HKUST Holds Hong Kong's First Computer Forensics Diploma Program for Public Officers

A total of 37 officers from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) and five government departments, including the Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department, Department of Justice, the Inland Revenue Department and the Immigration Department today (Thursday), completed the Professional Diploma in Computer Forensics program held at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) from 7 to 29 June 2000.

The program, jointly organized by HKUST's School of Engineering and the Information Security and Forensics Society, is the first of its kind in Hong Kong and is designed to achieve the following objectives:

1.	To contribute to a safe, secure, efficient and reliable environment for E-commerce activities in Hong Kong.
2.	To provide training and accreditation for forensic examination of computers, network security and investigation of computer crimes.
3.	To establish an internationally recognized standard of practice for the investigation of computer crime, and the seizure, handling, recovery and presentation of computer and digital evidence for criminal and civil court proceedings.

"The program includes three courses, each consisting of six days of training. The courses are Internet, E-Commerce, and IT Security; Computer Forensics, Digital Evidence, and Legal Issues; and Network Security and Cyber Crime Investigation," said Prof Samuel Chanson, Associate Head and Professor at HKUST's Computer Science Department. "In addition to lectures, demonstrations and hands-on laboratory sessions were also included," he added.

The courses were taught by eight well-qualified instructors, including Prof Chanson. The other seven instructors were: Dr Manhoi Choy, Assistant Professor at HKUST's Computer Science Department; Dr Hilton Chan, Head, Computer Crime Section, Commercial Crime Bureau, Hong Kong Police Force and his colleague Mr Anthony Fung, Detective Senior Inspector; Mr Ricci Ieong, Security Consultant, PrivyLink (HK) Ltd.; Mr David Leung, Senior Government Counsel, Prosecution Division, Department of Justice; Mr Michael Sandor, Senior Lecturer, School of Law, University of Hong Kong and Mr Henry Richard Reeve, General Counsel and Deputy District Attorney, Appellate Division, Denver District Attorney's Office, Denver, Colorado, USA.