1. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Digital Forensics – The Next Four Years – A Strategic Discussion Harjinder Singh Lallie (Programme Leader/Subject Coordinator, Information Security and Digital Forensics) School of Computing and Mathematics University of Derby

2. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW MSc Forensic Computing and Security launched 2007 Highest intake at MSc level in School (lowest portion of international students) Excellent links with industry/police Excellent performance by students Revalidating to: MSc Digital Forensics MSc Information Security BSc Computer Forensics and Security launched 2008 One of the highest recruiters, certainly has the best retention/performance rate (higher than University average) A bit about Derby…..

3. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW A self critical view of how much further the digital forensics academic community really needs to go Where are we, how have we got here? Challenges over the next four years Possibly more questions than answers… Introduction

4. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Where are we…?

5. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Computer Forensics and Games Programming have made computing popular again 4 years ago around 12 Digital Forensics or related courses on UCAS, currently around 65 for Sept 2011 (more on the way) Handful of Masters level courses 1 conference (4 th year), 1 workshop (6 th year) Where are we as a community….?

6. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Surveyed 20+ organisations through questionnaires and personal interviews including Police Hi-tech Crime units & independent digital forensic firms Job demand difficult to predict/ascertain From 2013 >1160 graduates a year looking for jobs having studies this in the UK Assuming 65 courses with 30 students per year, 15% drop from Y1 y2 and then 7% Y2 Y3/graduation Many courses have a lot more than 30 students entering at Y1 20 out of 46 respondents suggested: Tiny increase in opportunity Less outsourcing as (a) more police forces get equipped, (b) austerity Police forces generally suggest freeze on posts due to austerity measures, but dont expect that to continue National Crime Agency will have an impact on how investigations are conducted and may introduce efficiency measures The job demand…

7. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Relatively young (similar to Games Programming) Behaviours: Industry wants a substantial vocational element, academia wants to produce graduates with highly transferrable skills Industry is not buying the placements concept Career paths are not well defined No single accepted (vendor independent?) professional accreditation Some characteristics of the Digital Forensics Industry

8. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Challenges…

9. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW The challenges over the next 4 years Student Expectations Market Saturation? Research Internationalisation Professionalism/ Accreditation

10. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Market Saturation? Student Expectations Student Expectations Research Internationalisation Professionalism/ Accreditation The CSI generation - 40% entrants in 2010 @ Derby somewhat influenced by CSI Helicopter parents – is it a worthy investment? What happens when the 2012-2013 graduates arent getting jobs in digital forensics? Are our courses essentially computer science courses?

11. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Market Saturation? Research Student Expectations Research Internationalisation Professionalism/ Accreditation Why are we still only at HEA Workshop and CFET? UK National Digital Forensics research conference? (Is the research being presented in other conferences?) International Research links? Cross University Research links?

12. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Market Saturation? Internationalisation Student Expectations Research Internationalisation Professionalism/ Accreditation Have we sold digital forensics abroad – especially in India and China (2 of the top 4 non EU markets in 2010)* * The complete University Guide 2010

13. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Market Saturation? Professionalism/Accreditation Student Expectations Research Internationalisation Professionalism/ Accreditation Independent Accreditation: The Council for Registration of Forensics Practitioners, International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists (IACIS), High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA), Institute of Computer Forensic Practitioners (ICFP) and the CCE Vendor Specific: ACE, ENCE and other mobile phone related certifications The discipline desperately needs accreditation, but are we leading the debate on professionalism/accreditation?

14. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Market Saturation Student Expectations Research Internationalisation Professionalism/ Accreditation Are we already there? What happens when 65 becomes 100 (>220 networks courses) What is the next Digital Forensics/Games Programming – will we evolve? Market Saturation?

15. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW Questions/comments Student Expectations Market Saturation? Research Internationalisation Professionalism/ Accreditation

16. www.derby.ac.uk BUSINESS, COMPUTING AND LAW HEA conference on Employability in Computing 16 February 2011 http://www.derby.ac.uk/computing/research/hea-ics-conference Computer Forensics and Security track: Teaching Ethical Hacking Innovative approaches to teaching security in the curriculum Mathematical and black-box approaches to teaching security The accreditation debate Placements in Forensics and Security What does professionalism mean in Information Security/Digital Forensics? EnCase, FTK and the open-source debate The value of programming skills in the Security/forensics curriculum? Addressing gender imbalances in Security/Forensics degrees Managing diverse expectations Soft skills vs hard skills The value of Forensic science in the curriculum Teaching Law and the courtroom experience in Digital Forensics From Bachelors to Masters