Biography
Dr. Josh Brunty is an Associate Professor & Director of the Cyber Forensics & Security graduate program in the Department of Criminal Justice, Criminology, and Forensic Sciences. He also serves as the Research Lead in Marshall’s Institute of Cyber Security. Prior to joining Marshall University in 2012, he served seven years as a Digital Forensics Examiner, Technical Leader, and Technical Assessor for both the state and federal government sectors.
Since 2013, he has served as Faculty Advisor and coach of Marshall’s Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition Team. This team has taken top honors in a variety of capture-the-flag (CTF) and cybersecurity competitions, including a first place national championship finish in the National Cyber League (Spring 2020), and 4-straight Top Ten finishes. He has also served as a mentor for various high school teams for Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot Competition as well.
He is a recipient of the 2019-2020 Marshall & Shirley Reynolds Outstanding Faculty Award. He is also the recipient of the 2019-2020 John & Francis Rucker Outstanding Graduate Advisor Award. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation, and the Journal of Forensic Sciences. He also serves as Executive Secretary and Member of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Organization of Scientific Area Committee (OSAC) on Digital Evidence, a position he has served in since 2016. He also currently serves as Academician Commissioner of the Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission (FEPAC) since 2020. He is a Fellow of the Digital and Multimedia Sciences Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). He is also a member of the Mid-Atlantic Association of the High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA). He holds multiple certifications including: GIAC Advanced Smartphone Forensics (GASF #862), Cellebrite Certified Mobile Examiner (CCME), Cellebrite Certified Chip-Off Analyst (CCOF), LEVA Certified Forensic Video Technician (CFVT), Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI), FLETC Seized Computer Evidence Recovery Specialist (SCERS), and the Magnet Forensics Certified Forensics Examiner (MCFE).
He is currently funded by the United States Secret Service National Computer Forensics Institute (USSS-NCFI) to perform digital forensics and investigative technology research (2020-2023) and is also currently funded by the United States Department of Homeland Security Science Technology Directorate (S&T) to engage in digital forensics tools and techniques in dark web investigations (2021-2023). Additionally, he has received past funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for Technical Training, Research, and Casework Activities for state and local agencies engaged in digital forensics (2010-2015). Additionally, he secured funding from National Security Agency (NSA) & National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish the GenCyber program at Marshall University and host the first ever GenCyber cybersecurity student camp in the state of West Virginia (2017 & 2018). He has published a variety of articles and books, most notably co-authoring the 2012 Taylor & Francis textbook Social Media Investigation for Law Enforcement, which is still used in police academies and academic institutions throughout the United States. Additionally, he co-authored the Journal of Forensic Sciences article on the Forensic Inspection of Sensitive User Data and Artifacts from Smartwatch Wearable Devices, which received the 2019 American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Digital & Multimedia Sciences Most Outstanding Research Award, in addition to being recognized by the journal as a 2019 noteworthy article.