Digital forensics expert Jörg Helbach appointed professor in the Department of Computer Science

For our new professor, Jörg Helbach, his career in computer science began in the German Armed Forces. As a programming officer, he initially spent several years working at the computer centre of the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich; it was already during this time that the field of IT security emerged as his particular area of interest. After four years, he eventually began studying computer science there and completed his degree with great success.

Following his military service, he headed IT departments at various companies, most recently as Head of IT at Honestis AG in Cologne. At the same time, he worked part-time on his PhD at the Chair of Network and Data Security at Ruhr University in Bochum. In 2018, he was appointed Professor of Information Security at the Rheinische University Köln. In 2020, Helbach took up the professorship of Administrative Informatics at the University of Police and Public Administration.

As an expert in digital forensics, he is interested in both aspects of IT security: both the intrusion into IT systems (penetration testing) and the corresponding forensic investigations of digital attacks. He is keen to strengthen the Cyber Campus NRW (CCNRW) project and to deepen the university’s links with the State Criminal Police Office and the German Armed Forces.

Helbach, a keen football fan, plays for the TuS Oberpleis veterans’ team. He has been married for 30 years and has two adult daughters.