homepage
Open menu
Go one level top
  • Train and Certify
    Train and Certify

    Immediately apply the skills and techniques learned in SANS courses, ranges, and summits

    • Overview
    • Courses
      • Overview
      • Full Course List
      • By Focus Areas
        • Cloud Security
        • Cyber Defense
        • Cybersecurity and IT Essentials
        • DFIR
        • Industrial Control Systems
        • Offensive Operations
        • Management, Legal, and Audit
      • By Skill Levels
        • New to Cyber
        • Essentials
        • Advanced
        • Expert
      • Training Formats
        • OnDemand
        • In-Person
        • Live Online
      • Course Demos
    • Training Roadmaps
      • Skills Roadmap
      • Focus Area Job Roles
        • Cyber Defence Job Roles
        • Offensive Operations Job Roles
        • DFIR Job Roles
        • Cloud Job Roles
        • ICS Job Roles
        • Leadership Job Roles
      • NICE Framework
        • Security Provisionals
        • Operate and Maintain
        • Oversee and Govern
        • Protect and Defend
        • Analyze
        • Collect and Operate
        • Investigate
        • Industrial Control Systems
    • GIAC Certifications
    • Training Events & Summits
      • Events Overview
      • Event Locations
        • Asia
        • Australia & New Zealand
        • Latin America
        • Mainland Europe
        • Middle East & Africa
        • Scandinavia
        • United Kingdom & Ireland
        • United States & Canada
      • Summits
    • OnDemand
    • Get Started in Cyber
      • Overview
      • Degree and Certificate Programs
      • Scholarships
    • Cyber Ranges
  • Manage Your Team
    Manage Your Team

    Build a world-class cyber team with our workforce development programs

    • Overview
    • Why Work with SANS
    • Group Purchasing
    • Build Your Team
      • Team Development
      • Assessments
      • Private Training
      • Hire Cyber Professionals
      • By Industry
        • Health Care
        • Industrial Control Systems Security
        • Military
    • Leadership Training
  • Security Awareness
    Security Awareness

    Increase your staff’s cyber awareness, help them change their behaviors, and reduce your organizational risk

    • Overview
    • Products & Services
      • Security Awareness Training
        • EndUser Training
        • Phishing Platform
      • Specialized
        • Developer Training
        • ICS Engineer Training
        • NERC CIP Training
        • IT Administrator
      • Risk Assessments
        • Knowledge Assessment
        • Culture Assessment
        • Behavioral Risk Assessment
    • OUCH! Newsletter
    • Career Development
      • Overview
      • Training & Courses
      • Professional Credential
    • Blog
    • Partners
    • Reports & Case Studies
  • Resources
    Resources

    Enhance your skills with access to thousands of free resources, 150+ instructor-developed tools, and the latest cybersecurity news and analysis

    • Overview
    • Webcasts
    • Free Cybersecurity Events
      • Free Events Overview
      • Summits
      • Solutions Forums
      • Community Nights
    • Content
      • Newsletters
        • NewsBites
        • @RISK
        • OUCH! Newsletter
      • Blog
      • Podcasts
      • Summit Presentations
      • Posters & Cheat Sheets
    • Research
      • White Papers
      • Security Policies
    • Tools
    • Focus Areas
      • Cyber Defense
      • Cloud Security
      • Digital Forensics & Incident Response
      • Industrial Control Systems
      • Cyber Security Leadership
      • Offensive Operations
  • Get Involved
    Get Involved

    Help keep the cyber community one step ahead of threats. Join the SANS community or begin your journey of becoming a SANS Certified Instructor today.

    • Overview
    • Join the Community
    • Work Study
    • Teach for SANS
    • CISO Network
    • Partnerships
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • About
    About

    Learn more about how SANS empowers and educates current and future cybersecurity practitioners with knowledge and skills

    • SANS
      • Overview
      • Our Founder
      • Awards
    • Instructors
      • Our Instructors
      • Full Instructor List
    • Mission
      • Our Mission
      • Diversity
      • Scholarships
    • Contact
      • Contact Customer Service
      • Contact Sales
      • Press & Media Enquiries
    • Frequent Asked Questions
    • Customer Reviews
    • Press
    • Careers
  • Contact Sales
  • SANS Sites
    • GIAC Security Certifications
    • Internet Storm Center
    • SANS Technology Institute
    • Security Awareness Training
  • Search
  • Log In
  • Join
    • Account Dashboard
    • Log Out
  1. Home >
  2. Blog >
  3. Michael Worman: Computer Forensic Hero
370x370_Rob-Lee.jpg
Rob Lee

Michael Worman: Computer Forensic Hero

March 25, 2009

The SANS Computer Forensics Heroes project is to help introduce you to people that have made a difference in information security and the digital forensic community. We believe there are a lot of people contributing to make computer forensics work, and we want to introduce them to you.

Interview with Michael Worman by Rob Lee

1. Tell us how you became interested in incident response or computer forensics.

My grandfather was the historian of the OCI (Office of Central Intelligence) and a 24-year veteran of the CIA, so maybe working in security intelligence was in my genes. As secretive men go, I didn't find this out until after his death in 2007, but oddly enough, I had already come as close as one can get to joining a national intelligence agency myself in 1999. Choosing instead to follow my heart and stay in Massachusetts with my future wife-to-be, I finished my engineering degree and then spent a short time working in hardware R&D for Data General (later EMC), a hacker's dream job. The long commute eventually wore on me, and I returned to UMass as a state employee, working with the small but proficient campus networking department that supported a good deal of the Five College System (UMass, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Amherst College). This was around the turn of the millennium, and my networking job quickly turned into a heavy security role as the ever expanding high speed networks we supported became havens for online pranksters, stalkers, software pirates, and worse. Universities at the time were the largest (and hardest hit) target of the still young and immature malware threat. Well, computer security had a Cold War spy-thriller aspect to it (The Code Red Worm. Stacheldracht ("Barbed Wire")), and these elements were hard for me to resist so I plunged in headfirst by getting involved with SANS in 2000 (meeting for beer and pretzels with people like Stephen, Hal, Randy, Judy?all great people btw!). Almost immediately the training and education I began receiving unveiled and magnified hidden threats that were, at the time, mere toys. I saw Subseven, a prank Trojan for remote control, used to stalk a poor co-ed into fearing for her safety. There was a college dorm turned into a high tech studio for false documentation (and not just your average fake ID but also passports, work documentation, and fake diplomas). I began to experiment with tools like Snort (before Sourcefire) and nmap (back when it was still evil) and ever since that curtain was pulled back I don't think I've ever really looked away.

Since that time I've spent time as a forensics and incident response consultant for corporate executives, provided information to the FBI and Microsoft on suspected authors of several major Internet worms, sat next to one of the most damaging computer saboteurs in history, and hopefully, helped a lot of people along the way. I currently help to protect one of the world's largest communications networks.

2. What gives you the most satisfaction while working on a case?

Seeing people held accountable for their malicious actions involving computers. Not every catch is a high-tech, computer savvy individual. In my career I have helped to put at least a few sexual predators out of commission and while the forensic techniques involved were not very exciting, the thrill of doing something so meaningful can't quite be matched by any feat of technical wizardry.

3. What computer forensic techniques do you find the most useful?

I am old fashioned when it comes to our field, and having been taught by the first generation of infosec professionals (SANS and elsewhere) I am a purist when it comes to security matters, even more so when it comes to forensics. The most useful forensic technique ever taught to me was not a computer technique at all but Occam's Razor (thanks to Chris Misra, my first security mentor, for this gem). Albert Einstein, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Rube Goldberg all practiced and preached this concept, and in the digital realm with its infinite variations I think this is the tool that best helps me keep my wits about me. The enormous complexity of computers and data has a tendency to warp the human mind which works in quite different ways. Unless you want to start thinking and talking like a machine (which isn't very helpful), KISS.

4. What is your computer forensic tool of choice and why?

In terms of tools, I am again a big purist. The information security industry today is very different than it was ten years ago. There are so many advanced software and hardware products marketed to every niche of the IR/forensics field today, yet many of us keep our beat up class CD-ROMs with static netcat and dd binaries, don't we? I have used CD-ROMs like this in both intense corporate incidents as well as to help friends and neighbors wrench their personal PCs away from botnets in Eastern Europe. Call it the UNIX-style of security: I like to collect many small tools with explicit purposes instead of relying on one monolithic tool with less agility. And for a good IR/forensics professional, your brain is still the best tool you have; none of the IR/forensics tools we use run themselves, nor should they lest we forget how they work and thus, the core necessity of being able to explain them to juries and other decision-making bodies.

5. Tell us how a commercial tool helped solve a problem. What happened and how did it help?

Commercial tools provide "solutions" to businesspeople, and when it comes to big businesses the multiplicity of every little detail is often too much information for even the most skilled security professional. Thus, the best success I've had with commercial tools has been to help manage the logistical elements of the incident/investigation/intelligence cycle. Commercial investigative tools can help you try to uncover a fact here or there, but when it comes to proving security ROI (and it does exist, it's just not measured in dollars but in peace of mind) the commercial tools tend to get it right more than the free tools.

6. What area of digital forensics or incident response needs to be understood by every new investigator?

That to be fair, accurate, and successful in this field you must understand the computer, soup to nuts. I had the luxury of a good engineering education where I got a chance to design microprocessors, memory subsystems, operating systems, and so forth. You could say these were my anatomy lessons for a later career as digital coroner and arson investigator. Like medical forensics requires a strong stomach and the fearlessness to dive scalpel-first into fresh corpses (and I will be the first to say I do not have that skill), being a digital investigator requires the same fearlessness, only in the face of complex technology instead of the macabre. Both are similarly intimidating tasks that are similarly overcome through education, training, and experience.

7. What area of digital forensics or incident response has had the most exciting developments over the past few years?

Applied security intelligence, and by that I mean the ability to collect and utilize information to make decisions, be it in business or some other sector. There is a strong focus these days on applying business intelligence concepts in information security: know thyself, know thy enemy, and so forth. People like Lance Spitzner and Eric Cole have been writing about this stuff for years and now it appears the new generations of professionals are looking at the emerging landscape through the right lens: we sail in rough seas but with organization and planning, especially in proactive rather than reactive ways, we can defend against each surge like a strong levee. When we understand the true nature of a threat, we can prepare for it. When we underestimate, we are doomed to fail.

8. Where do you see yourself in the future?

I would like to be one of the first generation of PhDs in information security/assurance and use my experiences to teach others. My grandparents and many of my aunts and uncles have taught at the collegiate level and I think it is in my genes to want to share useful knowledge. Sadly, much as undergraduate studies in infosec were not available when I went away to college, and even with vast amounts of research into computer security, there is not yet a well established doctoral track in academia. Having recently completed my Master's with Norwich University, I feel as if I am on the right track to writing a textbook or two before I am too old to care about this stuff anymore.

8. What do you do in your free time when not working on computer forensics?

The joy and challenge of raising my sons beats anything I've ever done. I am also an amateur musician and tried various boring wood and brass instruments over the years before finally deciding to learn to play electric guitar?still working on that but once you have a practice routine down, it just takes time. Hopefully that applies to rearing kids as well.

Share:
TwitterLinkedInFacebook
Copy url Url was copied to clipboard
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tags:
  • Digital Forensics and Incident Response

Related Content

Blog
CTI_Blog_Image.png
Incident Response & Threat Hunting, Digital Forensics and Incident Response
January 23, 2023
A Visual Summary of SANS CTI Summit 2023
Check out these graphic recordings created in real-time throughout the event for SANS Cyber Threat Intelligence Summit 2023
370x370-person-placeholder.png
Alison Kim
read more
Blog
FOR577.png
Digital Forensics and Incident Response
September 22, 2022
NEW SANS DFIR COURSE IN DEVELOPMENT | FOR577: LINUX Incident Response & Analysis
FOR577: Linux Incident Response & Analysis course teaches how Linux systems work and how to respond and investigate attacks effectively.
Viv_Ross_370x370.png
Viviana Ross
read more
Blog
Untitled_design-43.png
Digital Forensics and Incident Response, Cybersecurity and IT Essentials, Industrial Control Systems Security, Purple Team, Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT), Penetration Testing and Red Teaming, Cyber Defense, Cloud Security, Security Management, Legal, and Audit
December 8, 2021
Good News: SANS Virtual Summits Will Remain FREE for the Community in 2022
They’re virtual. They’re global. They’re free.
370x370-person-placeholder.png
Emily Blades
read more
  • Register to Learn
  • Courses
  • Certifications
  • Degree Programs
  • Cyber Ranges
  • Job Tools
  • Security Policy Project
  • Posters & Cheat Sheets
  • White Papers
  • Focus Areas
  • Cyber Defense
  • Cloud Security
  • Cybersecurity Leadership
  • Digital Forensics
  • Industrial Control Systems
  • Offensive Operations
Subscribe to SANS Newsletters
Receive curated news, vulnerabilities, & security awareness tips
United States
Canada
United Kingdom
Spain
Belgium
Denmark
Norway
Netherlands
Australia
India
Japan
Singapore
Afghanistan
Aland Islands
Albania
Algeria
American Samoa
Andorra
Angola
Anguilla
Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bermuda
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Botswana
Bouvet Island
Brazil
British Indian Ocean Territory
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Christmas Island
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Colombia
Comoros
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Croatia (Local Name: Hrvatska)
Curacao
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
East Timor
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Faroe Islands
Fiji
Finland
France
French Guiana
French Polynesia
French Southern Territories
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Gibraltar
Greece
Greenland
Grenada
Guadeloupe
Guam
Guatemala
Guernsey
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Heard And McDonald Islands
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Isle of Man
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jersey
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, Republic Of
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Martinique
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mayotte
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States Of
Moldova, Republic Of
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Montserrat
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norfolk Island
Northern Mariana Islands
Oman
Pakistan
Palau
Palestine
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Pitcairn
Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico
Qatar
Reunion
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Bartholemy
Saint Kitts And Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Martin
Saint Vincent And The Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome And Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Sudan
Sri Lanka
St. Helena
St. Pierre And Miquelon
Suriname
Svalbard And Jan Mayen Islands
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tokelau
Tonga
Trinidad And Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Turks And Caicos Islands
Tuvalu
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States Minor Outlying Islands
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Vatican City
Venezuela
Vietnam
Virgin Islands (British)
Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Wallis And Futuna Islands
Western Sahara
Yemen
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe

By providing this information, you agree to the processing of your personal data by SANS as described in our Privacy Policy.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
  • © 2023 SANS™ Institute
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn