Weekly submissions, assignments, or module exams must be undertaken at the time indicated in the unit guide. Should these activities be missed due to illness or misadventure, students may apply for Special Consideration.

Requirements to Pass this Unit

To pass this unit you must:

• Attempt all assignments and module exams, 

• Achieve a total mark equal to or greater than 50%, and

• Participate in, and undertake all hurdle activities for, a minimum of 8 of the 10 weekly workshops.

Hurdle Assessments

Development of knowledge and skills requires continual practice at authentic problems in a laboratory-based setting. This unit has weekly laboratory classes and you must demonstrate your progress in developing and communicating knowledge and skills in a minimum of 8 of the 10 classes. This is a hurdle assessment meaning that failure to meet this requirement may result in a fail grade for the unit. Students are permitted up to two absences: additional absences will require approval of Special Consideration.

Late Assessment Submission Penalty

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark of the task) will be applied for each day a written report or presentation assessment is not submitted, up until the 7^th day (including weekends). After the 7^th day, a grade of ‘0’ will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. The submission time for all uploaded assessments is 11:55 pm. A 1-hour grace period will be provided to students who experience a technical concern.

For any late submission of time-sensitive tasks, such as scheduled tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, and/or scheduled practical assessments/labs, please apply for Special Consideration.

Assessments where Late Submissions will be accepted 

Weekly Tasks -- Yes, Standard Late Penalty applies

Module exams and Assignment 1 & 2 -- NO, unless Special Consideration is granted

Special Consideration

The Special Consideration Policy aims to support students who have been impacted by short-term circumstances or events that are serious, unavoidable and significantly disruptive, and which may affect their performance in assessment.

Written Assessments: If you experience circumstances or events that affect your ability to complete the written assessments in this unit on time, please inform the convenor and submit a Special Consideration request through ask.mq.edu.au.

Weekly practice-based tasks: To pass the unit you need to demonstrate ongoing development of skills and application of knowledge in 8 out of 10 of the weekly practical classes. If you miss a weekly practical class due to a serious, unavoidable and significant disruption, contact your convenor ASAP as you may be able to attend another class that week.

If it is not possible to attend another class, you should still contact your convenor for access to class material to review in your own time.

Note that a Special Consideration should only be applied for if you miss more than two of the weekly practical classes.

Weekly Tasks

Assessment Type¹: Quiz/Test

Indicative Time on Task²: 15 hours

Due: Weekly

Weighting: 10%

This is a hurdle assessment task (see Assessment Policy, mentioned above, for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

Each week, a set of exercises will be available online. Some require written submissions, while some are multiple-choice. Your solutions should be submitted electronically via iLearn before the deadline specified in the text.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Adhere to the highest ethical standards, obey the laws, and follow procedures at all times when collecting and dealing with digital evidence.

• Develop and follow suitable processes when performing incident response and conducting digital forensics investigations

Assignment 1

Assessment Type¹: Project

Indicative Time on Task²: 15 hours

Due: 23:55 Friday Ending Week 6

Weighting: 15%

This assignment deals with the recovery of digital evidence and is due on week 6. The assignment is to be submitted via iLearn.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Adhere to the highest ethical standards, obey the laws, and follow procedures at all times when collecting and dealing with digital evidence.
• Use appropriate tools and techniques to collect and recover data from a variety of digital sources.
• Communicate effectively the results of an investigation following professional standards.

Assignment 2

Assessment Type¹: Project

Indicative Time on Task²: 15 hours

Due: 23:55 Friday Ending Week 12

Weighting: 15%

This group assignment deals with the response to an incident. It involves following defined procedures to recover and present evidence. It features the submission of a report and a presentation. It is due on week 12. The assignment is to be submitted via iLearn.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Adhere to the highest ethical standards, obey the laws, and follow procedures at all times when collecting and dealing with digital evidence.
• Develop and follow suitable processes when performing incident response and conducting digital forensics investigations.
• Use appropriate tools and techniques to collect and recover data from a variety of digital sources.
• Communicate effectively the results of an investigation following professional standards.

Module Exam #1

Assessment Type¹: Examination

Indicative Time on Task²: 10 hours

Due: 09:00--21:00 Friday Ending Week 5

Weighting: 20%

A 50-minute long written examination worth 20% that will be held in week 5, Friday anytime from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. This will test your understanding of material covered in weeks 1 to 4.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Adhere to the highest ethical standards, obey the laws, and follow procedures at all times when collecting and dealing with digital evidence.
• Develop and follow suitable processes when performing incident response and conducting digital forensics investigations.
• Communicate effectively the results of an investigation following professional standards.

Module Exam #2

Assessment Type¹: Examination

Indicative Time on Task²: 10 hours

Due: 09:00--21:00 Friday Ending Week 9

Weighting: 20%

A 50-minute long written examination worth 20% will be held in week 9, Friday anytime from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. This will test your understanding of the material covered in weeks 5 to 8.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Adhere to the highest ethical standards, obey the laws, and follow procedures at all times when collecting and dealing with digital evidence.
• Use appropriate tools and techniques to collect and recover data from a variety of digital sources.
• Communicate effectively the results of an investigation following professional standards.

Module Exam #3

Assessment Type¹: Examination

Indicative Time on Task²: 10 hours

Due: 09:00--21:00 Friday Ending Week 13

Weighting: 20%

A 50-minute long written examination worth 20% will be held in week 13, Friday anytime from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. This will test your understanding of the material covered in weeks 9 to 12.

On successful completion you will be able to:

• Adhere to the highest ethical standards, obey the laws, and follow procedures at all times when collecting and dealing with digital evidence.
• Develop and follow suitable processes when performing incident response and conducting digital forensics investigations.
• Use appropriate tools and techniques to collect and recover data from a variety of digital sources.
• Communicate effectively the results of an investigation following professional standards.

¹ If you need guidance or support to understand or complete this type of assessment, please contact the Learning Skills Team

² Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Please note that COMP2310 is a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). You will be expected to bring your laptop computer (Windows, Mac, or Linux) to the workshop, install and configure the required software, and incorporate secure practices into your daily work (and play!) routines.

CLASSES

Each week you should complete any assigned readings and review the lecture slides to prepare for the lecture. There are two hours of lectures and a one-hour workshop every week. The hands-on exercises in works help to reinforce concepts introduced during the lectures. You should have chosen a practical on enrollment. You will find it helpful to read the workshop instructions before attending - that way, you can get to work quickly! For details of days, times and rooms consult the timetables webpage.

Week 1 classes will introduce the lecture activities as well as the administration information. Workshops commence in week 1.

You should have selected a practical at enrollment. Please note that you will be required to submit work every week. Failure to do so may result in you failing the unit or being excluded from the exam.

METHODS OF COMMUNICATION

This unit makes use of discussion boards hosted within iLearn. Please post questions there; they are monitored by the staff on the unit. We will communicate with you via your university email and through announcements on iLearn. Queries to convenors can either be placed on the iLearn discussion board or sent to the unit convenor via the contact email on iLearn.

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

• Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations, by Bill Nelson, Amelia Phillips, Christopher Steuart, 6th edition, Cengage Learning, 2019.
• Digital Forensics and Investigations People, Process, and Technologies to Defend the Enterprise, by Jason Sachowski, 1st edition, 2018.

TECHNOLOGY USED

iLearn is a Learning Management System that gives you access to lecture slides, lecture recordings, forums, assessment tasks, instructions for practicals, discussion forums, and other resources.

COVID INFORMATION

For the latest information on the University’s response to COVID-19, please refer to the Coronavirus infection page on the Macquarie website: https://www.mq.edu.au/about/coronavirus-faqs. Remember to check this page regularly in case the information and requirements change during semester. If there are any changes to this unit in relation to COVID, these will be communicated via iLearn.

Student feedback from the previous offering of this unit was very positive overall, with students pleased with the clarity around assessment requirements and the level of support from teaching staff. As such, no change to the delivery of the unit is planned, however we will continue to strive to improve the level of support and the level of student engagement.