Digital Forensics and Cyber Investigation MSc

You learn about advanced digital forensic and cyber-investigation techniques. You are exposed to advanced topics, including complex data recovery, and advanced and non-standard data acquisition techniques. You cover threshold concepts in-depth and explore topics relating to current professional practice such as accreditation. You examine advanced topics with a focus on manually interpreting and verifying evidence. You learn through diverse, embedded sessions in the digital forensic laboratory.

In this module you explore advanced internet investigation techniques. You are exposed to advanced topics in computer and digital forensics associated with internet investigations, including browser data investigations, internet history recovery, cache reconstruction and the reverse engineering of browser log data. You are also exposed to privacy enhancing technologies such as in-private browsing and the implications of these technologies on forensic investigations. You learn suitable investigation techniques and methods for analysing and interpreting information related to an investigation where internet technologies are involved.

You learn through diverse, embedded sessions in the digital forensic laboratory. Your assessment involves investigating an internet technology - you select an appropriate technology (browser, service, application) and forensically test its usage and document the forensic implications of its simulated use.

This module focuses on advanced mobile investigation techniques within the newly emerging specialist sub-discipline of mobile forensic investigation. You are exposed to topics which include data acquisition methods, advanced techniques such as jailbreaking and rooting, and methods of developer interaction with mobile devices including JTAG and similar techniques. Although you cover fundamental concepts, this is an advanced module. You cover threshold concepts in-depth and explore topics relating to current professional practice such as the challenges relating to acquiring data from handsets. You explore advanced topics with a focus on manually interpreting and verifying evidence. You learn through diverse, embedded sessions in the digital forensic laboratory.

You learn basic coding with teaching geared to providing support to first-time coders. Coding is primarily about data analysis, cleaning, and merging data before it’s visualised in charts and tables. Learning some scripts to manipulate tabulated data is a valuable skill – and will become increasingly valuable when dealing with big data. You learn the principles of the programming language Python and how it can be used to change, group, and strip out irregularities in data frames. Performing these simple scripts on large datasets makes life easier – it also provides a platform for you to be able to research on your own with openly available data. Cleansing data in this way makes utilising old favourites like Microsoft Excel much easier too.

You study SQL (structured query language) to develop the skills to grab data from a database. Today everything from mobile phone data to performance business metrics in policing is packaged ready for extraction, provided the user has the knowledge and understanding to ‘query’ its contents.

You undertake a major, in-depth, individual study in an aspect of your course. Normally computing master’s projects are drawn from commercial, industrial or research-based problem areas. The project involves you in researching and investigating aspects of your area of study and then producing a major deliverable, for example software package or tool, design, web-site and research findings. You also critically evaluate your major deliverable, including obtaining third party evaluation where appropriate.

The major deliverable(s) are presented via a poster display, and also via a product demonstration or a conference-type presentation of the research and findings. The research, project process and evaluation is reported via a paper in the style of a specified academic conference or journal paper. The written report, the major deliverable and your presentation of the product are assessed.

The project management process affords supported opportunities for goal setting, reflection and critical evaluation of achievement.

You study crime theories and principles, such as rational choice, routine activity, problem profile models packaged up in environmental criminology. You appreciate how the environment has the potential to facilitate or inhibit criminal behaviour. You consider problem-orientated policing and how we can use theoretical models to understand crime and responses to it – along with emerging debates as to whether traditional theories are still relevant with 21st-century online criminal activity. You study intelligence sources and the explosion of openly available material for analysis. You also consider the software and applications available for this research or data capture.

You explore the key legal issues to consider if you are anticipating a career in the IT industry. Key topics include introduction to the English legal system, intellectual property rights, computer crime, computer contracts and liability, privacy and data protection. You apply the legal principles studied to realistic scenarios and case studies from the real-world.

You are assessed through a continuous assessment which explores a current IT or computing issue from a legal and ethical point of view in the form of a mini investigative report.