FURTHER EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Knowledge and understanding: students will be equipped with advanced skills related to the application of scientific methodologies for forensic investigation.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: students will be equipped with the necessary skills to understand the processes required to obtain reliable information from experimental data, with particular emphasis on digital data, for forensic analysis.

Making judgements: students will acquire the ability to recognise potential digital evidence and what solutions should be applied to assess its validity and relevance.

Communication skills: communication skills related to digital forensic issues will be acquired with particular attention to the sector vocabulary in order to transfer uncommon concepts even to non-expert interlocutors.

Learning skills: the student will have the ability to understand current digital data management processes, as well as to update them in relation to new technologies and new rules; he/she will also develop the ability to read and critically evaluate scientific articles in the field.

The UAF course provides an overview of the main tasks and techniques used in Digital Forensics.

The course will begin with a description of the computer crime scene, introducing the concepts of collecting and preserving digital evidence. This will be followed by an overview of the fundamental concepts of Digital Forensics, with a focus on data acquisition and analysis for computer investigations.

The topics of fingerprints, and how they can be analysed for information extraction, and Image Enhancement techniques will then be addressed, with a general overview of the concepts of Steganography (hiding information in files) and Steganalysis (detection of such attempts).

The course continues with an analysis of JPEG compression and its implications in Digital Forensics, with detailed analysis of some methods and concepts related to it; the Deepfake phenomenon will then be introduced, with an illustration of the dangers and methods of detection. Finally, Adversarial Learning and anti-forensic techniques will be covered, with the aim of preparing students to deal with advanced threats and deception of security systems.

Implementation of methods related to the topics covered during the course