Deleted chats, encrypted hard drives, anonymous online attacks: where others despair, the graduates of the Bachelor's degree programme in Digital Forensics at Cyber Campus NRW (CCNRW) get to work. The first cohort of cybercriminologists has spent the past few years learning how to secure digital traces and evidence and has now completed its studies. Among the 20 graduates are eleven police officers from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia who gained their qualifications through career-integrated studies. At the graduation ceremony held at the TextilTechnikum in Mönchengladbach’s Monforts Quartier, NRW’s Minister for the Interior, Herbert Reul, was represented by Gerrit Weber, Head of the Police Department at the NRW Ministry of the Interior. During the event, the partnership between the NRW Ministry of the Interior, the Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) and the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences (H-BRS) for the academic training of police officers was also extended until 2035.
“The first graduates of this Degree programme have carried out pioneering work for the North Rhine-Westphalia police force. Over the course of four years, they have combined their studies with police practice and acquired knowledge that we urgently need for modern, successful and constitutionally sound law enforcement. Digital evidence must be collected in a manner that preserves its evidential value, documented in a traceable way, professionally analysed and prepared so that it can be used in court – this requires police officers who are proficient in both the language of criminalistics and that of technology,” says Gerrit Weber, summarising the significance of this for the North Rhine-Westphalia Police.
“With 151 police officers currently enrolled on the Degree programme, it is clear that this approach has a bright future. We are continuing to expand our digital investigative expertise, thereby creating the conditions needed to combat crime effectively in an increasingly technological, data-intensive and globally interconnected digital world. The graduates also act as key ambassadors within their departments and in criminal investigations. We need digital investigative skills in every department of the Criminal Investigation Department,” Gerrit Weber continues, looking to the future.
“Digital forensics demonstrates how important it is to translate scientific findings into practical skills. During the studies, students combine knowledge from computer science, IT security and criminalistics and learn to systematically investigate complex digital issues. Our collaboration with Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences and the Ministry of the Interior enables us to address the specialist requirements of digital investigative work within academic apprenticeships. The first cohort to graduate demonstrates what can be achieved through this approach,” says Prof. Dr Susanne Meyer, President of the Hochschule Niederrhein.
“In our digitalised world, the frequency of cyberattacks has risen sharply. In close cooperation with the Hochschule Niederrhein, we offer the cybercrime investigators of tomorrow practically oriented studies at the Cyber Campus NRW to prepare them comprehensively for their challenging role,” says the President of the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences, Prof. Dr Marion Halfmann. In doing so, the two universities are demonstrating their social responsibility. “We are delighted about the extension of the cooperation agreement with the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of the Interior. It is a clear commitment: to the future of digital forensics, to the future of the Cyber Campus NRW, and to a long-term, reliable partnership between academia and the security authorities,” said Halfmann. “I am firmly convinced that the police officers trained here will, with their IT expertise, make our digital world a little safer.”
Preparation for digital investigative work
The Bachelor's degree programme in Digital Forensics imparts applied knowledge and skills with a practical emphasis in computer science, IT security and criminalistics. The focus is on how digital traces can be secured, analysed and evaluated as evidence. Among other things, students learn how to solve crimes in which information technology is used or which are directed specifically against IT systems and networks.
The Digital Forensics degree programme is offered at the HSNR’s Cyber Management Campus in Mönchengladbach and is run as part of the Cyber Campus NRW (CCNRW) in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Bonn-Rhein-Sieg. Since 2021, the Cyber Campus NRW has received separate funding from the NRW Ministry of Science (MKW). The studies can be completed on a full-time or part-time basis and are aimed not only at first-year students but also at those already in employment. Among other things, they offer law enforcement officers the opportunity to gain further qualifications in digital investigative work whilst continuing to work.
Cooperation to continue until 2035
With increasing digitalisation and rapid developments in the field of artificial intelligence, the importance of specialists in this area is growing. Businesses, public authorities and critical infrastructure are increasingly affected by cyber-attacks. At the same time, investigative authorities must be able to solve digital crimes and reliably analyse digital evidence. The academic training of police officers to become cybercrime investigators is therefore a key component of the collaboration between the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the universities. The Ministry of the Interior had already signed an initial cooperation agreement with the partner universities in 2023 regarding the academic training programmes.
With the extension now agreed, this successful collaboration will continue beyond the previous term. The agreement governs the design, implementation and evaluation of the academic training programmes.
The Cyber Campus NRW
Cyber Campus NRW is a joint project between the Hochschule Niederrhein and the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences. Through this initiative, both universities combine their expertise in the field of cyber security and offer apprenticeships for specialists in a range of different areas of application. At the Hochschule Niederrhein in Mönchengladbach, the range of courses on offer includes the Bachelor's degree programme in Digital Forensics as well as the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in Cyber Security Management. The Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences offers the Cyber Security & Privacy degree programme at Bachelor’s and Master’s level at its Sankt Augustin campus.
Further information is available at: https://cybercampus-nrw.de/
