Course Coordinator:Andrew Lee (alee1@usc.edu.au) School:School of Science, Technology and Engineering
UniSC Sunshine CoastUniSC Adelaide |
Blended learning | Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online. |
Online |
Online | You can do this course without coming onto campus, unless your program has specified a mandatory onsite requirement. |
Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.
This online course will introduce digital forensic processes including seizure, acquisition, analysis, and reporting of digital evidence. You will learn how to identify and seize digital evidence and become familiar with the tools, techniques, and procedures employed by digital forensics examiners to acquire forensic images and protect and preserve electronically stored information. You will learn how to examine and analyse digital evidence. You will also learn how to reach logical conclusions about digital evidence and how to report and present digital evidence.
| Activity | Hours | Beginning Week | Frequency |
| Blended learning | |||
| Learning materials – Asynchronous learning material | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – On campus workshop | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Seminar – On campus seminar | 1hr | Week 1 | 2 times |
| Online | |||
| Learning materials – Asynchronous learning material | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Tutorial/Workshop 1 – Online workshop | 2hrs | Week 1 | 12 times |
| Seminar – Online seminar | 1hr | Week 1 | 2 times |
Creation and verification of forensic images.
Safe evidence handling techniques.
iOS Devices: Overview, extraction techniques, data structures, and analysis.
Android Devices: Overview, extraction techniques, data structures, and analysis.
Expert report writing requirements and techniques.
700 Level (Specialised)
12 units
| Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... | Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming... | |
| 1 | Use decision making and problem solving to identify, analyse, and understand digital evidence and digital artefacts | Creative and critical thinker |
| 2 | Solve complex technology related crimes. | Empowered |
| 3 | Seize and secure digital evidence in a safe and admissible manner. | Ethical |
| 4 | Document and report on interactions with digital evidence; Identify and utilise the appropriate software and hardware tools to support an investigation. | Empowered |
| 5 | Identify and explain the types of specialised technical and investigative methodologies used in digital forensics. | Knowledgeable |
| 6 | Prepare and present digital forensic reports in accordance with ethical and evidentiary requirements. |
Knowledgeable Ethical |
Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.
SEC601 or enrolled in SC513
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Standard Grading (GRD)
| High Distinction (HD), Distinction (DN), Credit (CR), Pass (PS), Fail (FL). |
Using marking rubrics, students will participate in continuous peer and self-assessment tasks. Opportunities will be provided during tutorials for peer-review of responses to online tutorial questions.
| Delivery mode | Task No. | Assessment Product | Individual or Group | Weighting % | What is the duration / length? | When should I submit? | Where should I submit it? |
| All | 1 | Practical / Laboratory Skills | Individual | 25% | 300 words each approx. for 8 weeks. |
Throughout teaching period (refer to Format) | Online Submission |
| All | 2 | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | Individual | 35% | 3 hours |
Week 10 | Online Test (Quiz) |
| All | 3 | Report | Individual | 40% | 3000 words approx. |
Exam Period | Online Assignment Submission with plagiarism check |
| All - Assessment Task 1:Practical Exercises | ||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | The goal of this task is to develop the knowledge and technical skill necessary to undertake digital forensic examinations. |
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| Product: | Practical / Laboratory Skills | |||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | ||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Students will be presented with a small image file as part of an ongoing case study and will identify and analyse artefacts on the image by applying techniques learned in the weekly tutorials in order to respond to short-answer questions regarding user-specific computer use and data on the image file. Students will be required to submit practical exercises weekly for 8 weeks (weeks 2 -9). |
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| All - Assessment Task 2:Exam | |||||||||||||
| Goal: | Demonstrate understanding of digital forensic and investigation theory. |
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| Product: | Examination - not Centrally Scheduled | ||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||
| Format: | Students will sit an online exam. |
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| All - Assessment Task 3:Forensic Examination Report | |||||||||||||||||||
| Goal: | Develop technical documenting and reporting skills as well as affirm and build upon the technical competency developed throughout the course |
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| Product: | Report | ||||||||||||||||||
| Authorship Statement: | |||||||||||||||||||
| Format: | Individual You will be provided with digital examination media and a case study. You will play the role of a digital forensic examiner within the case study scenario which will provide a clearly defined scope for their examination and reporting. The final product should include a computer examination report and any ancillary files to be produced within the scope of the examination. |
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A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.
Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.
You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.
| Required? | Author | Year | Title | Edition | Publisher |
| Required | Bill Nelson,Amelia Phillips,Christopher Steuart | 0 | Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations | n/a | n/a |
This is an online course and will require access to a computer and the internet for at least 12 hours per week. The computer must have a modern processor and at least 200GB of storage available. A dedicated graphics card and SSD or faster storage is highly recommended. You may be required to download files in excess of 50GB.
Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.
Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.
In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.
Eligibility for Supplementary Assessment
Your eligibility for supplementary assessment in a course is dependent of the following conditions applying:
(a) The final mark is in the percentage range 47% to 49.4%; and
(b) The course is graded using the Standard Grading scale
Late submissions may be penalised up to and including the following maximum percentage of the assessment task’s identified value, with weekdays and weekends included in the calculation of days late:
(a) One day: deduct 5%;
(b) Two days: deduct 10%;
(c) Three days: deduct 20%;
(d) Four days: deduct 40%;
(e) Five days: deduct 60%;
(f) Six days: deduct 80%;
(g) Seven days: A result of zero is awarded for the assessment task.
The following penalties will apply for a late submission for an online examination:
Less than 15 minutes: No penalty
From 15 minutes to 30 minutes: 20% penalty
More than 30 minutes: 100% penalty
For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:
For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching
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For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.
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