And Then There Was A Thursday Night

Okay.

So I was asked to be a member of the Advisory Council for the new Digital Forensics program at Lee College. I responded with a hearty, "Hell Yes".

My responsibilities include course design with the idea being that I, an in-the-trenches Corporate I.T. Guy, would know what a wannabe corporate I.T. drone should know in order to be employable upon graduation.

At last, my chance to head off the n00b syndrome before it happens!

We had our first meeting on Thursday night. It was basically me and a bunch of Education lifers discussing I.T. at a Red Lobster but I came away with some ideas. I will now share these ideas with you guys -- And you don't even have to buy me chicken fingers and Diet Coke (though both are always appreciated).

1. The first course in the program should be an "Intro to" course about digital forensics and security. The students are required to purchase a Lee College USB key in the bookstore. During the course, this key is loaded with encryption software, file restoration programs, anti-virus solutions and basic troubleshooting applications -- All open-source and free. This key (and its associated back ups) will be used until they get their degree and after they enter the workforce, just like I use my open-source loaded key today.

2. The second course is all about the social engineering. I decided the best way for a person to steal information from my current employer would be to show up wearing a Ricoh shirt and claim the HR department called him about a busted printer. The receptionist would give him directions and he could then just stand next to any printer in the building and grab interesting papers as they are produced. There is no patch for human stupidity. Students should know by graduation what to look out for and what to be able to do for fun.

3. We discussed the Gaming department at Lee, which got kicked off last year. Games are big. Good games make money. Addictive games make a ton of money. While none of this has anything to do with Digital Forensics, I did experience a bit of an epiphany:

I'm old enough to be elected President. While I doubt that anyone my age has the sheer capacity for evil to be elected President (these things take time), it is conceivable that someday soon, someone who was born the same year I was born will move his crap into the Oval Office. When that happens, there is a very real possibility that person with his/her finger over "the button" will know, in the very core of his being, how to get 30 lives in Contra. This thought comforts me, and I hope that it comforts you as well.