Syllabus
HPR108B: HPR108B: Computer Forensics
The University of Rhode Island
Fall 2005
Instructor:
- Dr. Victor Fay-Wolfe
- Email: wolfe@cs.uri.edu
- Phone: 874-2701
- Office: 258 Tyler Hall
- Office Hours: By email appointment
Lecture
- Room: Tyler 036 Lab
- Time: T,TH 9:30-10:45pm
Teaching Assistant:
- Britnnee Morgan
- Email: brmorgan@cs.uri.edu
- Help Hours: T 6-8pm
- Help Hours held in Tyler Lab
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Course web page:
http://homepage.cs.uri.edu/courses/fall2005/hpr108b
Goals
- Learn About The Field Of Computer Forensics
We will learn about the emerging field of Computer Forensics - the science of obtaining and analyzing evidence from computers. This evidence may be found on storage devices, such as harddrives, that are confiscated under warrant from personal or professional computers; or it may be found by traces of activity on computer networks. We will learn the tools and process of Computer Forensics.
- Learn Computer and Networking Concepts.
We will learn how computers and the Internet work so that they change rapidly, you can understand the changes. Specific topics include how computer hardware and software work, what data formats are, how network hardware works and how the Internet works.
- Investigate Legal and Ethical Issues Involving Computer Forensics
We will explore what kind of crimes computer forensics specialist investigate, and learn about what information gathering is legal/illegal and ethical/unethical. As technology emerges and changes so quickly, many of the aspects of these laws and guidelines are still being developed, which will make for an interesting academic exploration of the issues.
Prerequisites
A student needs to come to the course with a reasonable level of computer and Internet savvy - knowing how to use email, navigate the world wide web, do word processing, and work on a Windows-like computer (e.g. Windows 2000, Windows-XP, etc). No prior knowledge of Computer Forensics or of the detailed workings of computer or networks is assumed.
Course Format
Typically there are two class meetings per week. Classes will involve discussions of the readings and demonstrations of computer forensics tools and processes. Classes will be held in the Tyler 036 Computer Lab. Students are also expected to attend one of the URI Forensic Science Seminar series lectures (Fridays 3:30-5 Pastore 124).
- Overview of Computer and Network Forensics
- Computer Concepts
- Computer Forensics
- Network Concepts
- Network Forensics
- Legal and Ethical Issues
- There is no typical text for the course.
- There are readings assigned from the Internet; these will be linked off of the course Web Page.
- You will get an account on the Computer Science Department servers that you can use to log on to lab machines, turn in some assignments, and publish web pages.
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Reading -- Reading from the text and on-line source will be assigned in most classes. Reading will be discussed during the next class.
- Quizzes. There will be short in-class quizzes on the reading and class discussions in most classes. No makeup quizzes will be given. The two lowest quiz grades will be dropped.
- In-Class Exercises. There will be graded in-class exercises that involve demonstrating a skill or concept that has been taught.
- Assignments -- There will be 4-8 assignments, some written (short answer or mathematical), and some done by using Computer Forensics software tools. Students will be given 1-2 weeks to complete each assignment. One assignment involves a written summary of one of the URI Forensic Seminar Series (held
Fridays 4-6pm in Pastore 124).
- Final Project -- You will be assigned a topic (with some input from you as to choice of topic) concerning legal, ethical, and/or procedural aspects of Computer Forensics. You will present the topic to the class and lead a class discussion of it. You will also produce a web page with detailed written/web enhanced analysis.
- Attendance and Class Participation -- You are expected to attend and participate in classes. Attendance will be taken and will affect your class participation grade.
Grades will be determined based upon the following weights:
- Assignments 45%
- Quizzes and In-Class Exercises 25%
- Final Project 20%
- Class Participation 10%
The URI Computer Science Department lab (036 Tyler Hall, off the first floor lobby of Tyler) is available to students in HPR108B for general use.
Assignments, demonstrations, and discussions in the course will assume Windows-based personal computers (PCs). Use of personally owned computers, including Macintoshes, will be accommodated as much as possible, but it may be necessary to use URI lab Windows-based computers for some work.
Use of URI computer labs requires a valid URI ID card.
Information on the URI computer facilities can be found on the
course web page.
Students are expected to have an email account (URI email or other) and a URI network account (that allows posting of a web page on the URI web server).
Word-processed assignments must be done in Microsoft Word, and presentations done with Microsoft PowerPoint. These software applications are available in all URI campus labs. Other Computer Forensics software tools will be used. They will be available in the Tyler Lab and most will be made available for installing on student's personal computers if they wish. Use of a personal computer is optional - owning a personal computer is not mandatory for this course
Unless otherwise instructed, assignments are to be the result of your individual efforts. Please feel free to discuss them with the instructor or assistant whenever necessary. It is easy to copy material on the computer; such copying constitutes plagiarism and will be punished accordingly.
Assignments must be received by the instructor or TA as specified, in the specified format, by midnight of due date unless otherwise specified.
Generally, an assignment one day late is penalized 5%, two days 10%, three days 15%. Weekends do not count. No assignment will be accepted more than three days late without a valid excuse. A computer malfunction is not a valid excuse. To avoid problems with computer malfunctions, start early, save work regularly, and maintain backup disks.
Do not copy software from the campus computers unless instructed to do so. Such copying violates the university's license agreement for the software.
Do not print copies of the tutorials or readings on University printers. Printing on non-URI personal printers is allowed. If you feel that you need a printed copy and don't have access to a personal printer, talk to your instructor.
Students are not to use lab computers during scheduled lab time for anything that is not directed by the lab instructor (e.g. IM, email, games, web surfing) without permission of the lab instructor.
Questions on grading must be made in writing (email is OK) to me within one week of receiving the grade.
Requests for extensions or makeups must be for a good reason and made to me substantially in advance of the due date.
Tips For Success
- Contact me (in person or via email) to talk about anything. It's better than frustration!
- Do all reading before class
- Start computer projects as soon as you receive them.
- Save work regularly, maintain backup disks.
- Check the course web page regularly
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