Jim Christy (born 1951) is an American government employee, who retired from his position as the Director of Futures Exploration (FX) for the

Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center The Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) is designated as a Federal Cyber Center by National Security Presidential Directive 54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23, as a Department of Defense (DoD) Center Of Excellence for Digit ...

in 2013. FX was in charge of establishing strategic relationships between the US Government and private agencies and academia. Christy was the Director of the Defense Cyber Crime Institute from 2003 to 2006, and Director of Operations of the

Defense Computer Forensics Laboratory The Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) is designated as a Federal Cyber Center by National Security Presidential Directive 54/Homeland Security Presidential Directive 23, as a Department of Defense (DoD) Center Of Excellence for Digit ...

from 2001 to 2003. Christy was chief of the

Air Force Office of Special Investigations The Department of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) is a U.S. federal law enforcement agency that reports directly to the Secretary of the Air Force. OSI is also a U.S. Air Force field operating agency under the administrative ...

(AFOSI) computer crime investigations unit from 1989 to 1996. As the founder of the world's largest digital forensics shop, he is notable for his involvement in high priority government

computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, the ...

. Christy joined the

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

when he was 19. He later became a computer operator at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

, and got a job as a computer crime investigator at AFOSI in 1986. In 1986 Christy investigated the notorious Hanover Hackers, a band of

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

digital delinquents who stole information from

United States Defense Department The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secur ...

computers and sold it to the Soviet

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

. It was his first hacker case as an AFOSI agent. In 1991, Christy founded the Pentagon's first digital forensics lab for the Air Force. In 1998, the Air Force Lab became the Department of

, supporting all of the investigative agencies of the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

. In 2016, Jim Christy was asked by Tom Colbert to join his DB Cooper Cold Case Team. Christy put together a team to go undercover online to help Colbert's team prove the real identity of DB Cooper that he identified in the History Channel's documentary aired in July 2016.

References

1951 births Living people Computer security specialists United States Air Force civilians United States Air Force airmen United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations {{USAF-bio-stub