What would a Very Online version of James Bond be like? Perhaps he’d be a cybercrime special agent, like the people who work at the US government’s Cyber Crimes Center. To find out what it takes to become a cybersecurity investigator and what the job entails, I spoke to Mike Prado, deputy assistant director of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Investigations Unit.
What Does a Cyber Security Investigator Do?
At HSI’s Cyber Crimes Center, different career paths require different skill sets. Special agents, computer forensics analysts, and intelligence analysts work to stop cryptojacking, cyber espionage, exploitation, extortion plots, phishing schemes, and even cases involving human trafficking. There are also cybersecurity specialists who focus on detecting and disrupting plots involving malware or ransomware.
The Cyber Crimes Center also handles online investigations involving some of society’s most vulnerable members: Children. HSI runs the Human Exploitation Rescue Operation (HERO) program, a paid internship that provides cyber forensic training for disabled veterans, many of whom have experience working with the US military’s Special Forces units. After completing the HERO internship, which consists of 13 weeks of training and 9 months of service, you are eligible for a job assisting an HSI special agent.
The job requires the assistants to identify and preserve disturbing media, including images and videos depicting “child sexual abuse and exploitation material.” Prado said that one of the choke points in those kinds of investigations is processing sensitive data, so assistance from the HERO workers allows the department to take on more cases.
POV: You’re a Cyber Crime Special Agent
Not every cyber crime-fighting career with the HSI requires a first-hand view of humanity’s worst offenders. “The beauty of this job is that every day is different,” said Prado, noting that some jobs at the Cyber Crime Center consist of “regular office-type work that is necessary to the bureaucracy of the federal government.” At the same time, other roles may require an agent to execute a search warrant in person, rescue a child from a possibly dangerous situation in a home, or travel around the world to work alongside law enforcement agencies in other countries on international investigations.
Keeping up with all the latest crimes and schemes running rampant online can be a job in itself. That’s why the cybercrime investigators at HSI train several times a year to stay on top of the ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape. The agents also get outside help, as Prado mentioned that the government works closely with representatives from the private tech industry to stay on top of technology trends.
Of course, if you’re a special agent, you may need to be able to handle yourself offline, too. According to Prado, in addition to regular cybersecurity courses, special agents undergo basic criminal investigative training exercises, including “all of the defensive tactics, firearms training that you would expect a federal law enforcement officer to receive.”
How Cybercriminals Get Caught
Like many people, I used to fall asleep to episodes of Law and Order after a long day of work. I’m familiar with the moment when the detectives walk around a crime scene, and a series of seemingly disparate clues lead them straight to the perpetrators. Prado said that though cybercrime scenes are a little different, the process is fairly similar to traditional law enforcement investigations.
“We work both in the physical world and the digital cyber environment, and a lot of the same principles apply to both,” said Prado. “Working in an undercover capacity, or diving into the darkest corners of the dark web and looking at things that are happening in real-time–those are all crime scenes.”
Cybercriminals get caught in many different ways, but that’s because HSI has the full resources of the government, and its activities reach beyond America’s shores. There are 237 field offices in the US and 90 worldwide.
Fighting Crime in the Age of AI
Prado told me that, like everyone else, his department is coping with the sudden rise of generative AI tools flooding app stores. In just the past year, we’ve seen an uptick in reports of scams involving AI-generated content, including tax scammers using generative AI to fool people who are trying to file their returns, criminals using AI tools to create fake vacation listings, and AI-generated profiles on dating sites luring victims to scammers.
While AI poses a new threat and headache for Prado’s agents, the HSI is adopting AI tools, too. Prado said HSI’s in-house AI models will comply with the President’s executive order on the use of artificial intelligence. He elaborated that HSI’s policy for AI-assisted work “always keeps a criminal investigator or an analyst in the loop to make sure that no decisions are being made solely off of AI-generated processes.”
He gave a common example: Using AI to scan a database for specific information. Prado added, “We’re looking at all ways to leverage this new technology in a responsible manner, but we are seeing criminals use it much more frequently now, and we’re addressing that as best we can.”
Can You Become a Cybercrime Investigator?
Cybersecurity is a fast-growing industry, and given the complexity of the crimes and scams security analysts have to deal with, a lot of experience and training is necessary for jobs in the industry. Many private companies, such as Microsoft, have been stepping up their recruiting efforts at colleges and universities.
HSI representatives attend job fairs to find talented applicants. Current and former agents have diverse backgrounds, coming from careers in law enforcement, the military, and the private sector. Prado also mentioned, in a good-natured way, that many private companies and other government agencies now employ former HSI agents, since they’re trained to deal with cybercrimes.
So, what is the US Department of Homeland Security looking for in a candidate? Prado said that he’s looking for people with patriotism and a genuine interest and enthusiasm for upholding the law, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a degree or work experience in information security or computer science. And don’t worry, I asked: If you’re a former hacker with a clean record, you’re OK in his book, too.
“Anyone who is reading your site and who is interested in [cybersecurity] will have no shortage of options for a career. And obviously if he or she’s interested in a career in federal law enforcement, I would encourage them to look very, very hard at HSI,” said Prado.
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About Kim Key
Senior Security Analyst
