Overview

Welcome: In this course, each voice in the classroom has something of value to contribute. Please take care to respect the different experiences, beliefs and values expressed by students and staff involved in this course. My colleagues and I support UMass’s commitment to diversity, and welcome individuals regardless of age, background, citizenship, disability, sex, education, ethnicity, family status, gender, gender identity, geographical origin, language, military experience, political views, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and work experience.

Course description: The goal of forensics is to gather artifacts for refinement into evidence that supports or refutes a hypothesis about an alleged crime or policy violation. Done correctly, forensics represents the application of science to law. The techniques can also be abused to thwart privacy. This course is a broad introduction to forensic investigation of digital information and devices. We will cover the acquisition, analysis, and courtroom presentation of information from file systems, operating systems, networks, cell phones, and the like. Students do not need experience with these systems. We will review the use of some professional tools that automate data harvesting, however, the primary goal of the class is to understand why and from where artifacts are recoverable in these systems. Several assignments involve coding forensic tools from scratch. For a small portion of the class, we will cover some relevant issues from the law, privacy, and current events. Thus, the class serves the well-rounded student who is eager to participate in class discussion on a variety of technical and social issues.

Who is this course for? Undergraduates COMPSCI majors with a systems background (COMPSCI 230) and an interest in understanding the technical aspects of digital forensics. This course counts as a COMPSCI elective toward the major (B.S. or B.A.).