Towards standards in digital forensics education

Abstract

Digital Forensics is an emerging discipline within the computing sciences that exhibits both commonalities and uniquenesses with other computing disciplines. This paper seeks to delineate the domain space of Digital Forensics through an evaluation of the knowledge areas represented in existing Digital Forensics academic offerings and an assessment of the relative importance of those knowledge areas. The consequential outcomes for students emerging from a baccalaureate degree in Digital Forensics are explored, as are some of the grand questions for digital forensics research This paper calls for the development of a critical mass of researchers, academics and educators interested in Digital Forensics in order that coherent research agendas, curricula and pedagogical concerns can be addressed.