CIS 6730 - Cyberwarfare, Cybercrime, and Digital Forensics

This course examines three major disciplines in information security: Cyberwarfare, Cybercrime, and Digital Forensics. Although each area of study is worthy of its own focus, this course introduces students to the major approaches, concepts, and skills needed to understand and potentially pursue a more in depth study of each.

In the Cyberwarfare section, students learn how military and nation state approaches to cyberwarfare differ from those in the business sector. Topics include cyberspace intelligence operations, offensive and defensive cyberwarfare, military doctrine, and evolving threat strategies. Case projects and real-world incidents underscore the importance of comprehending the cyberwarfare landscape and the potential nonstate actor (e.g., businesses) implications.

In the Cybercrime section, students study the various categories of cybercrimes to include crimes against computers, crimes against people, cyberfraud, and illicit content instances. Topics such as DDOS attacks, ransomware, phishing, cyberbullying, and hate sites will be discussed in terms of what they are and how information security experts must address them.

Finally, digital forensics investigation procedures to include data acquisition, file recovery, and chain of custody will be studied. Students will learn about various digital forensic tools and procedures, as well as specialized forensic investigations, such as cloud, mobile, and social media forensics procedures. Many topics and exercises will help students learn how to address both policy and legal challenges involved in dealing with the Cybercrime categories introduces earlier in the course.

Prerequisites/Corequisites: Prerequisites: CIS 5710 and CS 5710.

Credits: 3 hours

Notes: Open to graduate students only.