Hello All and Thank You for your time,

First an introduction:
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I am a Master's student in Computer Engineering and Information Assurance at Iowa State University.  I just completed two Bachelor's degrees in Computer Engineering and Computer Science.  Throughout my 7 years of college I have been involved in computer and network security through both work and student organizations.

As part of my graduate assistantship, I have been assisting in a law-enforcement computer forensics lab and assisting with computer forensics investigations.  I have decided that this is the career that I want to pursue. 

I am planning on graduating in December of this year and would like to work in (or within a couple hours of) the Chicago area.  I would be interested in either the law-enforcement or civilian path.
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Now, the questions:

1) Would obtaining a certification now be particularly helpful in my career search? (As mentioned above, i do have some experience and plan to continue my current work through December.)

2) What are the differences between the certifications? (For example, does CHFI focus more on network intrusion/attack/etc. investigations than the CCE?)

3) Which certification exams can be taken without attending a formal training/boot camp?

4)Which certification would people recommend for my situation/goals?

5) DOES ANYBODY KNOW OF ANY POSSIBLE FUNDING/ASSISTANCE WHICH CAN BE USED TOWARDS TRAINING/CERTIFICATIONS?

6) Any recommendations for networking/career searching to locate careers in the field?


Here are some ideas I have currently.  Your comments are encouraged and welcome.  After 7 years of school (without parental financial support) I really do not have money laying around and being able to avoid additional debt would be ideal. (Thus why question 6, above, could be a huge help).

1) Additional self study and then apply to take the CCE exam.

2) Take a small loan and attend ChicagoCon 2008 for networking opportunities. (Does anyone know if they use interns? I know some other conferences allow students to act as interns (assist with check-in, setup activities, etc.) and attend the conference events for free. If so, who would I contact?)

3) Take a large loan (student loan if possible) and attend ChicagoCon 2008 and take the training for CHFI.  (Does anybody know if there are any prerequisite training/experience/certifications/etc. for this?)

4) Wait until I have an employer and obtain training and certification as they deem fit (and as they will fund).

5) Do both 1) and 2).


Well, if you read this far, I greatly appreciate your time.  Your comments, suggestions, etc. will be very appreciated.

Thank You for your time.

Hey all,
Thanks for the suggestion and for those of you who voted on the survey.  I definitely still welcome more comments, but figured I would pass on my decision (based off of posts in other forums, and discussions with some other computer forensics investigators).

I am going to be heading to ChicagoCon 2008s for the Conference Only portion on Saturday to take in the presentations and hopefully do some networking.  And then I am going to be working on some self-study and applying to take the CCE exam this summer.