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Graduate Opportunities at UCD - investigating digital crime 

It is inconceivable to conduct business without the use of information technology and the internet. Computer networks are critical to electrical power, water supplies, petroleum and gas supplies, telecommunications, transportation, financial services and emergency services.

Fraudulent transactions, and “phishing” scams require great vigilance for users and providers of online banking services. Illegal music, child pornography, adult material and other types of illegal content is spread widely across the internet with ease, giving easy access to all who wish to view or download it. Spam accounts for at least 90% of all email traffic, and estimates suggest that it pollutes the planet with 17 million tonnes of CO2 every year. In the 2nd UCD/ISSA Irish Cybercrime Survey , 49% of respondents had been victims of theft of sensitive IT assets in 2007.

The immense and growing problem of cybercrime is not only an issue for those working in IT, but for everyone who depends on public infrastructure. IT security specialists are working in Ireland and around the world to combat the uploading of illegal content, the issues of content theft, fraud, hacking and the misuse of information from websites and legitimate internet users. From the illegal selling of email addresses to full identity theft, cybercrime is on the rise.

Dr Pavel Gladyshev of the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics is programme co-ordinator of the MSc in Digital Investigation at the UCD Centre for Cybercrime Investigation. Dr Gladyshev's research interests are in the area of Information Security and Digital Forensics. His current work is focusing on logical foundations of digital forensic analysis and its applications to investigations of cybercrimes. A widely published academic, Dr Gladyshev is also an invited expert of the Irish delegation to the Interpol working party on IT Crime (Europe).  

MSc in Digital Investigation

Designed for specialists in information technology who need to develop their skills for investigation of computer-related incidents, the MSc in Digital Investigation is delivered in cooperation with leading Irish experts from the field, such as Dr Gladyshev, and Thomas McIntrye from the UCD School of Law, who is chairman of the independent civil liberties group Digital Rights Ireland and is an expert in issues of law and technology.

Included on the teaching staff are a number of industry experts with a mass of experience in the field. One such expert is Andy Harbison, Director of IT Forensic Lead, Forensic and Investigation Services at Grant Thornton. The most experienced computer forensics investigator in private practice in Ireland, Harbison has helped develop the MSc with the UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics.

He is also an experienced “white-hat” hacker, conducting and managing a large number of passive and intrusion tests on clients’ IT Networks, both internal and external. He has been lead instructor in hacking techniques both in Ernst & Young’s extreme hacking courses and Microsoft’s trusted computing initiative. Harbison’s experience doesn’t end with the practical end of IT – he has published extensively in IT Forensics, Electronic Litigation, Computer Fraud and Data Privacy and regularly speaks on these subjects at both conferences and private corporate seminars.

The Master’s is a two-year part-time course with the first three semesters consisting of six modules covering all areas of investigative expertise from legislation and forensic analysis to the presentation of investigation results in the court of law. The fourth semester of the programme comprises an individual research project on a real-world topic in digital investigation.

The modules covered in the first three semesters are: Computer Forensics Foundations; Law for IT Investigators; Application Forensics; Investigative Techniques; Corporate Investigators; and Information Security. The course introduces the concepts, principles and professional practice in digital investigation and is delivered in cooperation with leading Irish experts in the field.