A cyber forensics ontology: Creating a new approach to studying cyber forensics

The field of cyber forensics, still in its infancy, possesses a strong need for direction and definition. Areas of specialty within a professional environment, certifications, and/or curriculum development are still questioned. With the continued need to standardize parts of the field, methodologies need to be created that will allow for uniformity and direction. This paper focuses on creating an ontological for the purpose of finding the correct layers for specialization, certification, and education within the cyber forensics domain. There is very little information available on this topic and what is present, seems to be somewhat varied. This underscores the importance of creating a method for defining the correct levels of education, certification and specialization. This ontology can also be used to develop curriculum and educational materials. This paper is meant to spark discussion and further research into the topic. a 2006 DFRWS. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.