The increasing use of devices like cell phones, PDAs, and USB drives is also expanding the number of digital footprints people leave. Those footprints are potentially valuable for prosecutors looking to establish a suspect's motives are whereabouts related to a crime. And some crimes are committed by sophisticated hackers and require a response by equally savvy technicians.
A study this year by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute found the number of incoming freshmen studying computer science declined nearly 40% from 2000 to 2004. But digital forensics and information security programs are growing.
Gary Kessler is an associate professor at Champlain College. The college's computer forensics program is two years old. This month they're offering a new information security major.