Instructor: Florian Buchholz, Ph.D.
Computer Science Building 227
e-mail: buchhofp@jmu.edu
Phone: 540-568-8815
Fax: 540-568-2745 (Attn.: Florian Buchholz)
See Blackboard for IM information
Office hours:
Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:45-6:15 pm
other times by appointment
This course teaches how to perform computer crime investigations. The course covers the recovery and analysis of digital evidence, addressing legal and technical issues. Forensic examination techniques of Windows and Unix systems are used to illustrate typical investigative processes.
CS 450 (Operating Systems) or equivalent.
The books through Safari can be accessed through JMU's campus license agreement. Read the CISAT library's guide on accessing online resources from off-campus.
After completion of the course, a student should be able to:
Your grade in this class will be determined by the following components:
| Labs | 60% |
| Final Exam | 35% |
| Class participation, homeworks, and quizzes | 5% |
Final Grades: Letter grades will be assigned based on your total points in the class as follows:
| Points | Grade |
| 93-100 | A |
| 90-92 | A- |
| 87-89 | B+ |
| 83-86 | B |
| 80-82 | B- |
| 77-79 | C+ |
| 73-76 | C |
| 70-72 | C- |
| 67-69 | D+ |
| 63-66 | D |
| 60-62 | D- |
| 0-59 | F |
Points will be rounded down for the final grade. I.e. a 92.99 is an A-, not an A.
There will be four lab assignments. The assignments have to be solved individually. Labs will be made available the Monday when they are assigned on the course schedule. Lab assignments are due Sundays 11:59 pm in the week indicated on the course schedule. Lab assignments have to be submitted electronically through Blackboard.
Late penalty: I will accept one lab assignment two days late (Tuesday 11:59 pm instead of the preceding Sunday) for each student. All other late lab assignments will receive a penalty of 20% of the original points per day it is late. Any exceptions to this rule have to be approved by me prior to the submission deadline.
There will be a small number of homeworks, probably two or three. Make sure to check the submission deadline for each homework on each homework's instruction page.
Late penalty: For each day that a homeworkis turned in late I will deduct 10% of the original points for that deliverable. Any exceptions to this rule have to be approved by me prior to the submission deadline.
See the submission guidelines for more details on lab and homework submissions.
At the end of the course, a two hour, comprehensive exam will be given. The questions will be drawn from the assigned reading material in the course schedule as well as from the lab assignments.
Students with disabilities who require reasonable accommodations to fully participate in course activities and/or meet course requirements are strongly encouraged to register with the Office of Disability Service (ODS) and contact me to privately discuss access issues. ODS will provide you with an Access Plan Letter that will verify your need for services and make recommendations for accommodations to be used in my classroom. ODS is located in the Wilson Hall Learning Center, Room 107. Phone/TTY 8-6705.
You are required to read and abide by the JMU Academic Honor Code. The code can also be found in Section IV of the JMU Student Handbook.
This course covers legal issues with respect to computer forensics. However, at no time during this course will legal advice be offered. Furthermore, any techniques discussed in this course are taught for the purpose of computer crime investigations and must not be used for any illegal activity.
Syllabus - Schedule - Submission Guidelines