Digital Forensics
Digital Forensics
At its core this module is concerned with doing science well. It is about drawing the correct inference from the digital data which pervades modern society. There are a number of challenges with drawing inference from modern digital data: it is fragile, its quantity may be overwhelming, it may be transient or volatile, it may not be legally accessible, it may not be technically accessible, its structure may be unclear. And it is not merely that drawing inference from the data is complicated; attributing inference back to an individual or organisation is especially vexed. Set against these significant challenges is the reality that the digital footprint left by a member of modern society may have been left as a consequence of some wrongdoing. Digital forensics seeks to overcome the substantial challenges of drawing correct inference from digital data, so that decisions about the identity of the wrongdoer, and the sanctions that follow, may be made with greater confidence from a better informed perspective.
There are a number of principles that have been established by the digital forensics community. From these a range of tools and techniques have been developed for doing standard things in typical circumstances. Analysing the capabilities and limitations of these tools and techniques is an important part of the module. Representing what has been inferred to a non-specialist audience is also a critical part of any investigation and is practised in the module. Ultimately, this module exposes the student to the entire investigative lifecycle of a case.