Courses in Digital Forensics
URI Offers the following courses in Digital Forensics:- HPR108B Intro To Computer Forensics. This course is typically offered in the Fall and is designed for freshmen and those completely new to the field. It assumes no background in computer science or digital forensics.
- CSC491 Study In Computer Science - Digital Forensics Practicum. This is an independent study course arranged with Dr. Fay-Wolfe, typically in a student's sophomore year, where the student works in URI's Digital Forensics Center on cases and projects there.
- CSC485 Computer Forensics. This course is typically taken in the Fall of a student's junior or senior year. It
is taught by Daniel Dickerman, a federal agent and an Adjunct Professor at URI. Professor Dickerman is widely regarded as one of the leading Computer Forensics experts in the US government. This course assumes the student has spoken with Dr. Fay-Wolfe about the URI Digital Forensics program and has taken CSC 412 Operating Systems and Networks as a pre-requisite.
- CSC486 Network Forensics. This course is typically taken in the Spring of a student's junior or senior year. It is taught by Special Agent Dickerman and requires CSC485 as a pre-requisite.
- CSC499 Internship. This course is an internship with a practicing digital forensics organization. It is supervised by both Dr. Fay-Wolfe and a mentor at the practicing organization. It is often taken the Spring or Summer after having taken CSC485 (pre-requisite) in the Fall.
- CSC585 Topics In Computer Forensics. This course is offered in the Fall and is team-taught by Special Agent Dickerman and Dr. Fay-Wolfe. It covers the same material as CSC485 (basic computer forensics), but also explores new issues in computer forensics. Its pre-requisite is CSC 412 Operating Systems and Networks.
- CSC586 Topics In Network Forensics. This course is offered in the Spring and is team-taught by Special Agent Dickerman and Dr. Fay-Wolfe. It covers the same material as CSC486 (basic network forensics), but also explores new issues in network forensics. Its pre-requisite is CSC485 or CSC585.
- CSC591 Digital Forensics Research/Practicum. This course can be a research project done under the supervision of a faculty member either on campus or online. Alternatively, URI expects
to offer on-site "boot camps" where students come to Rhode Island for 3-4 days for intense
digital forensics training and research topic exploration. The pre-requisite is CSC485 or CSC585.
- CSC599/699 Digital Forensics Research. This is a Master's thesis or Doctoral dissertation research project under the supervision of a URI faculty member.
Some topics covered by these courses are:
- File types (text, image, compressed, encrypted)
- Operating System basics
- File System basics
- Discovery of digital evidence
- Computer Forensics tools
- Networking basics
- Network tracing
- Network log files
- Network sniffing/trapping
- Legal issues
- Case studies
- Computer Forensic procedures