Computer forensics education directory now online

A directory providing details of computer forensics courses offered by academic institutions worldwide is now online at

http://www.forensicfocus.com/computer-forensics-education-directory

This directory will be updated each year to reflect current course offerings but additions or amendments are encouraged at any time and may be sent through our contact form.

A second directory listing courses offered by commercial training providers is planned for later this year.

US academic institutions - final call for contact details!

Hi everyone,

I hope to have something to show for our efforts in putting together a directory of academic institutions offering computer forensics courses next week but I still need a little assistance with one or two places in the US.

If you have a contact person for any of the following (teaching, rather than general admissions) could you either pass on an email address to me or ask them to contact me on admin@forensicfocus.com:

Bucks County Community College
Carnegie Mellon
Cypress Community College (I think this is Chris Curran but I don't have an email address)
Delaware County Community College
Delaware County Technical School in Aston
University of Fairfax
George Mason University (Fairfax, VA Campus)
Luzerne County Community College
University of New Orleans (is it still Prof. Golden?)
University of Northwestern Ohio
University of Central Oklahoma
Pittsburgh Technical Institute
Rutgers University
Walsh College
West Virginia University (my mails to Roy Nutter are bouncing)
Wilmington University

Many thanks for any help!

Jamie

Hidden Hymn

From http://digitaldetective.wordpress.com/2009/12/17/hidden-hym/ (republished with permission)

There is something quintessentially British about the unique blend of gusto and gibberish which makes up a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. What is less well known, perhaps, is that Arthur Sullivan also wrote the music to the world-famous hymn ‘Onward Christian Solidiers’.

It seems he also tried his hand at a lyric to the tune, which was later discarded. Now, though, the sole surviving copy of that lyric has emerged – yet another extraordinary treasure recently found amongst a cache of forgotten manuscripts.

We are delighted to reproduce the full lyric here.

Tune: St Gertrude by A. Sullivan

Hymn for the Unsung Heros

Onward First Responders, marching as to war,
With the ACPO Guidelines going on before.
Tableaus at the ready, armed against the foe,
Forward into battle see those White Hats* go!
(*LE singers may substitute “Blue lights” here. – AS.)

Refrain

Onward First Responders, marching as to war,
With the ACPO Guidelines going on before.

Dawn of retribution! Watch the suspects stare;
They and their Redeemer know what you’ll find there!
All their nasty surfing, docs and pix and more;
See, they fear the advent of the long arm of the Law.

Refrain

Image every hard drive, every USB,
Make a very detailed chain of custody,
There will be no tiny evidential fault
Bag and tag and walk the lot then slap it in the vault.

Refrain

Run it up in EnCase, data carve ‘til dawn
Bookmark hot and gmails, all the dodgy porn,
Short and sweet the statement witnessing the crime
Which gets them off the premises or even doing time.

Refrain

Like Olympic medalists going at full steam
Onward First Responders! Ply that data stream!
Vanquish all the villains, work with all your might
Show the unbelievers just how ev’ry bit can byte

Arthur Sullivan at his other keyboard

All together now…

Onward First Responders, marching as to war,
With the ACPO Guidelines going on before.

Adroit Photo Forensics review

A review of Adroit Photo Forensics is now online here with follow up discussion available here. Many thanks to Austin Troxell for the review.

Interview with Russell May, 4N6 Investigation

An interview with Russell May of 4N6 Investigation is now online at http://www.forensicfocus.com/russell-may-interview-101209. Russell is a well known figure in the computer forensics world with a reputation for providing some of the best training courses available. Enjoy the interview!

Forensic Computing PhD, UK

There is a PhD position available at the Centre for Forensic Computing, Cranfield University, UK. The broad area for the research is the investigation of the digital evidence left on hard disks by users who have communicated via the Internet.

The start date is February 2010.

To apply please see:

http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/AAI779/phd-studentship/

The Value of Push Button Computer Forensics

Good discussion on "push button computer forensics" at http://www.forensicfocus.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=4906

Original blog post at http://integriography.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/the-value-of-push-button-forensics/

Some further comment at http://www.darkreading.com/blog/archives/2009/11/pushbutton_fore.html

Academic institutions - updated

I've updated the first post of this thread with everything we have so far (in something like alphabetical order). Thanks again to everyone who's contributed and please continue sending in details of anywhere not already listed.

Thanks,

Jamie

Computer Forensics in the Geek Press – A Taxonomy

"So COFEE has finally been leaked onto the Internet. It was inevitable and it’s a wonder that it wasn’t released sooner, but nevertheless it marks a sad day for the Law Enforcement computer forensics community...So why the long face, as the horse said to the Easter Island monolith? It’s the lolz. It’s all about the lolz, and a decrease thereof. Every so often COFEE is mentioned on a geek-news site like The Register or Slashdot, and whenever this happens, the comments come alive with a thousand angry, confused, wounded monkeys, all in an uproar about the existence of this pernicious tool..."

More (Happy as a Monkey)

Academic institutions - who are we missing?

Hi everyone,

As many of you know I've recently made a start on building the new education section at Forensic Focus (hopefully bringing it online later this month) with the aim of listing every computer forensics university and college course worldwide.

I'd like to ask for your help in making sure I don't miss out any relevant institutions. The following is a list of the places currently on my master list - if you know of any place not listed below (and I'm sure there are many of them) I'd be grateful if you could either post a reply to this thread or email me with the details on admin @ forensicfocus.com. If you're able to provide a contact email address for a member of the teaching staff that would be great too (obviously if you yourself are a member of staff please don't hesitate to get in touch!)

OK, here's what I have so far:


UK

University of Bedfordshire
Birmingham City University (contact person details required)
University of Bradford
Coventry University
Cranfield University
De Montfort University (contact person details required)
University of Derby
University of East London (contact person details required)
Edinburgh Napier University
University of Glamorgan
University of Greenwich (contact person details required)
University of Huddersfield
Kingston University (contact person details required)
University of Central Lancashire
Leeds Metropolitan University
Lincolns College London (contact person details required)
Liverpool John Moores University (contact person details required)
London Metropolitan University
Middlesex University
Northumbria University
The Open University
University of Portsmouth
Royal Holloway, University of London
Staffordshire University
University of Strathclyde
University of Sunderland
Teesside University (contact person details required)
University of the West of England
University of Westminster

Ireland

University College Dublin
Dublin City University
Waterford Institute of Technology

US & Canada

Anne Arundel Community College
BCIT Centre for Forensics and Security Technology Studies
Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania
Butler County Community College
California State University, Fullerton
Champlain College
DeVry University (contact person details required)
Edmonds Community College
University of Central Florida (contact person details required)
The George Washington University
Highline Community College (contact person details required)
Johns Hopkins University
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Kaplan University - Hagerstown Campus (contact person details required)
Kennesaw State University
College of Lake County
Missouri Southern State University
Central Piedmont Community College
Pittsburgh Technical Institute
Purdue University Cyber Forensics Lab
University of Rhode Island (USA)
Rich Mountain Community College
Sam Houston State University
Stark State College of Technology
Stevenson University (contact person details required)
University of Texas at San Antonio
Tompkins Cortland Community College (contact person details required)
Walsh College
Washtenaw Community College (contact person details required)
Wilmington University (contact person details required)

Other

University of Cape Town (UCT)
University of Madras
University of Milan
Asian School of Cyber Laws (contact person details required)


If you can help by adding to this list or providing contact details I'd be very grateful - many thanks in advance!

Kind regards,

Jamie