Introductory description

This module comprises two related but distinct themes: cyber incident response and digital forensics. The cyber incident response theme concentrates on enabling an organisation to support its critical services in the face of a cyber incident. That incident might be something with strong indicators that something is wrong such as a DDOS attack, or it might be something less obvious such as the discovery of a possible data breach from many months ago.
The incident response lifecycle is covered from preparation, through monitoring, detection, containment, eradication, restoration and post incident review.

The digital forensics part of the module is concerned with doing science well. It is about drawing the correct inference from the digital data which pervades modern society.
There are a number of challenges with drawing inference from modern digital data: it is fragile, its quantity may be overwhelming, it may be transient or volatile, it may not be legally accessible, it may not be technically accessible, its structure may be unclear.
Drawing inference from the data is complicated; attributing inference back to an individual or organisation is especially vexed.
Set against these significant challenges is the reality that the digital footprint left by a member of modern society may have been left as a consequence of some wrongdoing.
Digital forensics seeks to overcome the substantial challenges of drawing correct inference from digital data, so that decisions about the identity of the wrongdoer, and the sanctions that follow, may be made with greater confidence from a better informed perspective.
There are a number of principles that have been established by the digital forensics community. From these a range of tools and techniques have been developed for doing standard things in typical circumstances. Analysing the capabilities and limitations of these tools and techniques is an important part of the module.
Representing what has been inferred to a non-specialist audience is also a critical part of any investigation and is practised in the module.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The content of this module will be taught from a cyber security perspective.

Planning for cyber incidents

• Incident detection
• Intrusion response: Intrusion management
• Incident handling: Intrusion analysis, monitoring and logging

Digital Forensics

• Collecting, processing and preserving digital evidence
• Host forensics
• Memory forensics
• Network collection and analysis
• Remediation and Reporting

This is an indicative module outline and actual sessions held may differ.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Critically evaluate the requirements of a standard operating procedure
• Analyse and apply incident response frameworks to effectively manage cyber security incidents
• Demonstrate the ability to establish a forensic investigation technical environment
• Investigate digital artefacts against a realistic brief, preserving, analysing and interpreting significant material
• Conduct comprehensive post-incident analysis and reporting
• Critically evaluate the significant characteristics of relevant tools and techniques

Indicative reading list

Johansen, G., 2022. Digital Forensics and Incident Response: Incident response tools and techniques for effective cyber threat response.

Joakim, Kavrestad, 2020. Fundamentals of Digital Forensics: Theory, Methods, and Real-Life Applications. Springer

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

1. Incident response lifecycle and practices
2. Investigation principles
3. Evaluation of a cyber security incident
4. Evidence management, interpretation, and critique skills
5. Host based analysis
6. Network based analysis

Transferable skills

1. Critical thinking
2. Problem solving
3. Communication
4. Information literacy
5. Analytical Reasoning
6. Research skills