Richland College’s Digital Forensics program has received recognition and a $20,000 Texas Skill Standards Board (TSSB) grant to further develop program curriculum.

The TSSB recognized Richland College’s Associate of Applied Science degree in Digital Forensics for “being integrated with the industry-defined digital forensics technician skill standards.”

The skill standards-enhanced program benefits employers and graduates. Graduates can be confident they are gaining skills and knowledge valued by employers in the digital forensics industry, and employers gain a more qualified workforce.

Zoltan Szabo, Richland College’s lead faculty member in Digital Forensics, led the effort with employers to develop the skill standards, and then integrated the standards into the curriculum and applied for program recognition.

Mr. Szabo worked with a panel of experts from regional, state, national and international companies to develop the digital forensics technician skill standards. Participating companies included DFW Forensics, ERASE Enterprises, Stroz Friedberg, Accudata Systems Inc., Digital Discovery, CFSI Inc., Deloitte, Transperfect, Cyber Defense Lab, Shaw Digital Forensics Services, G-C Partners and the Federal Public Defender's Office.

In September, Richland College was awarded a grant of $510,894 from the National Science Foundation to support and develop the college’s Digital Forensics program. Richland College is Texas’ only Center of Academic Excellence for Information Assurance 2-Year Education and Training.

Richland College has been developing its Digital Forensics program in response to a critical nationwide need for as many as 65,000 new specialists in cybersecurity to prevent and investigate threats to the United States’ cyber infrastructure.

To learn more about Richland College’s Digital Forensics program, visit www.richlandcollege.edu/forensics. To learn more about the TSSB, visit www.tssb.org.