MEDIA, Pa. — Pamela King joined Penn State Brandywine as a lecturer in information sciences and technology in January. She received her bachelor’s degree in law and justice from The College of New Jersey and her master’s degree in criminal justice from Holy Family University. With previous experience as a full-time faculty instructor in computer science and information technology at Chestnut Hill College, King said she is excited to be teaching at a renowned, reputable institution like Penn State.
Brandywine: What courses are you teaching this semester?
King: This semester, I’m teaching Networking and Telecommunications (IST 220), Cyber Incident Handling and Response (CYBER 342W) and Overview of Information Security (SRA 221).
Brandywine: What made you interested in teaching at Penn State Brandywine?
King: Penn State has such an amazing reputation, which is why I’m excited to be teaching here. For the last 10 years, I’ve been teaching at a private institution, but I’ve always liked Pennsylvania’s public colleges. I think they better service a population than a private school. And my sister's an alum. All three of my best friend’s kids went to Penn State. They say such amazing things about it that when I saw the job opening, I couldn't resist applying.
I was really excited that I got the job. Penn State has such a great reputation and is really unique in how it encompasses the entire state through having so many campuses. I think it's a tremendous resource for Pennsylvania, and it has such a good reputation that draws people in from outside the state.
Brandywine: What is your background and previous experience?
King: I have quite a twisted path on my way to academia. I started in law enforcement; I did digital forensics and computer analysis for active law enforcement investigations for the Department of Justice and, later, the FBI. My job was collecting and extracting evidence from digital storage media to be used in prosecutions. I was in law enforcement for quite a while, and then I decided to take an opportunity to go to private industry and later started my own business.
Colleges eventually were interested in running programs for digital forensics and cybersecurity, so they were reaching out to subject matter experts and practitioners to serve as adjunct professors. I started as an adjunct professor and then just started teaching more and more. Eventually, I was teaching full-time.
Brandywine: What are your research interests?
King: I’m very interested in researching cybercrime, things related to digital forensics and how technology changes can make digital forensics harder, or in some cases actually provide more data. I’m also interested in how you raise awareness of where that data is, how to find it and what legal authority you need to get it. I’m interested in any research on the intersection between law and computer science.
Brandywine: What made you interested in pursuing a degree in the criminal justice field and pivoting your career to cybersecurity?
King: I was a first-generation college student, so I didn't have a source of funding for tuition and decided to go to community college and then to a state school to finish my degree. I was interested in law enforcement, and I started doing criminal intelligence analysis before computers were prolific. Working in the intel data space, we benefitted greatly from using computers to analyze data, crunch numbers and find patterns.
It became obvious that other people were finding computers useful, including criminals and criminal enterprises, and law enforcement officers and agents began investigating crimes where the evidence was stored on computers and other devices.
Brandywine: What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
King: I like gardening, pottery and ceramics, and doing home renovations. I also love traveling — I love connecting with people who have travelled and getting ideas for where to go and what to see.