About the Lead Forensics Examiner
The PECB Lead Forensics Examiner programme teaches you to conduct and lead digital forensic investigations — from the moment an incident is detected through to a defensible report. Delivered fully self-paced and online, it combines incident-response fundamentals with the forensic disciplines of acquiring, preserving and analysing digital evidence.
You’ll learn to prepare and run an investigation, protect the chain of custody, examine digital artefacts across systems, and present findings that hold up in disciplinary, legal or recovery contexts. It suits professionals who investigate incidents or support legal and compliance teams with digital evidence.
Course Information
What You Will Learn
Course Curriculum
- Incident response and forensics concepts
- Legal, ethical and regulatory considerations
- The forensic investigation lifecycle
- Roles and responsibilities
- Planning and scoping an investigation
- Building the forensic toolkit
- Managing the investigation team
- Chain of custody and evidence handling
- Sound acquisition of digital evidence
- Imaging and hashing
- Preserving volatile and non-volatile data
- Documentation and integrity
- File system and artefact analysis
- Reconstructing events from evidence
- Correlating findings
- Writing the forensic report
- The competency domains
- Revision and exam technique
- Booking and sitting the PECB exam
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All You Need to Know
This programme suits professionals who investigate incidents or handle digital evidence, including:
- Forensic examiners and incident responders
- Security professionals and SOC analysts
- IT professionals supporting investigations
- Legal, compliance and law-enforcement support roles
A fundamental understanding of computer forensics is recommended before enrolling.
The PECB Certified Lead Forensics Examiner exam assesses the competency domains for preparing, leading and reporting a digital forensic investigation. Completing the training earns 31 CPD credits.
What Our Learners Say
Completing the Lead Forensics Examiner course was a turning point for my career — it gave me the credibility and the technical grounding in cyber forensics that my role really needed.
As someone new to information security, I was worried the material would be too advanced. The course broke down cyber forensics step by step, and support from Profice advisors made the whole process smooth.
Solid, well-organized training. The path to strengthen our information security posture was clearly explained, and the practice materials before the exam made a real difference to my confidence.
I compared a few providers before choosing Profice for my Lead Forensics Examiner certification, and I'm glad I did. The materials on cyber forensics were current and the support team answered every question quickly.
The pacing suited a busy schedule, and the focus on cyber forensics meant I could start applying what I learned before I'd even finished the course.
Career Opportunities After This Training
Digital forensics examiners recover, preserve and analyse electronic evidence for investigations and legal proceedings, applying the methodology taught in the Lead Forensics Examiner course.
Hiring Companies
Average Salary
Cyber incident investigators lead the technical response to security breaches, tracing root cause and building the evidentiary record needed for legal or regulatory follow-up.
Hiring Companies
Average Salary
eDiscovery and forensics consultants support litigation and compliance teams by extracting and analysing digital evidence in a legally defensible way.
Hiring Companies
Average Salary
Frequently Asked Questions
A PECB credential proving you can lead digital forensic investigations — acquiring, preserving, analysing and reporting on digital evidence in a way that stands up to legal scrutiny.
The Lead Forensics Examiner is the more advanced, lead-level credential focused on managing full investigations, while the Certified Digital Forensics Examiner covers the core examiner skill set.
The exam is an essay-type, open-book paper of roughly 3 hours. You need the passing score set by PECB (generally around 70%). After passing you receive a 'Certificate of Exam Success', and the full certification is issued once you also meet PECB's professional-experience requirements.
Incident responders, law-enforcement and corporate investigators, SOC analysts and security professionals who handle digital evidence.
PECB certifications are valid for three years. You keep yours active by earning Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits and paying the annual maintenance fee.