Digital Forensics
Bachelor (B.Sc.)

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Follow the trail in cyberspace

Do you enjoy computer science and IT systems? Do you like solving tricky problems with your analytical and logical thinking? Then Digital Forensics is the right place for you!

Thriller live: Digital forensics methods are used to solve crimes involving computers, electronic devices, personal data or the Internet. But IT security experts are also in demand when it comes to recovering data, examining network traffic or analysing communication connections of criminals.

What are my prospects afterwards?

A bachelor's degree in Digital Forensics is the foundation for a successful professional career in the cutting-edge field of cybersecurity. The breadth and practical orientation of the studies provide our graduates with numerous career opportunities:

  • directly in law enforcement agencies that prosecute cyberattacks on companies, authorities, organizations and private individuals and urgently need experts in IT forensics to investigate, secure, analyse, evaluate and present evidence that can be used in court,
  • in companies with extensive information technology, which are constantly threatened by cyberattacks and for which they work out preventive protective measures,
  • as independent cybercrime investigators or as independent IT forensic experts for companies and investigative authorities,
  • as threat hunter to identify existing but not yet known cyber threat in the IT system. The main task is the intensive search for potential threats and the implementation of threat detection tools.
  • In IT systems houses that provide Security Operations Centers (SOCs) as a service to businesses and organizations of all types.
  • as forensic experts for education and continuing training in a highly dynamic market of professionals
  • as incident experts at insurance companies, banks, and government agencies responsible for the basic investigation of incidents and recommendations of remedial actions or measures to be taken
  • as independent computer scientists in consulting and support for the creation of secure IT systems.


The Hochschule Niederrhein offers extensive and effective support for the initial phase of a business start-up

Afterwards, you can choose a Master's degree programme in Cyber Security Management (M.Sc.).

Programme objectives B.Sc. Digital Forensics

The Degree programme aims to enable its graduates to,

  • Understand the foundation courses, structure, and operation of components that play a role in digital forensics, such as computers, networks, system software, and applications, and explain their importance to forensic processes,
  • Understand and apply concepts and principles of cybersecurity and digital forensics, and differentiate between different types of cybercrime such as hacker attacks, malware infections, or data leaks,
  • Evaluate IT crime in terms of evidence and fraud and know relevant process flows, especially from the field of cybercrime,
  • identify IT security threats and plan appropriate responses to cyber attacks (incident response), convincingly justifying the correctness, security, and appropriateness of a solution they propose,
  • identify attacks on IT systems, analyze them, and develop and apply appropriate forensic procedures,
  • secure, capture, examine, analyze, document, and present digital evidence using scientific methods and technologies while adhering to legal and ethical principles and making professional use of forensic tools,
  • to plan complex forensic projects, to work on them together in a team and to take on partial tasks independently,
  • to formulate subject-related positions and solutions to problems, to defend them argumentatively and to exchange information, ideas, problems and solutions with subject representatives and persons in the professional and scientific environment.

Graduates have also developed an individual subject-specific competence profile within the framework of selectable modules.

Bachelor Digital Forensics (B.Sc.)

This new, innovative degree programme, was developed together with cybercrime professionals. You can expect an application-oriented learning spectrum from the foundation courses of computer science, network and computer technology, cybersecurity and criminalistics to specific methods and procedures for obtaining and presenting forensic evidence.

The studies are divided into a subject-specific basic study (semesters one and two), the application-oriented expert study of digital forensics (semesters three and four), an individual in-depth semester (semester five) and a practical phase including the bachelor's thesis (semester six). Graduates can develop an individual subject-specific competence profile within the framework of selectable modules and topics in the projects offered in each semester or through the practical phase and their theses.

If you are interested, our study plan also enables you to gain experience abroad through the mobility window in the 5th specialisation semester. More details can be found in our study plans and module handbooks.

Our study formats

Not every life is the same. That's why your studies should fit your current life situation. We offer our degree programmes in different formats that allow for flexible scheduling.

Full-time (6 semesters)
Full-time studies are the classic format. You concentrate fully on your studies and complete your bachelor's degree in a standard time to degree of six semesters.

Part-time (8 semesters)
Part-time studies give you the opportunity to take up studies despite already having a job or due to a high family load. The standard time to degree (in semesters) is extended to 8 semesters, with a maximum of three attendance days per week at the university.

What is the structure of the programme?

Degree programme facts

Degree
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.)

Type of degree programme
Full-time / Part-time

Standard time to degree (in semesters)
6 semesters / 8 semesters

With orientation semester?
No

Scope of studies
180 ECTS

Place of study
Mönchengladbach

Costs per semester
Information on semester fee (incl. NRW Ticket)

Language of instruction
German

Accreditation agency
System accreditation

Admission requirements

Higher education entrance qualification

  • Entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences (school and practical part)
  • general higher education entrance qualification (Abitur)
  • higher education entrance qualification obtained abroad
  • other previous education recognized as equivalent

Application facts

Admission
winter semester only

Start of lectures
middle of September

Information about the start of studies

Info here!

Application period

Winter semester 01 May - 15 September

Applicants who have acquired their higher education entrance qualification in a non-EU country 01 May - 15 August

Allocation procedure
free admission / without nc

Where can I find more information?

Of course, this website does not answer all questions. Please contact us for more information about our degree programmes. Or you can drop by our open lectures and get an immediate impression of us and our degree programmes.

contact

Prof. Dr. Thomas Meuser
Head of the Cisco Network Academy Data Networks and Distributed Systems
Prospective students
Information for international students

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