The International Association of Chiefs of Police has partnered with the FBI to provide a free online cyber training program for all local, state, tribal, territorial and federal law enforcers and first responders.
The Cyber Investigator Certification Program features nine modules on software, hardware, the internet and social networks, encryption, legal tools and digital evidence in an effort to train first responders to inspect and secure electronic evidences in a crime scene, the FBI said Oct. 19.
Participants will receive classroom-style lessons from cyber experts from the FBI, Carnegie Mellon University, prosecutors’ offices and other law enforcement agencies and will acquire a course certificate upon completion of the entire training program.
“The goal of the course… is to improve a first responder’s technical knowledge by focusing on best practices in terms of investigative methods specific for cyber investigations,” said Special Agent James McDonald from the cyber training and logistics unit within the FBI’s cyber division.
“The more first responders understand about technology, the less chance there is of errors being made while securing a crime scene involving digital evidence,” he added.
The course’s software session includes primers on metadata, operating systems and cloud, while its hardware deals with specific digital devices, electronic storage and networks.
The digital evidence module is designed to train participants to recognize potential sources of digital evidence, secure a digital device and document a crime scene, while the legal skills training offers lessons on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and search warrants and consent searches for digital evidence.
The agency’s cyber division collaborated with the IACP and cyber experts from the Carnegie Mellon to develop and launch the CICP in October 2015 and has since garnered close to 5000 enrollments.
The FBI and the university are developing four Level 1 cyber training courses on cyber and digital cases for beginning to intermediate-level detectives, as well as three Level 2 training courses on network-based crimes, such as malware, worms and viruses for intermediate to advance detectives.