On the Development of a Digital Forensics Curriculum

Computer Crime and computer related incidents continue their prevalence and frequency, resulting in losses approaching billions of dollars. To fight against these crimes and frauds, it is urgent to develop digital forensics education programs to train a suitable workforce that can effectively investigate computer crimes and incidents. There is presently no standard to guide the design of digital forensics curriculum for an academic program. In this research, previous work on digital forensics curriculum design and existing education programs are thoroughly investigated. Both digital forensics educators and practitioners were surveyed and results were analyzed to determine the industry and law enforcement need for skills and knowledge for their digital forensic examiners. Based on the survey results and the topics that make up certificate programs in digital forensics, topics that are desired in digital forensics courses are identified. Finally, based on the research findings, six digital forensics courses and required topics are proposed to be offered in both undergraduate and graduate digital forensics programs