple opportunities. Graduates who possess Bachelor of Cyber security can have many opportunities to work in the Department of Homeland Security. The most in-demand positions at present are for computer forensic analysts, cyber security analyst and information security analysts.

The responsibilities of an Information Security Analyst are to measure and implement security measures in an organization’s computer networks and databases. There are many opportunities in business and financial firms for Information Security Analysts. The increased demand in law enforcement is what makes a cyber cop.

Police department for example, would benefit from an Information Security Analyst in multiple ways. An expert who knows about cyber security will understand the common methods used by cyber criminals to hack official systems. The Information Security Analyst will be able to take pre-emptive measures to secure data.

Police departments have criminal records secured in their databases and keeping all the information secure is important for obvious reasons. Cyber criminals are expert in hacking and disabling the systems to wipe the database off from important information. Keeping the data base secured from such criminal activities will help police departments immensely.

Other job opportunities include a Computer Forensic Analyst who works with law enforcement agencies to extract information from storage devices. This information is trivial for solving cases. This job requires a certification in Forensic Computer Examiner as well. The job is about working with agencies and data storing devices that contain invaluable information.

The field of cyber crime is increasing with more legal departments, companies and agencies storing information online. This has made it convenient for officials who are working there. However, it has also created a threat. Cyber criminals are also well trained in hacking and wiping all data off in one go. Cyber cops are in demand to combat such criminals and create a more secured environment for all to operate.