The overall purpose of this graduate project is to provide digital forensics instructors at the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) with a manually generated computer crimes case simulation that offers students a replicated real-world experience of what it is like being a practicing digital forensic examiner. This simulation offers digital forensic students an opportunity to apply their forensic knowledge and skills in a realistic environment. Secondarily, this project sought to develop a rudimentary computer crimes simulation design model. The case simulation provides scenario/simulation-based learning to future digital forensic students at UCO. The computer crimes simulation design model presents general steps and considerations that should be taken when generating similar digital forensic simulations. The generated simulation portrays typical “kitty” exploitation and illicit drug activities and consists of two computer crimes case scenarios, two sets of investigative notes, two search warrant affidavits, eight crime scene processing forms, a solution report with associated PowerPoint presentation for the instructors, the digital evidence, a bootable clone of the evidence, and a disk image of the evidence.
Maritza S. Jeremias – 2018
