What Does a Digital Forensic Investigator Do?
Modern criminals leave digital footprints just as they would leave DNA at crime scenes. These digital traces have helped solve major investigations: Evidence uncovered on Dr. Conrad Murray’s iPhone and computer proved he authorized the lethal doses of prescription drugs that led to Michael Jackson’s death. Metadata discovered on a floppy disk sent by the BTK killer revealed his identity. Data recovered from an internet-enabled pacemaker implicated Ross Compton for insurance fraud. A nearly five-year investigation ended a credit card chargeback scheme that impacted more than 4.3 million cardholders across 193 countries.
Whether you’re a recent high school graduate or a working professional considering a career change, this article will illuminate the roles and responsibilities of digital forensic investigators and offer you a step-by-step guide to entering the field of digital forensics.
What Does a Digital Forensic Investigator Do?
Why Digital Forensics Matters
So, what does a digital forensic investigator do, and why does it matter?
Digital forensics is vital to criminal investigation and prosecution in the modern device-dependent and internet-connected world. Between 2018 and 2024, cybercrimes nearly doubled, making digital forensics essential to these investigations. As a result, the digital forensics market is projected to expand from a $9.9 billion industry in 2023 to an $18.2 billion industry by 2028. The Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates exceedingly fast job growth, at 29% for information security analysts and 13% for forensic science technicians.
Appearing in an estimated 90% of all criminal investigations, digital evidence is becoming increasingly present and infinitely important in the process of discovering and investigating crimes, convicting criminals, and ensuring criminal justice. Digital forensic investigators ensure the legal admissibility of digital evidence in court by following strict collection and preservation processes and upholding chain-of-custody procedures.
The work of digital forensic investigators occurs simultaneously with incident response efforts rather than after the fact. Digital investigators integrate cybersecurity with forensics, enabling them to collect and preserve evidence while also quickly stopping threats.
Digital forensics has evolved from a niche specialization to an essential component of nearly every criminal investigation today. Whether we’re investigating corporate data theft, online exploitation, or cybercrime, digital evidence tells the story of what happened. Our role as educators is to prepare students not just with technical skills, but with the investigative mindset and ethical framework needed to handle evidence that can change lives and deliver justice for victims.
Core Responsibilities: What a Digital Forensic Investigator Does
From the moment an investigation begins to the accused’s conviction in court, digital forensic investigators are trained to handle a variety of responsibilities that fall within the broad scope of their professional role.
1. Evidence Identification and Acquisition
A digital forensic investigator’s primary objective is to locate and preserve digital evidence. Investigators use legal means under proper authorization to dig deep into troves of digital evidence, sometimes after seizure and sometimes while criminals are actively using their devices to commit crimes.
Starting at the moment of evidence seizure, investigators adhere to strict protocols for maintaining evidence integrity and chronologically documenting the chain of custody by recording who, when, where, and why digital evidence has been handled.
2: Evidence Analysis and Reconstruction
The best evidence is the most complete evidence. Digital forensic investigators use several advanced tools and analytical approaches to bypass protections and decrypt code in order to recover data that has been deleted, hidden, or corrupted. They then use detailed artifact and metadata examination, timeline reconstruction, cross-correlation, and pattern analysis to present evidence in its most complete form possible.
3. Documentation, Reporting, and Expert Testimony
Once they’ve gathered and preserved evidence, digital forensic investigators prepare to present the evidence in court. This involves preparing detailed reports in clear and easily understandable language, maintaining documentation, and serving as expert witnesses who provide testimony in criminal and civil cases or offer guidance in corporate settings.
4. Advisory, Remediation, and Prevention
Digital forensics professionals also often venture beyond the borders of traditional investigation processes to assist with real-time incident response and cybersecurity training in consulting roles within corporate and legal environments. In these types of roles, digital forensics experts work to align incident response with corporate strategy, assess vulnerabilities, and provide training and actionable recommendations to bolster their clients’ defenses against digital threats.
Day-to-Day: What a Typical Day Looks Like
When you imagine a day in the life of a digital forensic investigator, you might picture a rather cinematic scene: a sharply dressed genius breaking into a supervillain’s underground server room, thwarting obstacles, foiling the villain’s evil plans, and maybe falling in love along the way. The job of a digital forensic investigator is exciting, but the day-to-day differs from what we see in the movies.
- Morning Briefing and Case Triage: Upon arriving at the office, investigators review their case assignments, assess urgency, and prioritize work accordingly.
- Evidence Intake and Chain of Custody: With new cases, investigators receive and log evidence, such as cloud credentials and physical devices, while documenting chain of custody for each piece of evidence.
- Device Imaging and Data Preservation: They work with the evidence to create forensic images using specialized tools like FTK, Cellebrite, and EnCase. They take precautions to prevent data tampering while ensuring image accuracy and integrity.
- Forensic Analysis and Artifact Extraction: Investigators also spend time recovering deleted files, browser histories, chat logs, and registry data, looking for indicators of compromise (such as suspicious IP addresses, malware signatures, or unusual network traffic). They then map an attacker’s activity.
- Collaboration and Case Discussion: Investigators work with a team of experienced professionals—including analysts, attorneys, and law enforcement—to interpret their findings and include them in search warrant requests, apply them to security containment, or deliver recommendations to human resources in a corporate setting.
- Documentation and Report Writing: Investigators need to be expert sleuths who keep track of regulations and ethical standards. They also need to be skilled communicators who can translate highly technical information into plain language in order to explain their methodology, findings, results, and recommendations.
- End-of-Day Tasks: Before leaving at the end of the day, investigators physically secure their evidence using backups, encrypted storage, and locked storage.
- Professional Development: The constantly evolving digital landscape requires digital forensic investigators to prioritize continuous learning and professional development. This means making time in a busy schedule for reviewing new forensic tools, emerging threats, and recent case laws.
The work varies wildly—from high-stakes criminal cases to routine internal investigations, across sectors from healthcare to finance. This variability and excitement is a good fit for anyone who loves facing fresh challenges and solving complex problems, doesn’t mind a bit of paperwork, and likes the idea of testifying in court to help serve justice.
Career Path and Work Environments
There are plenty of opportunities within both the corporate sector and government agencies. Whether you want to work for a tech company, a specific government agency, a law firm, or as an independent contractor/consultant, a career in digital forensics opens a variety of potential doors to choose from. The skills you build in digital forensics let you shape your own path, and the good news? There’s no single “right” direction.
Career Progression & Work Settings
Digital forensics offers real career growth. You might start in an entry-level position as a junior investigator, then move into a senior leadership role. You could specialize in a specific type of investigation like mobile forensics or malware analysis, or even shift into management. This field grows with you, in whatever direction interests you the most.
Some possible work settings include law enforcement and government intelligence agencies (such as the FBI, DHS, CIA, and state and local police departments), government regulatory agencies, private consulting and forensic service firms, corporate cybersecurity teams, corporate investigation teams, compliance divisions, insurance companies, legal firms, and eDiscovery vendors. With this many options, you’re not locked into one path.
Salary and Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not track data specifically for digital forensic investigators, but data from related fields within the industry reveal a highly positive outlook.
- Forensic Science Technicians earn a median annual salary of $67,440, with 13% projected job growth between 2024 and 2034.
- Information Security Analysts earn a median annual salary of $124,910, with 29% projected job growth between 2024 and 2034.
How Do I Become a Digital Forensic Investigator?
The path to becoming a digital forensic investigator is created brick by brick, through acquiring core competencies, developing soft skills, and gaining invaluable experience.
Step 1: Earn a Relevant Degree
To land your first digital forensics job, you’ll need at least a bachelor’s degree within a skills-based program in a relevant field. Champlain College’s Bachelor of Science in Digital Forensics program goes beyond a traditional degree by immediately immersing students in real-world digital forensics through the use of industry-standard tools and analytical approaches.
Designated a National Center of Academic Excellence by the National Security Agency, Champlain College’s program meets rigorous standards set by the NSA and federal partners like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of War. Through our courses and curriculum, you’ll build comprehensive foundational knowledge, then specialize in advanced knowledge and techniques that prepare you for real investigative work. You could even gain resume-skills by interning at our Leahy Center for Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity, or apply for an internship at NuHarbor Security at our Lakeside campus as early as your second semester.
Step 2: Build Technical and Investigative Skills
To succeed as a digital forensic investigator, you must build technical expertise, investigative skills, and a strong set of soft skills that help you perform your daily duties while solving complex challenges and collaborating efficiently.
- Technical Skills: Hard skills that support your daily duties include a mastery of operating systems, file systems, computer networking, hardware, programming languages, malware, hacking, encryption and decryption, cloud forensics, and digital forensic tools.
- Analytical and Investigative Skills: Gaining the necessary knowledge and learning to think like an investigator is also vital. You’ll need to develop your legal acumen in addition to evidence collection, handling, and preservation. Plus, investigators must understand data recovery and analysis, and be prepared to participate in active incident response work.
- Soft Skills: Through formal education and experiential learning opportunities, you’ll develop soft skills that matter in any investigation to collaborate with investigators: critical thinking, attention to detail, communication, time management, working under pressure, ethics, and pattern recognition.
Step 3: Earn Industry Certifications
Specializing or advancing in digital forensics often involves obtaining industry certifications. These credentials demonstrate your abilities, opening doors to new and different opportunities.
Some popular certifications for digital forensic investigators include:
- GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA)
- Oxygen Forensic Detective Certification
- Magnet Certified Forensics Examiner AXIOM (MCFE-AXIOM)
- Certified Forensic Computer Examiner (CFCE)
- Certified Computer Examiner (CCE)
- EnCase Certified Examiner (EnCE)
- CompTIA Security+ or CYSA+ (entry-level stepping stones)
Step 4: Gain Professional Experience
When starting your career, gaining real-world experience (through internships, class projects, or independent work) is one of the most valuable steps to take. Having experience under your belt demonstrates confidence and your ability to apply what you’ve learned to real-world situations. At Champlain, students have a unique opportunity to gain early experience through lab-based coursework and access to the Leahy Center for Digital Forensics & Cybersecurity, where they work alongside professionals on real investigations and security challenges.
Step 5: Commit to Continuous Learning
The digital world advances at a breakneck pace, and professionals must keep pace with changing technology, emerging threats, and new investigative methods.
See how this on-campus partnership between Champlain’s Leahy Center and NuHarbor Security is changing the game for cybersecurity students.
Prepare for a Career in Digital Forensics at Champlain College
Designated a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense and Digital Forensics, Champlain College’s Bachelor of Science in Digital Forensics is nationally recognized and designed to prepare students for professional roles as digital forensics investigators. We invite you to learn more about our comprehensive, immersive degree program or to apply to Champlain College today.
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