Full Access to Special Agent Alan Davis

[3:21] Meet Alan Davis, Special Agent in Charge over course curriculum at NCFI 

• Davis describes his education path and early career as a Cobb County police officer and applying to join the Secret Service 
• Davis talks about his 23+ years’ experience with the Secret Service 
• Davis backtracks to what influenced him to join law enforcement in the first place 

[5:30] Full Access Host Debbie Garner asks Davis to discuss what lead him to attend basic computer evidence recovery training in 2013 as it ultimately led to the position he holds today  

• Davis tells listeners after the 2012 presidential election he wanted a change and was intrigued by digital forensics  
• After training in 2013, Davis started working on cases and was promoted to Technical Staff Assistant in 2017, and began managing the lab where he worked 
• Following a few years managing the lab, Davis wanted another new challenge and applied to become the Special Agent in Charge over course curriculum at The National Computer Forensics Institute (NCFI) in Hoover, Alabama 

[8:37] Davis goes into detail about his current position at NCFI 

• Davis provides a brief overview of the 29 classes he helps manage the curriculum for at NCFI from basics to advanced materials (he also teaches) 
• Davis talks about how important it is to him to get feedback from the field and keep his finger on the pulse of what challenges law enforcement is facing as that helps him shape the material used in courses taught at NCFI 

[10:06] Garner asks Davis to explain to listeners what NCFI does and what their mission is 

• NCFI was started in 2008 as a partnership between the Alabama District Attorney’s Association and the Secret Service 
• Davis explains that the NCFI is mandated by Congress to train and equip state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement 

• Davis states that NCFI has trained over 18,000 law enforcement members since 2008 in both cyber investigations and digital forensics 

[12:28] Cleveland and Davis start a discussion on first responder training and other courses available at the NCFI 

• Cleveland notes that a lot of evidence mistakes happen before evidence gets to the examiner because nobody knows how to handle it from the start properly 
• Davis echoes Cleveland that it’s a common challenge and how important the preservation of data is in digital forensics investigations 
• In addition to first responder training, NCFI also offers a Digital Evidence Investigators class that teaches students how to perform an advanced extraction on a mobile device with the proper tool(s) 

[17:10] Garner shifts the discussion to mobile device forensics and how important it is for small and medium sized agencies to develop the ability to process mobile devices on their own 

• Garner says taking advantage of training courses available like NCFI offers is a phenomenal way for smaller agencies to become more capable in the area of data extraction and analysis 
• Davis excitedly shares some examples of how NCFI graduates are putting their tools and training to use in the field 
• Cleveland jumps in to ask and have Davis explain who the instructors are at NCFI who provide the training that prepares students for digital and mobile device forensic investigations of all sizes