Contact: Robbie Ward
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State is providing digital forensic capabilities to five new locations around the state.
The university's National Forensic Training Center recently distributed equipment for four mini-laboratories at law enforcement agencies in Adams County, Bay St. Louis, Columbus, Oxford, as well as to a larger lab in Biloxi. The equipment was made available through a U.S. Department of Justice grant.
Created in 2001 with DOJ support, the NFTC provides support for solving and preventing cyber crimes. Its operations include the Cyber Crime Fusion Center in Jackson, which works closely with offices of Attorney General Jim Hood, the Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other federal, state and local agencies.
In each local mini-lab, police or sheriff's department staffs now have a forensic computer, hand-held imaging device and comprehensive software package to assist in investigations. At Biloxi, multiple quantities of equipment going to mini-labs were provided.
Center director Dave Dampier, an MSU associate professor of computer science and engineering, said the departments were among a number submitting proposals. Selections were based on the merits of three criteria: a history of dealing with forensics cases, personnel with sufficient training to use the new equipment and geographic location within the state.
After being established as a focal point for computer information-assurance efforts of the 130-year-old land-grant university, the center expanded its scope to provide critical training for local and state law enforcement officials seeking to thwart cyber-crime attempts.
MSU earlier provided forensics equipment for larger labs in Jackson, Southaven and Starkville, as well as mini-labs in Cleveland, Hattiesburg, Tupelo, and Vicksburg.
"Our goal is to spread labs strategically across the state." Dampier explained, adding, "As a result, the center is making an impact."
Along with meeting local needs, the campus center has become a national forensics training resource through a partnership with the University of Texas at Tyler, California Polytechnic State and St. Cloud (Minn.) State universities, as well as Champlain College in Vermont. MSU has provided these institutions with both the initial forensic course training and equipment to establish their own regional centers.
For more information, visit www.security.cse.msstate.edu/ftc/.
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NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional comments, contact Dr. Dampier at 662-325-8923 or dampier@cse.msstate.edu.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.