Careers in Computer Forensics by Teague Meyer Terry;

Author:Teague Meyer, Terry;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rosen Publishing Group

Experts man their stations at the Threat Operations Center inside the National Security Agency (NSA) in Fort Mead, Maryland. The NSA is among a number of federal agencies that need digital forensics experts.

Encryption and code breaking are specialties of the NSA (www.nsa.gov). Its Web site has information about preparing for a career with the agency.

Although computer professionals in many agencies are experts in dealing with encryption, cryptology (the study of codes) is the specialty of the NSA. The NSA sponsors a number of educational outreach programs to interest young people in this area of expertise. In 2011, it announced the launch of the NSA CryptoChallenge, a mobile game app available for free through the Apple App Store. The app is designed to educate young people about career opportunities within the NSA by challenging them to decode hundreds of puzzles that test pattern-recognition skills.

Steganography is a method of hiding computer-encoded data within a transmission of unrelated data. This is a bit like using a book with a hidden compartment to hide valuables. Steganography takes advantage of gaps or unused spaces in computer files, filling them with encrypted transmissions. Authorities would see an innocent-looking message, but the intended receiver would understand that the message contained encrypted material to be decoded. In an article in the online magazine Dark Reading, Kelly Jackson Higgins reported on the discovery that a hacking enterprise known as Operation Shady RAT (RAT stands for “Remote Access Trojan,” a type of malware) used steganography to hide malicious code or data behind image files. Computers infected with this RAT were commanded to report back to their control-and-command server. But these commands were concealed as bits in images. What appeared to be a picture was actually a form of malware on the attack.

A form of steganography is actually used to protect against the crime of digital piracy. The same technique may be used to place a secret or disguised identifying characteristic, like a hidden trademark or serial number, in order to protect copyrighted materials such as software or music and video files. This use of stenography is often known as “fingerprinting” or “watermarking.” It is a mark of authenticity, just like the watermarks on currency.

INTELLIGENCE GATHERING AND CYBER WARFARE

The purpose of intelligence gathering is to discover and reveal potential threats to national security in order to prepare for them or render them harmless. Computer security threats are a relatively new phenomenon, but the threat of hostile attacks by enemies or terrorists has been with us for a long time. Intelligence gathering has traditionally been used to prevent physical attacks on national interests and American soil, such as those on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the World Trade Center and Pentagon in 2001.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.