About

Steven has performed forensic examinations on computers and mobile devices in response to civil and criminal proceedings, computer misuse investigations, security incidents, and e-discovery requests.  He has twenty years of experience in information technology, including roles as a programmer, network engineer, IT director, and information security director.  He has multiple publications in the areas of computer forensics and information security and has presented at several conferences and workshops.  He was a charter member of the Central California High Technology Crime Investigation Association.

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EXPERIENCE

2015 - Present

Founder/President

Trace Digital Forensics, LLC

We offer consulting in support of criminal investigations, criminal defense, civil cases, and internal/HR investigations. Our computer forensics services include examination of computers and mobile devices: Windows, Mac OS, iOS, and Android.

2016-Present

Director of IT Security

Kern Community College District

Responsible for developing the district's security strategy, developing and implementing security standards, coordinating security incident response, and managing cross-team security projects.

2013-2016

Director of Technology Services

Madera Unified School District

Overall responsibility for technology infrastructure, security and support in a district with 20,000 students.  Led a department of twenty people, managed enterprise-wide projects, and oversaw budgets in excess of $2 million.

EDUCATION

M.S. Computer Science

Capitol Technology University

Capstone Research: Secure Password-Based Authentication

IAE 620 - Mobile Forensics

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M.S. Information Security

Capella University

Specialization: Digital Forensics

IAS 5110 - Digital Forensics Processes

IAS 5120 - Digital Forensics Tools

B.S. Information Technology

Capella University

Specialization: IT Security

IT 4075 - Computer Forensics

IT 4071 - Cyber Attacks and Ethical Hacking

IT 4070 - Cyber Defenses and Countermeasures

CERTIFICATIONS

SERVICES

EXPERTISE

Computer Forensics

Acquisition and preservation of evidence from computers, hard drives, USB devices and SD Cards.  Deleted file recovery.  In-depth examinations of Windows and Mac OS X with analysis of Internet history, pictures, documents, logs, recent file lists, and other records of user activity.

Mobile Device Forensics

Acquisition and analysis of data from Android and iOS phones and tablets. Recovery of contacts, call history, text messages, chat, social media, email, location data, and Internet history.  Manual analysis of third-party apps.  

Network/Server Forensics

Network traffic analysis and review of logs from network devices such as firewalls, content filters, and routers.  Analysis of server logs for Windows and Linux. Database forensics and reverse engineering of application data.