jameschristy_jan05.pngHave you ever wondered what it would be like to work for the federal government and spend all of your time getting paid to do the cool things you love? Imagine stopping hackers before they break into the CIA’s network. Or breaking the encryption code just seconds before Al-Qaeda executes another terrorist plot so that you can send your men in and save the day!

I’m not sure if this is what Special Agent Jim Christy’s life is like, but after reading CSI: TCP/IP, I sure get the impression that this is no ordinary person.

In his career, he has done some pretty amazing stuff. For example:

As computers and networks became common, Christy’s caseload grew. In 1991, a murder suspect on an Air Force base chopped up two floppy disks. Investigators found 23 pieces, which Christy took to forensic specialists in law enforcement and intelligence. They said they couldn’t help. Eventually, he and a deputy put the fragments together with tape and a magnifying glass; he recovered about 95 percent of the data, practically handing the military prosecutor a conviction. (Will he reveal who said it couldn’t be done? “No way,” Christy says. “I have to work with those agencies.”) That same year, Christy founded his digital forensics lab, which was really just him and another guy reading confiscated hard drives with scavenged equipment at Bolling Air Force Base in DC. But the Pentagon started to see their value, and in 1998, Christy’s lab was moved from the Air Force to the Department of Defense.

I think that Mr. Christy is one of the true pioneers in computer security and forensics. I consider him to be someone worth emulating and I can only hope to do a fraction of what he has accomplished.

If you want more information about Jim, you can try some of the following links:

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Tim Fehlman