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Job title: Forensic IT specialist

For: McCallum Petterson

Some call it "ethical hacking". Daniel Ayers calls it "penetration testing".

Either way, it's about testing how hacker-proof clients' computer systems are by trying to hack them. And it will be a key component of a rare job, in which Ayers, 31, will also act as an expert witness in court cases involving computer fraud.

Ayers, who has a background in security consulting and operating systems such as Unix, comes to McCallum Petterson, which describes its work as financial intelligence services, with three court appearances as an expert witness behind him.

The most high-profile case was that of Aucklander Andrew Garrett, who was sentenced last August to 200 hours' community service for obtaining internet access passwords using the "Back Orifice" Trojan virus.

Forensic IT is "leading-edge, high-tech cops and robbers," says Canterbury-born Ayers, who has masters degrees with honours in computer science from the University of Canterbury.

"There's not a lot of people at the edge of perpetrating [tech-related crime] or stopping it."

The advertisement describes the job as a "case of poacher turned gatekeeper", though Ayers is quick to say he has never been a poacher. The job also requires "strong ethical and moral judgment"; Ayers will be seeing "sensitive information about some high-profile companies".