Call for Participation: International Summer School on Cybercrime and Forensic Computing 2025
Information technology has caused a new form of crime to emerge: cybercrime. It is incurring an increasing cost on modern society and is arguably threatening the stability of our economic system. Traditional law enforcement approaches appear to struggle with this new development.
However, with new technologies also come new forms of criminal investigation, like large-scale data analysis and police trojans for covert surveillance. The effectiveness of such methods routinely raises questions regarding their effects on the constitutional rights of affected citizens. The inherent bounds of national law complicate matters further.
The International Summer School on Cybercrime and Forensic Computing is a one-week intensive course (3 June – 6 June 2025) at the intersection of computer science and criminal law taking place in Nuremberg, Germany. It provides students the opportunity to learn and gain inspiration from world experts in digital forensics and criminal law.
The summer school aims at Master students in computer science, forensic science, criminal justice, law or related subjects. It is not required to bring specific prior knowledge. As an interdisciplinary summer school, courses will be aimed at novices in the area. Application deadline is 14 April 2025.
This year, we are happy to announce the following list of internationally renowned speakers:
– Eoghan Casey, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Eoghan Casey is an internationally recognized expert in digital forensic investigation and cyber risk mitigation. He has extensive experience on a wide range of cybercrime investigations, and has delivered expert testimony in civil and criminal matters in the United States, Canada, and international tribunals. Dr. Casey is editor and coauthor of the Handbook of Digital Forensics & Investigation and he wrote the foundational book Digital Evidence & Computer Crime, now in its third edition. He serves on the Board of Directors of DFRWS.org and has a PhD in Computer Science from University College Dublin.
– Simson Garfinkel, BasisTech LLC, USA
Simson L. Garfinkel has published articles in both the academic and popular press for many years in the areas of computer security, digital forensics and privacy. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), holds a PhD in Computer Science from MIT. He was previously an Associate Professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and spent 15 years as a computer scientist within the US Department of Defense, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the US Census Bureau, and the US Department of Homeland Security.
– Marie-Helen Maras, John-Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, USA
Marie-Helen Maras, Professor and Director of the Center for Cybercrime Studies, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, USA, author of numerous books, including Real Criminology (Oxford University Press), Cybercriminology (Oxford University Press) and Computer Forensics: Cybercriminals, Laws, and Evidence (Jones and Bartlett), among others.
– Radina Stoykova, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Radina Stoykova has an extensive research portfolio in the area of criminal law and criminal procedure, with numerous publications in esteemed journals such as Computer Law and Security Review and Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation. She is interested in questions about the balance between law enforcement’s need for information and the individual’s right to a fair trial. One of her notable works in this direction delves into the ethical and legal dimensions of hacking within the framework of lawful investigations, particularly focusing on the case of Encrochat.
– Christoph Safferling, Head of the International Criminal Law Research Unit (ICLU) at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, will preside the mock trial
– Felix Freiling, Professor at Department Informatik of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), spokesperson of the Research Training Group “Cybercrime and Forensic Computing” at FAU, will moderate the mock trial project session
Mock Trial
A signature event within this summer school is the mock trial in which participants jointly solve a small case and defend it in court. The trial will be held on the last day of the summer school in the same court house where the famous Nürnberg war trials were held 1945-1946. Presentations will be judged and winning teams will receive prizes.
How to Participate
The target audience are Master or Graduate students in a field related to the topic of the summer school. The number of participants is limited. To participate, please take part in our poll (you will need to provide your CV, transcript of records, letter of motivation): https://user-surveys.cs.fau.de/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=384196&lang=en by Monday, 14 April 2025.
Locations and Fees
The participation is free of charge. Additionally, the summer school provides full board and lodging to all accepted participants free of charge. Travel costs to/from Nürnberg have to be covered by the participants. The summer school is located directly in the center of Nuremberg, with easy access by train, airplane, and public transportation. For further details on the logistics, please visit the website.
Organizers
Felix Freiling
Lena Reinfelder
Please direct all questions to cybercrime-summerschool@fau.de
This event is supported by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) as part of the Research and Training Group
2475 “Cybercrime and Forensic Computing” (grant number 393541319/GRK2475/1-2019).