Integrating Cyber-Forensics into a Forensic Science Masters Programme

In 1985 King's College London initiated what was at that time the only UK MSc programme in Forensic Science. Initially coordinated by the Department of Biochemistry, and latterly by the Forensic Science and Drug Control Unit, this interdisciplinary MSc programme is supported by teaching contributions from a wide range of academic departments across the College, as well as by external expertise from such organisations as the Forensic Science Service and the Metropolitan Police.

From the very outset the Department of Computer Science was invited to contribute to the MSc in Forensic Science and over the past twenty-one years its contribution has evolved considerably in both content and extent, although the present author has remained the computer scientist responsible for this curriculum.

This paper traces the development of the Computer Forensics content of the MSc in Forensic Science at King's College London. It identifies the key interfaces between Computer Forensics and traditional Forensic Science, and analyses the rationale for the selection and development of the Computer Forensics curriculum within that context. Finally it evaluates the degree to which the integration of Computer Forensics into a Forensic Science programme has been successfully accomplished, using student feedback data and examination statistics collected over a twenty-one year period.