Module Code: H9FRED
Long Title Forensics and eDiscovery
Title Forensics and eDiscovery
Module Level: LEVEL 9
EQF Level: 7
EHEA Level: Second Cycle
Credits: 5
Module Coordinator: Vanessa Ayala-Rivera
Module Author: Vikas Sahni
Departments: School of Computing
Specifications of the qualifications and experience required of staff

PhD/Master’s degree in a computing or cognate discipline. May have industry experience also.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module the learner will be able to:
# Learning Outcome Description
LO1 Demonstrate in-depth critical awareness and interpretation of laws, compliance requirements, methods and procedures used in digital forensics investigations.
LO2 Carry out a forensic investigation of operating systems, mobile devices and networks, critically analyse the evidence and document the findings in a report.
LO3 Compare, evaluate and use forensic tools to forensically analyse digital devices.
LO4 Carry out an eDiscovery engagement across multiple platforms making use of various electronic discovery tools.
LO5 Critically analyse the results of an eDiscovery review, prepare production sets, write reports, and appraise the concepts for information retrieval and enterprise search technologies.
Dependencies
Module Recommendations

This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is required before enrolment on this module. While the prior learning is expressed as named NCI module(s) it also allows for learning (in another module or modules) which is equivalent to the learning specified in the named module(s).
No recommendations listed
Co-requisite Modules
No Co-requisite modules listed
Entry requirements

Programme entry requirements must be satisfied. 
 

Module Content & Assessment

Indicative Content
Introduction to Digital Forensics
Introduction to the module. Principles of forensics, need of digital forensics, background to digital forensics, Computer crime. Scenarios of digital forensics investigations. Steps of digital forensics methodology. Categories of incidents.
Digital Evidence: Best Practices
Sources of digital evidence and the investigation process. Evidence handling rules. ACPO principles of computer related evidence. Chain of custody. Need to maintain extensive documentation. Digital forensics report writing, typical parts, letter of findings, affidavits.
Forensic Tools
Types of computer forensic tools, various tasks performed by forensic tools and its details. Drive imaging. Password cracking tools. Forensic workstation, choosing the forensic toolkit. Validating and testing forensic software, using NIST tools.
Windows Forensics
Importance of operating system forensics. Relevant windows data structures. History of the windows registry, registry editor key, registry information. Tracking user activity by analysing shellbags and quick access/Recent Files Review bitlocker encryption and location of recovery keys.
Network Forensics
Basics of network forensics When to apply network forensics. Key elements in communication. Network trace. Key concepts to interpret a network trace. IP and MAC addresses and networking infrastructure. Show how session keys (perfect forward secrecy) encryption/decryption works with RSA .Public Key encryption. Explain the role of deep packet inspection and web application firewalls in a network.
Mobile Device Forensics
Mobile devices, mobile phones in crime, collecting a phone for analysis, data recovered from a mobile phone. Components of mobile phone. Accessing the data from a mobile phone. Tools used for mobile forensic analysis.
Linux Forensics
Linux shell, linux boot sequence. Filesystems and disk/directory Encryption techniques. Important directories and sub-directories. File deletion in linux. Find Recently accesses/modified/changed files Log analysis /var/log/*
Introduction to Electronic Discovery
What is discovery, how is conventional discovery different to eDiscovery. What is electronic discovery. Common challenges of electronic discovery. Examine Microsoft Purview or Gcloud Vault , eDiscovery platforms.
Enterprise Search
Discuss Full-text search, Faceting, Nearest-Neighbour/Clustering. Highlighting of hits. Rich document handling. Document fields and schema design.
Electronic Discovery Reference Model
Discussing various phases of Electronic discovery reference model in detail. Information governance. Deduplication, keyword searching, technology assisted review (TAR), email threading, textual near duplicate identification.
Electronic Discovery Processes
Approaches to eDiscovery. Forms of electronically stored information. What constitutes evidence and what is metadata. Selecting an eDiscovery tool. Significance of quality assurance in eDiscovery practices. Email archiving/journaling.
Revision, catch-up and formative feedback
n/a
Assessment Breakdown%
Coursework100.00%

Assessments

Full Time

Coursework
Assessment Type: CA 1 % of total: 40
Assessment Date: n/a Outcome addressed: 1,2,3
Non-Marked: No
Assessment Description:
Practical work will be conducted throughout the semester to assess the learner’s knowledge on forensic procedures, acquisition methods, analysis of computer data and eDiscovery processes making use of various forensic and eDiscovery tools.
Assessment Type: Formative Assessment % of total: Non-Marked
Assessment Date: n/a Outcome addressed: 1,2,3,4,5
Non-Marked: Yes
Assessment Description:
Formative assessment will be provided on the in-class individual or group activities. Feedback will be provided in written or oral format, or on-line through Moodle. In addition, in class discussions will be undertaken as part of the practical approach to learning.
Assessment Type: CA 2 % of total: 60
Assessment Date: n/a Outcome addressed: 4,5
Non-Marked: No
Assessment Description:
A terminal assessment that will assess learner’s knowledge and analytical skills regarding enterprise search and eDiscovery rules, processes, and platforms. Students will conduct practical activities using various tools and write a report on their work.
No End of Module Assessment
No Workplace Assessment
Reassessment Requirement
Coursework Only
This module is reassessed solely on the basis of re-submitted coursework. There is no repeat written examination.
Reassessment Description
The reassessment strategy for this module will consist of an assessment that will evaluate all learning outcomes.

NCIRL reserves the right to alter the nature and timings of assessment

 

Module Workload

Module Target Workload Hours 0 Hours
Workload: Full Time
Workload Type Workload Description Hours Frequency Average Weekly Learner Workload
Lecture Classroom and demonstrations 24 Per Semester 2.00
Tutorial Mentoring and small-group tutoring 12 Per Semester 1.00
Independent Learning Independent learning 89 Per Semester 7.42
Total Weekly Contact Hours 3.00
Workload: Blended
Workload Type Workload Description Hours Frequency Average Weekly Learner Workload
Lecture Classroom and demonstrations 12 Per Semester 1.00
Tutorial Mentoring and small-group tutoring 12 Per Semester 1.00
Directed Learning Directed e-learning 12 Per Semester 1.00
Independent Learning Independent learning 89 Per Semester 7.42
Total Weekly Contact Hours 3.00
Workload: Part Time
Workload Type Workload Description Hours Frequency Average Weekly Learner Workload
Lecture Classroom and demonstrations 24 Per Semester 2.00
Tutorial Mentoring and small-group tutoring 12 Per Semester 1.00
Independent Learning Independent learning 89 Per Semester 7.42
Total Weekly Contact Hours 3.00
 

Module Resources

Recommended Book Resources
  • G. Johansen. (2020), Forensics and Incident Response: Incident response techniques and procedures to respond to modern cyber threats, 2nd edition. Packt Publishing.
  • Justin Seitz,Tim Arnold. (2021), Black Hat Python, Python Programming for Hackers and Pentesters, 2nd Ed. No Starch Press, p.216, [ISBN: 978-1718501126].
Supplementary Book Resources
  • Harlan Carvey. (2016), Windows Registry Forensics, 2nd Ed. Syngress, p.216, [ISBN: 978-0128032916].
  • Nipun Jaswal. (2019), Hands-On Network Forensics: Investigate network attacks and find evidence using common network forensic tools, Packt Publishing, [ISBN: 978-1789344523].
This module does not have any article/paper resources
Other Resources
  • [Website], CD-ROM: Live CD for Forensics,
    http://www.caine-live.net/
  • [Website], Forensic articles, http://www.forensickb.com/.
  • [Website], COMPUTER FORENSIC RESOURCES, http://www.evestigate.com/COMPUTER%20FOR ENSIC%20RESOURCES.htm.
  • [Website], Security Journals/Whitepapers https://securityjournaluk.com/.
  • [Website], Forensic Focus, http://www.forensicfocus.com.
  • [Website], Sans, http://www.sans.org.
  • [Website], AI Powered Search. https://livebook.manning.com/book/ai-pow ered-search/about-this-meap/v-9/.
  • [Website], Guide: Good Practice Discovery Guide - CLAI, https://clai.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/ 10/CLAI-Good-Practice-Discovery-Guide-v2 _0.pdf.
  • [Website], Relativity One Discovery User Guide. https://help.relativity.com/RelativityOn e/Content/index.htm.
  • [Website], Microsoft Purview, Microsoft365 eDiscovery. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/micros oft-365/compliance/ediscovery?view=o365- worldwide.
  • [Website], Apache Lucene Solr https://github.com/mikeroyal/Apache-Luce ne-Solr-Guide.
  • [Website], Autopsy Sleuth Kit. https://www.sleuthkit.org/autopsy/.
  • [Website], Nist forensic sample images. https://cfreds.nist.gov/.
  • [Website], Linux forensics cheatsheet http://www.security-hive.com/post/linux- forensics-the-complete-cheatsheet.
Discussion Note: