[Linux-aus] Grant Application - Building the Open Source Talent Pipeline in Australia: A Cyber Forensics Student Extension Program

[Troy Lea]

Great proposal, makes this educational experience available to regional
areas.


On Wed., 7 Jun. 2017 at 10:20, Paul Watters via linux-aus <
linux-aus at lists.linux.org.au> wrote:

> 1. Project name
>
> Building the Open Source Talent Pipeline in Australia: A Cyber Forensics
> Student Extension Program
>
>
> 2. Aim of the project, including any key stages or milestones of the
> project
>
> Research indicates that young people are genuinely interested in
> technology at an early age, but that negative experiences within a highly
> constrained curriculum, coupled with being taught (in many cases) by
> unqualified teachers, can led to disengagement. This is coupled with
> negative stereotypes portrayed in the media and popular culture around
> “nerds” and “geeks”; peer pressure to conform to social expectations and
> constructs discourages young people from technology careers, despite
> industry-identified “skills gaps” and high salaries. Finally, accessing
> technologies can be very expensive, and groups that face barriers to access
> (such as young people with a disability, or homeless students). Students
> may not be aware that there are alternatives to commercial, closed source
> technologies that are easily accessible, and which provide the freedom to
> create and contribute.
>
> The aim of this project is to create an open source forensics educational
> engagement programme in Victoria, that is aligned with the digital literacy
> VCE syllabus. The project seeks to re-engage students in senior years using
> the “CSI Effect”; particularly with the publicity given to cyber attacks
> linked to closed source / proprietary technologies, this is an excellent
> opportunity to embed open source values early in learning. Especially in
> the security field, rigorous peer review and critique leads to the best
> solutions, rather than relying on secrecy and obscurity.
>
> The engagement programme will not seek to replace anything taught on the
> curriculum, but instead focus on fun, topical and engaging experiences,
> that may stimulate and motivate students to consider cyber security as a
> career. The programme will only use open source forensics tools, but will
> reveal how closed source technologies can be subjected to physical
> examination.
>
> While the project team will contribute their time as an in-kind
> contribution to the project, funding is sought to purchase a range of
> typical hardware devices to physically examine, and create forensic use
> cases for. This will give students who take the programme some hands-on
> experience with real-world technologies, using open source tools. Students
> will also be shown how an open source forensics toolkit can be extended as
> needed.
>
> The programme will comprise a set of four learning activities, designed to
> be undertaken over 4 x 1 hour sessions, ideally suited to an “incursion” or
> workshop run at a school. The hardware devices will be made available free
> of charge to all schools in Victoria: schools will only be asked to pay for
> shipping costs to borrow the equipment. All educational materials developed
> through the programme will be released under a Creative Commons license.
> The project team hopes that this will encourage law enforcement and private
> sector security teams to contribute further use cases and data to improve
> the programme.
>
> To develop the programme, a four-stage project plan is envisaged:
>
>
> Stage 1: Learning activity design (100 Hours)
>
> In this stage, the four learning activities will be designed to match
> typical cyber forensic tasks, including evidence acquisition, timeline
> analysis, media analysis, and data recovery. Students will also be
> encouraged to compile a report based on their results.
>
>
> Stage 2: Forensic use case identification (50 Hours)
>
> In this stage, the four learning activities will be mapped to typical use
> cases, including fraud, scams, malware infection and counter terrorism
> investigations. The project team shall liaise with law enforcement, as
> appropriate, to create these use cases, and make them as interesting and
> realistic as possible.
>
>
> Stage 3: Software selection (50 Hours)
>
> In this stage, a range of open source forensic toolkits will be obtained
> and tested to see whether they can meet the requirements of the use cases.
> Well-known packages, including Autopsy and the Sleuth Kit, will be
> obtained, as well as specialized packages for iOS forensics, including
> Logical iOS Forensic Examiner (LIFE).
>
>
> Stage 4: Hardware purchase and use cases realized (100 Hours)
>
> The equipment requested in this application will be purchased, and data
> relating to the use cases will be created and imaged. These images will be
> uploaded to the hardware devices.
>
>
> Assuming a starting date of 1st July 2017, and spending 10 hours per
> week, the project should be developed by September 9th 2017. We will then
> communicate the availability of the programme through appropriate channels,
> such as the La Trobe University career advisor mailing list, and Quantum
> Victoria.
>
>
> 3. How the success of the project will be measured
>
> We will create a self-report survey for students to take before and after
> the activity, and measure whether their awareness of open source has
> increased, and whether or not they would consider cyber security as a
> career choice. We will seek ethics approval before administering any
> questionnaires to students.
>
>
> 4. Estimated cost breakdown of the project, including any materials,
> projects or online services that are required to deliver the project. The
> cost breakdown should include estimates of labour costs and/or professional
> services
>
> The hardware devices requested represent a range of typical forensic use
> cases, including Android phones and Linux servers (RedHat and Debian), as
> well as Raspberry pi kits for network forensics. Some basic forensic kits,
> required for data capture and transfer, will also be requested. Two sets of
> equipment are requested, so that the teacher can use one for demonstration,
> and one is available for students to use at the same time.
>
>
> In-kind contribution (200 Hours x $118ph = $23,755 + GST = $26,130)
>
>
> Equipment requested:
>
> ·      Forensicstore.com <http://forensicstore.com> – Cellphone companion
> kit, including faraday pouch, cables, media etc x 2= $612
>
> ·      Dell PowerEdge T130 with Linux x 2 = $3,092
>
> ·      Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime x 2 = $798
>
> ·      Ultimate Raspberry Pi Kit x 2 = $478
>
>
> Total Requested: $4,980
>
>
> Linux Australia contribution to total project cost: 19.05%
>
>
> 5. The project team, their credentials and professional capabilities,
> especially their history of open source, open data, open hardware or open
> culture contributions
>
> Dr Paul A. Watters is Associate Professor in Cyber Security at La Trobe
> University. Dr Watters has been using Linux for 24 years, having first
> installed in on 360K floppies on an XT. Dr Watters has written several
> books on Linux and open source topics, as well as releasing open source
> packages for neural network modeling and fractal analysis. He has published
> numerous papers on cyber forensics, and is working with Quantum Victoria to
> deliver Australia’s first “cyber games”, targeting high school students who
> may be interested in pursuing cyber security as a career.
>
>
> Maya F. Watters is a Leading Teacher at Bacchus Marsh College. Ms Watters
> studied education at the University of Melbourne, and forensics at the
> University of Auckland. She has worked on a number of forensic projects for
> Cyber Inc, a not-for-profit incorporated association in Victoria.
>
>
> 6. Person responsible for project
>
> Dr. Watters will be the project manager and will have overall
> responsibility.
>
>
> 7. A statement including a willingness to provide regular project updates
> on the project
>
> The project team shall provide updates to Linux Australia at each phase of
> the project.
>
> —
> Dr Paul A. Watters FBCS SMIEEE CITP
> Associate Professor in Cybersecurity                |  Adjunct Professor
> in Computing
> La Trobe University                                 |  Unitec Institute of
> Technology
> CRICOS Provider Code 00115M
> E:  <P.Watters at latrobe.edu.au> P: +61-3-9479-3415
>
>
>
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>
-- 

Troy Lea
IT Consultant and Nagios Developer
troy at box293.com
sites.box293.com/nagios
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