The Forensic Science Education Blog

What you don’t know can kill you. Consider America’s drug overdose epidemic, which according to CDC estimates, claimed over 100,000 lives in 2022. Many of those deaths resulted from fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that often masquerades as heroin, but can be up to 50 times stronger in its effects.

Social engineering is the act of manipulating someone into giving up secure data. Unlike more technical types of cyber attacks, which target the zeroes and ones, social engineering’s methods can appear almost charmingly analog, but that makes them no less dangerous. Hackers using social engineering know that the most vulnerable element in any network is often the human being using it.

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) is the collection and analysis of data gathered from public sources. Dating back to the 20th century, and once purely the domain of the military and intelligence communities, today’s internet-connected and data-driven world has brought OSINT into a wide array of investigations and firmly placed it in the mainstream.

We used to know them by heart – Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook, Pulse Nightclub, Paradise, Las Vegas – it’s a sign of the pervasiveness of mass shootings in America that one can no longer easily list the tragedies left streaked across the national psyche. The memories of people and places have been increasingly replaced with the data of numbers and percentages.

The advent of DNA evidence in the late 1980s heralded a new era for overturning wrongful convictions. At the same time, it began to reveal just how widespread wrongful conviction has been in America. The National Registry of Exonerations (NRE) has recorded over 3,175 overturned wrongful convictions since 1989, and over 27,200 years of freedom have been lost for those who served sentences for crimes they did not commit. Those are only the cases of which we know.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) is the primary law enforcement agency for the United States Navy and Marine Corps. Comprising approximately 2,000 individuals, of whom more than 1,000 serve as Special Agents, NCIS operates in approximately 191 locations spread across more than 41 countries.

Blockchain forensics is the art and science of tracking complex blockchain transactions, particularly those involving cryptocurrency. This area isn’t as niche as it used to be: over $20 billion was estimated to be laundered through the blockchain in 2022, a 68 percent increase over the year prior. Everyone with a smartphone now has access to the blockchain and the ability to send funds to anyone anywhere in the world.

As society has gotten more digital and high-tech, so have investigations. Digital forensics is an increasingly crucial aspect of evidence collection and analysis. Today, evidence exists in bits and bytes that can trace back to before the commission of any particular crime.

Studies have found that the quality of forensic evidence is more likely to be misjudged when the subject of a criminal investigation is a person of color. This can lead to unfair convictions due to incorrect assessments. It is essential to address this problem and devise strategies to ensure that all accused individuals receive fair trials and access to reliable forensic evidence regardless of race or ethnicity.

Proteomics is a rapidly growing field of science that offers exciting possibilities for understanding and managing disease. By studying the structure and function of proteins and their abundance and interactions in different types of cells, scientists can better understand how diseases develop.

Multiple loan repayment and forgiveness options are available for forensic scientists and CSIs. Read on to learn more about student debt repayment and forgiveness programs for forensics and CSIs.

Established in 1973 to enforce the controlled substances laws of the US, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) keeps Americans safe from dangerous drugs and those who traffic them. In service of that mission, it’s a leading practitioner of several forensic subdisciplines, with its Office of Forensic Sciences providing expertise in friction ridge examination, forensic chemistry, and digital forensics.

Ask a room of investment professionals to define cryptocurrency fraud, and at least one will tell you the term is redundant. The total amount of stolen cryptocurrency sits at over $46 billion in today’s value. But if you ask a room of forensics professionals to define cryptocurrency fraud, you’ll likely get a more serious and nuanced answer.

There’s no shortage of true crime gift ideas. Gifts range from practical and silly to informative and interactive and take the form of knickknacks, clothing, stickers, books, subscriptions, and useful tools. Whether you love it or hate the genre, friends and family of true crime lovers have plenty of ways to say “I see you” with the perfect gift.

The cyberattacks of the past aren’t necessarily the same as those we’ll face in the future: cybersecurity is a rapidly evolving field, with multiple attack vectors and increasingly complex hacks.