National Computer Forensics Institute

Is going to be located in Hoover Alabama. Not exactly what comes to mind when you think of computer forensics nexus, but I think there is an airport in nearby Birmingham. It will be a joint venture between the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service. They will train the nation’s law enforcement teams to perform computer forensics. It is due to open in July.

From Govtech.net here:

Alabama Governor Bob Riley officially announced today that the nation’s first National Computer Forensics Institute will be located in Hoover. Riley was joined in this announcement by U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, Senator Jeff Sessions, and Congressman Spencer Bachus.

“With the ever-increasing prevalence of cyber crimes such as identity theft, computer hacking and online child pornography, it is absolutely essential that we equip our law enforcement personnel with the best training and equipment available,” said Riley. “This center will make Alabama the nation’s leader in training our local, state and federal law enforcement to combat high-tech crimes. It will become America’s institution of excellence in the fight against cyber crimes.”

U.S. Secret Service agents will teach computer forensics and digital evidence to national, state and local law enforcement at the Center. These agents are in the field and understand the curriculum from a law enforcement perspective.

There were two common complaints among law enforcement in the months after 9/11 when it came to dealing with DHS and US-CERT- Lack of funds and lack of training. Funds eventually came, but training has been conducted mostly through seminars, certification training and a few select training centers. This is a good step in the right direction to fight computer crime.