Meetings: Monday Evenings; August 29, 2022 - December 19, 2022; 6:15 PM - 8:55 PM; Mendel Hall G92
Instructor: D. Justin Price
Email: donald.price@villanova.edu
Office hours:
Please email me if you would like to schedule a meeting. I will make every effort to be available 30 minutes prior to the start of each class.
Textbook:
No textbook will be required. However, the course will follow material presented in the text "Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations (5th Edition) - Nelson, Phillips and Steuart -ISBN-10: 1285060032 | ISBN-13: 978-1285060033". Additional material will be provided to supplement the text.
Website:
Click here and follow the links under "Current Course - Fall 2022"
Course Description:
Digital forensics plays a vital role in cybersecurity, criminal / civil investigations and internal corporate investigations. This course provides an in-depth study of digital evidence preservation, digital forensic techniques and data analysis. Password cracking, encryption/decryption, volatile data extraction and network forensics are just some of the forensic techniques that will be covered. The course will also cover the use of advanced forensic tools, legal and ethical issues related to forensics, and security management techniques required for resiliency in today's digital workplace.
Course Objectives:
The student will:
Understand the role and importance of digital forensics
Understand the practice of write-protection and data acquisition
Understand the importance of file system analysis in data recovery
Demonstrate the theoretical and practical perspectives of digital forensics
Demonstrate proficiency in the analysis of evidentiary trails and artifacts of data storage devices
Appreciate the role that ethics must play in forensic analysis
Understand the legal foundations for crimes, evidence, forensics, and discovery
Estimate future trends in digital forensics
Course Requirements:
The course will be presented in traditional lecture format incorporating hands-on scenarios to reinforce and advance the understanding of the digital forensic techniques.
The final grade will be calculated using the following grading parameters: exercises, midterm exam, technical briefing, a final practicum and class participation.
EXERCISES: The hands-on exercises will be assigned throughout the semester to reinforce the material presented in class.
MIDTERM: The midterm exam will cover the material from the lectures and distributed support materials.
TECHNICAL BRIEFING: The technical briefing will take the form of a written report and presentation directed toward a peer audience. The topic of each briefing will be of the student's choosing as long as it relates to digital evidence, cybersecurity, information assurance or related fields. Each student will be required to provide a 10-15 minute presentation on their topic.
FINAL PRACTICUM: Each student will be provided with a case scenario and a forensic image of a "suspect's" hard drive. Each student will demonstrate his or her proficiency in utilizing the tools and techniques covered during the semester to answer several questions typically encountered during an investigation dealing with digital evidence. The expectations of this final practicum will be clearly identified.
CLASS PARTICIPATION: Class participation will be considered towards the assignment of a final grade. Digital forensics is a constantly evolving field that requires technical knowledge and creative thinking skills. This percentage will encourage each student to share his or her knowledge and unique ideas that can be used to solve the complex problems encountered in this field.
Grading Policy:
35% Final Practicum
25% Midterm
20% Executive Briefing
15% Hands-on Exercises
5% Participation (attendance, class discussion, intellectual contribution to class)
Final Grade:
100-95 = A
94-90 = A-
89-85 = B+
84-80 = B
79-76 = B-
75-70 = C+
69-60 = C
Makeup Policy:
Students will be required to complete each assignment. Make-up testing will be pre-approved and scheduled based on merit.
Late Assignment Policy:
Assignments are expected on time unless pre-approved by instructor.
Tentative Schedule:
Click here to access the course's schedule; which includes lecture slides and assigned reading.
Disabilities & Learning Support:
Students with disabilities who require reasonable academic accommodations should schedule an appointment to discuss specifics with me. It is the policy of Villanova to make reasonable academic accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. You must present verification and register with the Learning Support Office by contacting 610-519-5176 or at learning.support.services@villanova.edu or for physical access or temporary disabling conditions, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 610-519-4095 or email Stephen.mcwilliams@villanova.edu Registration is needed in order to receive accommodations.
Academic Integrity:
All students are expected to uphold Villanova’s Academic Integrity Policy and Code. Any incident of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for disciplinary action. For the College’s statement on Academic Integrity, you should consult the Enchiridion. You may view the university’s Academic Integrity Policy and Code, as well as other useful information related to writing papers, at the Academic Integrity Gateway web site:
http://library.villanova.edu/Help/AcademicIntegrity
Attendance and class participation policies (if applicable)
Late assignment submissions (if applicable)
Extra credit opportunities (if applicable)