School of Engineering and Information Technology
Faculty of Science and Technology
Students from the Computer Crime and Digital Forensics course have recently completed a Linux competition to get practical experience in digital forensics. The competition was open to all 150 students in the class, across Melbourne, Geelong and off campus.
Lecturer Lei Pan says the competition was designed to stimulate students’ interest in developing Linux-based forensic platforms.
“Students who participate in this competition will gain hands-on skills on Linux platforms and great experience in digital forensics.”
He explains that Linux is used more widely for digital forensics because there are many free open-sourced packages (freely available on the web) and the flexibility of combining many developed ICT research projects.
“With the steady growth of Linux systems, digital forensic investigators have developed many self-bootable Linux systems for forensic purposes. These Linux systems are hardware-friendly and packed in a single CD so that they are used to boot up PCs used by a cyber-crime suspect,” says Dr Pan.
The challenge for students was to learn Linux system in a limited time. They were given 5-6 weeks to complete the project and had to continue with their normal coursework at the same time. Lei Pan was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm shown by students undertaking this project, even though it was not compulsory for them to participate.
The winners of the competition are Michael Bond, Fabian Schmidt, Matthias Trojahn (first prize) and Burak Hoban (second prize).
