Curriculum
Five Core Courses:
CYGR 500: Introduction to Cybersecurity
In this course, graduate students combine practice and theory by conducting risk and vulnerability assessments of computer networks within the Bridgewater State University Virtual Security Lab. Students will gain mastery of cybersecurity fundamentals, including security incident response techniques, vulnerability assessment tools, procedural best practices, and secure network design principles. Cybersecurity foundational concepts, terminology, approaches, and incident response practices will be covered.
CRJU 555: Cybercriminology
Cybercriminology is an important field and its centrality is only destined to grow in the coming years. This course provides an overview of cybercrime. Students will obtain an in-depth understanding of cybercrime and the way in which traditional criminological theories can be reimagined to explain 21st century crime. This course utilizes case studies regarding cybersecurity issues at the state and federal levels. The course takes on current and proposed cybercrime legal policy and enforcement procedures for combating the cybercrime epidemic. The course explores causation, victimization, ethics and societal consequences of cybercrime.
CYGR 510: Cybercrime Forensic Investigation
This course examines security threats to applications and digital devices. Cybercrime investigation imparts current, hands-on techniques to inspect evidence held within applications, computers, cell phones, and other digital devices. Throughout the course, students work with sample digital evidence, utilize the Bridgewater State University Virtual Lab to inspect the devices, extract digital data, and assemble formal reports based on their findings. Students will discuss proper procedures for finding, recording, and logging digital devices found at a crime scene. Throughout the course we employ a case study method, using landmark cases in cybercrime investigation. The ethics of cybercrime investigation will be thoroughly explored. Students will gain familiarity with the digital investigation processes being used within Massachusetts’s police stations, as well as federal policies guiding the work.
CYGR 520: Forensic Investigation and Windows Systems
Law enforcement, educators, legislators, and businesses alike have become increasingly concerned with the high levels of victimization in the cyber domain. The cybercriminals may conceal themselves in the cyberspace, disguising their identity using proxies or unsuspecting neutral parties. Cyber offenders may be located anywhere in the world and concurrently victimize numerous individuals, government institutions, and private corporations with highly leveraged efficiency leaving behind few leads and unconventional traces or evidence that police are not accustomed to recognizing or processing. This course will explore these issues and focus on specialized digital forensic investigative techniques to combat cybercrime. Students will also learn how to acquire, explore, recover, and analyze the forensic evidence on the Microsoft Windows Operating System.
CYGR 530: Mobile Forensic Investigation
Digital forms of harassment such as cyberbullying, cyberstalking, and sextortion have become serious criminal offenses and public health issues that have been linked to a variety of mental and physical health problems. This course offers an overview of digital investigation focusing on the interpersonal cybercrimes and explores mobile device forensics on two of the most common platforms today – iOS and Android. Students have the opportunity to capture forensic data from both platforms using a multiple-tool approach to acquire and process data. Topics will include characteristics of interpersonal cybercrimes, mobile device procedures, file systems, data storage techniques, basic evidence acquisition and analysis from the application to the storage area on the device. The course incorporates laboratory and hands-on exercises.
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