Digital Forensics at URI

Digital Forensics at URI

Nearly every television channel has at least one crime solving show, and usually one resident digital geek like Angela on Bones or Abby on NCIS. These digital forensic scientists entrance us with their digital sleuthing and fast fingers, and it seems that in the digital age, no forensic lab is complete without one. But maybe because they often communicate in techno-speak, or maybe because they live on television, that world and that profession often seem so far away. It isn't.

Digital forensics uses forensic science and applies it to the acquisition and analysis of digital evidence. So instead of working on a body, digital forensics specialists analyze data and where data lives... mostly on computers.

Where digital or computer forensics apply

In legal cases, computer forensic techniques are frequently used to analyze computer systems belonging to defendants (in criminal cases) or litigants (in civil cases), to recover data in the event of a hardware or software failure, to analyze a computer system after a break-in, for example, to determine how the attacker gained access and what the attacker did, to gather evidence against an employee that an organization wishes to terminate, or to gain information about how computer systems work for the purpose of debugging, performance optimization, or reverse-engineering.

Local specialty

We in Rhode Island are lucky to be home to a preeminent computer science with digital forensics program at URI. It's the only program of its kind in Rhode Island, and one of few across the nation. A five-part program that integrates research, teaching, training, consulting, and service to make each component that much more competitive, the program receives substantial funding from federal organizations, especially as URI contributes more and more in fields such as steganography, or hiding data in plain sight.

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Digital hands on experience

For students on campus, they are offered unparalleled experience as they work in a practicing digital forensics investigation lab, the Rhode Island Digital Forensics Center, alongside professionals, where they consult on cases brought in by law enforcement like the Rhode Island State Police.

With the exception of handling original evidence, students can sit in on repeat clients' meetings, take notes, work on copies of the original evidence, and write reports with immediate feedback from professionals. URI also offers an online education program for the graduate program. Every year, approximately 20-30 students complete the program remotely, but still reap the benefits from the school's experience in actual case work.

The URI Digital Forensics program is allowed to render paid services, and allowed to partner with companies, but remains a non-profit organization. To find out more about the program, visit here or call 401-874-9432.