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Audio Transcript

Mollie Halpern: The FBI will release training courses designed to teach the country’s local and state law enforcement about methods specifically used in cyber investigations.

The FBI Cyber Investigator Certification Program aims to fill the gap of affordable and effective cyber training for beginner to advanced local and state cyber detectives.

Supervisory Special Agent James McDonald says the training is critical because today’s crime scenes have an increasing amount of digital evidence.

James McDonald: Really, it’s involved in every crime we do now.

Halpern: The online, self-paced, free training engages users through real-life scenarios involving…

McDonald: …four of the most common cases that investigators see all the time: digital harassment, child enticement, online fraud, and identify theft.

Halpern: The program’s initial course for first responders is already online. About 5,000 students have taken it.

The course is a result of expertise of the FBI’s Cyber Division, Carnegie Mellon University, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Three additional courses for beginner to intermediate levels will become available by the beginning of 2017.

McDonald says development for an advanced course is also underway.

McDonald: So now we’re talking specific cyber cases that maybe take a little more technical ability. So we’re looking at intrusions; hacking into different systems out there; maybe malware and viruses, ransomware; how to try to reverse engineer and see who is actually doing this; maybe some forensics. So we’re already looking at the next phase of the program.

Halpern: The courses are available to law enforcement professionals who have a Law Enforcement Enterprise Portal, or LEEP, account. For information about LEEP, call (888) 334-4536. Thanks for listening to Inside the FBI. I’m Mollie Halpern of the Bureau.