Review: Cybercrime and Digital Forensics: An Introduction

Cybercrime and Digital Forensics: An Introduction by Thomas J. Holt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I used this book this year for a Cyber Criminology class I teach. It is a good text for an overview / introduction class. The first 8 chapters cover different types of cybercrime such as hacking, cyber terror, digital piracy, and cyber stalking / bullying. Cyber sex crimes are also covered. There is one chapter on old school criminology theories / the scientific method and how they apply today to the cyber world today. The last four chapters cover digital forensics, touching on subjects like spoliation and collecting forensics in the cloud.

This is my first year teaching with this text and I will likely use it again. As with any text, it is going to be quickly outdated, so I hope they do an updated version soon. It is well laid out with a nice progression between subjects, interspersing historical information as well. Real world examples are used, but I would have like more examples that are more in depth. Another plus is that the book uses technical terms, while clearly explaining terms and concepts for beginners to understand.

I also liked the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. These are thought provoking questions that have the students thinking beyond what is discussed in that chapter. They made great essay questions for tests. If you are an instructor, the publisher has a website with extra material that can be used in the classroom, such as Powerpoint presentations and test questions.

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