Creating Learning Materials and Strategies for Network Forensics Education

University Of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell MA

Investigators

Abstract

Computer Science (31) The objectives of this project include (1) developing a sophisticated and realistic educational infrastructure which provides interesting and realistic cyber-crime scenes for undergraduate and graduate network forensics curricula, and (2) developing systematic laboratory projects with innovative educational toolkits such as wireless positioning robots for collecting evidence in a 3-dimensional space. Comprehensive formative and summative evaluations are used to ensure the success of this project. The project uses realistic network platforms and provides a wide coverage of cyber-crime scenes such as distributed anonymous communication systems and wireless networks. It utilizes PlanetLab, a global research network that provides overlay services and supports the development of new network services. The proposer designed a set of toolkits for teaching network forensics in this environment, including DeAnonymizer toolkit which traces suspects by watermarking the suspect network traffic through professional anonymous communication networks such as Anonymizer and Tor. Another toolkit, 3DLoc, searches the suspect mobile device in a 3-dimensional space. The developed network forensics projects and supporting materials create a repository at the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). The PI provides detailed documents and free consulting for schools of different sizes and disseminates the outcomes of this project via various venues such as computer education and research journals, international and national conferences, and a web portal. The industry and law enforcement partners standardize the hardware and aid in the technical transfer process.