George Mason University (Mason) is a leader in providing higher education to the federal sector including the law enforcement, defense, and the intelligence community. Several years ago, the FBI approached the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department with a request to establish a computer forensic program. Mason, realizing the opportunity and working with the FBI, developed a selection of courses in digital forensics and initially offered a graduate certificate. Due to the overwhelming response to the program, Mason augmented its course offerings and submitted an application to the State of Virginia for a full graduate program. The CFRS program was approved by the State Council for Higher Education in Virginia (SCHEV) in January 2009 and the first students entered the CFRS program in fall 2009. With the help of both federal and private sector partners, Mason was also able to identify and recruit digital forensics professionals that make up its esteemed faculty. Mason offers one of the nation’s first Masters of Science in Digital Forensics. Computer Forensics (CFRS) is now known as Digital Forensics (DFOR) in order to recognize the expanding universe of devices that fall within this discipline.
