Interdisciplinary minor in digital forensics, security and law

Abstract

Digital forensics is playing a more prominent role in law enforcement, network security, and information assurance. The field of study encompasses not just digital evidence, but also the areas of cyber law, sociology, and security to name a few. Its increasing importance is reflected in its growing role within crime investigations, civil cases and homeland security.An in-depth understanding of digital forensics will be needed by college students who will be entering the various fields within technology, business, criminal justice, law, and homeland security. Currently, many professionals in those fields are not well-prepared to understand the use and management of digital evidence - or the use of digital forensics in determining the causes of security breaches, or the avoidance of security breaches altogether.Today, many professionals are working with others from different fields - lawyers are working with IT managers, members of law enforcement are working with forensics engineers. Well, at least they are trying. Unless properly prepared, many of these professionals will not be able to communicate and work effectively with each other. Those communications will continue in their frequency and importance. The demand for forensics and investigative work by knowledgeable professionals will continue to exceed the supply available for the foreseeable future.While some topics or courses in forensics and security will be needed in a variety of majors such as criminal justice and computer science, an enhanced level of study should be provided for those wishing to have a more solid foundation in digital forensics, security and law. By having students from different disciplines participate together in a minor in digital forensics, security and law, we hope to provide a richer learning environment.The curriculum discussed contains core courses in digital forensics, security and law as well as a capstone course. The curriculum also contains individual tracks in several areas for more in-depth study outside the students chosen major. The core courses within the minor cover digital evidence and its relationship to forensics, security and the law. Many areas of law are covered within the curriculum because of the ubiquitous use of computers and the importance of such acts as Graham-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) of 1999, Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA), Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and the USA PATRIOT Act.This article describes the background and the process of developing a minor in digital forensics, security and law to better prepare those students majoring in criminal justice, information technology and computer science. This article also presents information on extending the minor to students majoring in accounting, pre-law and public administration.