Digital forensics and security have become crucial functions in most business organisations today. If you want a career tackling one of the most pressing issues facing our society, the BSc (Hons) Computer Forensic Investigation with Foundation Year is an ideal starting point.
Undertake a full digital investigation project to understand how computer forensics can become an integral part of business decision-making
Gain comprehensive knowledge of computer science together with specialist skills in investigating a range of digital devices, computer misuse and computer security
Build your practical know-how by harnessing the latest industry software, including Encase
Choose an optional industrial placement year as part of your course – a great experience which will set you apart in the graduate job market
Enhance your career prospects thanks to our educational partnership with Cellebrite: you can gain accreditation as a Cellebrite Certified Logical Operator (CCLO) and Cellebrite Certified Physical Analyst (CCPA)
Draw insights from our inspirational guest lecturers representing various professional bodies including the British Computing Society
Prepare for a rewarding future in fields such as digital forensic investigation, intelligence gathering and analysis, incident response and computer system management
You can also take the BSc (Hons) Digital Forensics and Security without a foundation year. Find out more.
Computer forensics is the investigation of computers and other digital devices to extract evidence which may point to particular misuse or criminal activity. Our BSc (Hons) will give you vital insights into all the latest developments in this important area.
Foundation Year - helping you to achieve more
Including a foundation year as part of your four-year study programme will give you a head start in your academic and professional life. The foundation year offers the chance to strengthen your skills, knowledge and confidence – with extensive support from our expert staff – before you advance to stage one of your honours degree. It could also be beneficial if you are planning a career change and want to get to grips with aspects of subjects which are new to you.
Our degrees with a foundation year are continuous, meaning that you won’t need to apply again once you have successfully completed the first year.
A fast-growing career field
To undertake criminal investigations, authorities today are faced with the challenge of sifting through huge volumes of electronically-stored data on computers, mobile phones and many other storage media.
Large public bodies such as the NHS are increasingly interested in forensic computing procedures and their reliance on high-profile, nationally-deployed information systems attracts strong public scrutiny.
With such challenges in mind, this course is uniquely designed to cover the investigation and legal aspects of computer forensics, the skills needed to investigate a variety of digital devices, computer misuse and computer security.
Throughout you will draw on current specialist knowledge about modern techniques used to investigate computer systems, and will learn how to apply these skills to a range of problems. Above all, this course will help you to develop analytical skills which are absolutely vital in any investigative scenario.
Build your skills and knowledge
During the first stage of the honours degree, you will cover core computing disciplines. This prepares you for in-depth study of specific subject areas in the subsequent stages of the course, including digital forensics investigation and the security of computer communication.
You can choose to spend a year on a work placement, which allows you to put all of the theory you have learnt into practice – and to earn a wage for a year. We offer a plethora of support for students keen to enhance their employability through internships and placements while they are studying and to secure graduate roles. For more information, please contact our
In your final year, you will complete an Independent Study with a clear emphasis on forensic investigation. You will also undertake a full digital investigation and examine how computer forensics can be an integral part of making business decisions.
O'Reilly Prize
Supported by the O'Reilly publishing company, a prize is awarded for the best articles written by students studying the Enterprise Systems and Information Security and Assurance modules in the final year of our BSc (Hons) IT and BSc (Hons) Digital Forensics and Security courses.
This module is an introduction to Mathematics in an engineering/technical context. It will concentrate on the principal mathematical tools of Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry and Calculus and will introduce you to the fundamental use of Maths in understanding and predicting the behaviour of engineering and technical processes and systems work.
A crucial stage in the development of the student is in the assumption of responsibility for learning. The student must be self-motivated, organised and independent. The development of critical thinking and meticulousness is fundamental to university study. This module provides the student with a variety of scholarly and communication competencies necessary for a successful career in the engineering and technology fields. The module aims to develop the ability of the student to investigate, analyse and communicate technologic concepts effectively.
The module will develop your ability to work independently and safely, to carry out effective investigation within this technical field, and to apply relevant practical techniques.
The module is designed for students who have studied post-GCSE maths previously. It extends students’ knowledge and understanding of concepts core to the study of computer based courses. It will develop understanding of concepts associated with statistics and discrete mathematics.
This module develops basic problem solving skills and applies them to programming, which will introduce students to the fundamental principles, concepts, and practice of computer programming, and develops the skills needed to design, implement, and test basic computer programmes to control robots to solve the given problems. No prior computer programming experience is assumed, and all practical work is done using an industry-standard programming language and software development environment.
This module explores two related, and yet very distinct, foundations of the practical application of computer science: The first is human-computer interaction; the second is data.
Computer systems do not exist in isolation; they are used by human beings for entertainment – such as videogames – and as tools to support human activities, such as mobile telephones or Web browsers. Therefore, the one half of this module explores how computers and computer software are built to entertain and assist humans by drawing upon research and industry practice in human-computer interaction, including interfaces to computer systems, software design, interaction design, product design, and research into the social impact of computing.
Whilst computers are used by humans as tools and entertainment devices, fundamentally they are nothing but data-processing machines. Indeed, in a very broad sense, the only practical application of computer science is to help build systems that manipulate data. Therefore, the other half of this module explores Data, including its definitions and philosophical underpinnings; its representation in computer systems including data types and an introduction to type theory; various techniques for modelling the storage and movement of data.
This module introduces students to the concepts, contributors, terminology, sub-fields, and history of computer science, whilst encouraging students to develop academic skills in reading, writing, research, and presentation.
This module introduces students to the fundamental principles, concepts, and practice of computer programming, and develops the skills needed to design, implement, and test simple computer programs. No prior computer programming experience is assumed, and all practical work is done using an industry-standard programming language and software development environment.
This module builds on the concepts introduced in Programming I by covering the theory and practical techniques needed to develop usable, robust, and reliable end-user software applications.
Foundations of Cyber Security and Digital Forensics
This module is intended to give students an introduction to the core skills of cyber security and digital forensics. It is divided into equal portions, each covering one of the specialist subject areas of Cyber security.
Networks fundamentals: This part provides a basic understanding of networks based on the ISO 7 layer model, and an understanding of sub-netting and special network applications.
Security fundamentals: provides a basic introduction into security concepts.
Forensic fundamentals: provides a basic introduction to forensics.
This module explores the concepts, technology, and theory that underpin industrial-strength multi-user database systems. Students will be required to develop the practical skills necessary to design and implement robust and scalable databases, and they will develop critical understanding of the issues related to multi-user database development, such as choosing suitable database management systems and tuning them to achieve acceptable performance.
This module provides students with a basic underpinning of the concepts involved with the contact with a mock crime scene, the investigation of desktop computers and other digital storage devices. The module looks at the theoretical background in terms of the configuration of computer systems and the methods deployed in investigating these. The learning outcome will be enhanced by guest presentations from field experts.
The online centric environment of the modern world requires a great amount of data being transferred and/or stored in networks. Private and confidential data is exposed on network vulnerabilities for the computer criminals to exploit.
This module will provide the student with a blend of practical and theoretical approaches concerning the penetration of vulnerable systems and the digital investigation of networks.
Appropriate software tools will be used in order for the students to gain practical knowledge on the investigation of digital evidence that resides on networks.
This module is intended to foster employability skills by simulating, as accurately as possible, what it's like to work in a given Computer Science specialism.
This will be done in two successive activities:
Students will be introduced to the “world of work” via a simulated work environment – they will be put into teams that represent fictional companies, but which need to produce real products or engage in realistic work-related activity. This will give students the opportunity to safely discover and explore their capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses, and inclinations before embarking on real-world employment activities.
Students will engage with a real-world industrial brief to develop a small project – such as software, a Web site, a network design, a forensic analysis of a data set, or some similar real or realistic industrial activity – suitable for entry level employees at a relevant industrial employer.
For example, many programmers work as part of a team on large software development projects. Therefore, students working toward a BSc (Hons) Computer Science award will be assembled into fictional software development companies to develop a realistic project, and will thereby experience the challenges that can occur when trying to develop a complicated development project and deliver it on schedule and with high quality. After completion of the fictional-company project, the same teams will work on a small-scale, but real, work-based development project set by a subject-relevant industrial employer, such as a software company.
Mobile devices are increasingly becoming an essential part of our daily lives for professional, leisure and personal activities. In use worldwide, we have witnessed an exponential growth in their computing, connectivity and storage capabilities in the last decade, turning them into a powerful and sophisticated personal computer. New features and apps have been introduced at a steady pace within a fiercely competitive market.
As a consequence, mobile devices are often used in/for illicit/illegal activities, being an integral part of most cyber-enabled and cyber-dependent crimes, in criminal, civil and corporate investigations. Therefore, forensic investigation of such devices become paramount. This module enables students to gain foundation and skills in mobile forensics through a mixture of theory and practical lab-based exercises.
This module is aimed at those who study or work in areas that support the operation of the criminal justice system in proving evidence in court. It considers how legal systems have evolved together with theories of knowledge and certainty to provide an underpinning for our legal systems. It examines the elements that must be proven in crimes and the reasons why the law requires this. It considers what must be proved and what can be taken for granted, unless challenged. It looks at the integrity of investigations, both ethical and practical to see how certainty is achieved through legal rules relating to process and procedure and considers how things can be proved and the level of expertise and certainty needed to achieve it. Finally, it considers the relationship between the subject expert and the legal expert and how they work together to achieve justice.
This module is aimed at those who study or work in areas that support the operation of the criminal justice system in proving evidence in court. It considers how legal systems have evolved together with theories of knowledge and certainty to provide an underpinning for our legal systems. It examines the elements that must be proven in crimes and the reasons why the law requires this. It considers what must be proved and what can be taken for granted, unless challenged. It looks at the integrity of investigations, both ethical and practical to see how certainty is achieved through legal rules relating to process and procedure and considers how things can be proved and the level of expertise and certainty needed to achieve it. Finally, it considers the relationship between the subject expert and the legal expert and how they work together to achieve justice.
This module provides a framework for the development of “lifelong learning” skills appropriate to all areas of professional practice; including objective setting, planning, negotiating, implementing, demonstrating and reflecting. The emphasis in this module is on the analysis and evaluation of the work completed within the organisation.
This module also gives students an opportunity to relate their academic knowledge to the work environment.
Students need to be aware of the commercial realities and external factors that influence the success of an organisation. This module provides opportunities for students to acquire an understanding of contemporary issues that may impact on industrial and professional practices relevant to a career within their chosen discipline. During this period of work experience, students can gain a deeper appreciation of the responsibilities arising from both corporate and individual responses to such issues, thus enabling them to relate to the wider world when exploring a personal direction for potential career development.
Digital forensic investigations unfold the digital trail of evidence and try to present potential explanations of how a related incident occurred. Building on the knowledge gained in the pre-requisite module. The students will familiarise themselves with formal methodologies and policies. They will perform a full digital forensic investigation and learn how to maintain the chain of custody in this practical in nature module. It will involve the preservation of evidence to media examination and presentation of findings in a court hearing. The digital media investigation will involve different devices from hard disks to memory sticks and mobile phones.
This is a research-based, capstone module which focuses on the issues involved in understanding about security standards and formal procedures and strategies within an organisation. This is relevant to computer forensics investigators and information technology experts. It will provide the opportunity to research issues relating to security policies and strategies in the organisational environment. The concepts are fundamental to all organisations, from SME to large organisations.
The structure of the module provides the students with the opportunity to integrate all aspects of their studies during the course of their degree, together with their experiences during their placement year (where relevant). Particular focus is placed on the use of critical thinking to evaluate and resolve enterprise development issues, and the application of rational of methods for selecting technologies when presented with a variety of choices.
The content of this module is concerned with the setup, the management, the security and the administration of server infrastructure in a network. Different servers, technologies and administration environments will be discussed, as with the mechanisms necessary to manage, secure and troubleshooting them.
You will be assessed on your ability to demonstrate an understanding of how server infrastructure can be built, maintained, managed and secured.
Because of the recent development and success of Internet along with the rapid advances in digital technologies it is very easy to reach, copy, duplicate and distribute the digital media without any degradation in quality. Therefore, there has been growing concern about the protection of the intellectual property rights for digital media including music, image and video. This course offers fundamental coverage of theoretical foundations of digital media security which becomes increasingly prominent in digital environment as well as the practical implementation of media security systems. The course includes data hiding, digital watermarking, authentication, fingerprinting/tracing and digital rights management.
This module enables students to demonstrate the ability to independently develop a substantial piece of work related to their specialism. It can be either a significant piece of research following a recognised research methodology, or it can be a significant “design and development” project to create, test and evaluate an innovative solution in computing.
Students will be supported and mentored by a member of academic staff, but the project will be defined and implemented by the student.
40 Credits
core
Coursework
Please note that our modules are subject to change - we review the content of our courses regularly, making changes where necessary to improve your experience and graduate prospects.
There are three modules per semester, each delivered through a mixture of lectures, tutorials and laboratory work. Our labs are equipped with specialist hardware and software, which are vital for the course. A lot of lab-work-based tutorials will involve the use of this dedicated equipment.
Learning from industry
We have developed a number of links with industry. From time to time, this will mean that there are opportunities to attend lectures delivered by practitioners from various professional bodies and the British Computing Society (BCS).
"The Department of Computing, Electronics and Mathematics understands the computer forensics community's requirements because specialists in the field have assisted in developing this course to ensure that it is as relevant as possible."
Simon Steggles, Managing Director of Disklabs. Find out more about Disklabs.
How you are assessed
Assessment is almost entirely via coursework. A small number of tests in the first and second years are computer-based. In the final year, there are no examinations but one third of the assessment is based on your personal project.
Entry requirements
September 2020 typical entry requirements
Requirement
What we're looking for
UCAS points
72 (up to 16 from AS-levels)
Specific requirements at A-level
N/A
Specific requirements at GCSE
GCSE Maths and English Grade C/Grade 4 (or above) or equivalent qualification
IELTS
6.0 (with 5.5 in each skills area)
Interview / Audition
N/A
Portfolio
N/A
Alternative entry qualifications:
BTEC - MPP
Pass Access to HE Diploma 60 credits: 45 at Level 3 and 15 at Level 2.
We usually consider an A-level in General Studies as a supplementary qualification. A good application/performance will be taken into account if you do not meet the criteria/offer conditions.
Our entry requirements for this course should be read together with the University's general entry requirements, which details subjects we accept, alternative qualifications and what we're looking for at Derby.
Fees and funding
2020/21 Fees
Full-time
Part-time
UK/EU
£9,250 per year*
N/A
International
£14,045 per year
N/A
* The fees stated above are for the 2019/20 academic year; fees for 2020/21 have not yet been confirmed by the UK government. We will update this information as soon as it is available.
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS or you can apply directly to the University for an undergraduate course if you’re not applying to any other UK university in the same year.
Full-time students applying to start in September should apply for this course through UCAS or you can apply directly to the University for an undergraduate course if you’re not applying to any other UK university in the same year.
This rapidly growing discipline delivers exciting career opportunities in many areas of computing including systems management, systems investigation and law enforcement.
The comprehensive training and wide-ranging skills you gain on the BSc (Hons) Computer Forensic Investigation open doors to variety of careers in forensics, security or computing. Career paths you could follow include digital forensic investigation, intelligence gathering and analysis, incident response, eDiscovery and computer system management in government agencies, police forces, forensic service companies and industry.
If you need any more information from us, eg on courses, accommodation, applying, car parking, fees or funding, please contact us and we will do everything we can to help you.
Like most universities, we operate extended teaching hours at the University of Derby, so contact time with your lecturers and tutors could be anytime between 9am and 9pm. Your timetable will usually be available on the website 24 hours after enrolment on to your course.
Please note: Our courses are refreshed and updated on a regular basis. If you are thinking about transferring onto this course (into the second year for example), you should contact the programme leader for the relevant course information as modules may vary from those shown on this page.
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