| (a) Implementation. The provisions of this section
shall be implemented by school districts beginning with the 2023-2024
school year.
(1) No later than August 1, 2023, the commissioner
of education shall determine whether instructional materials funding
has been made available to Texas public schools for materials that
cover the essential knowledge and skills identified in this section.
(2) If the commissioner makes the determination that
instructional materials funding has been made available this section
shall be implemented beginning with the 2023-2024 school year and
apply to the 2023-2024 and subsequent school years.
(3) If the commissioner does not make the determination
that instructional materials funding has been made available under
this subsection, the commissioner shall determine no later than August
1 of each subsequent school year whether instructional materials funding
has been made available. If the commissioner determines that instructional
materials funding has been made available, the commissioner shall
notify the State Board of Education and school districts that this
section shall be implemented for the following school year.
(b) General requirements. This course is recommended
for students in Grades 9-12. Prerequisite: Foundations of Cybersecurity.
Students shall be awarded one credit for successful completion of
this course.
(c) Introduction.
(1) Career and technical education instruction provides
content aligned with challenging academic standards,, industry relevant
technical knowledge, and college and career readiness skills for students
to further their education and succeed in current and emerging professions.
(2) The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
(STEM) Career Cluster focuses on planning, managing, and providing
scientific research and professional and technical services, such
as laboratory and testing services and research and development services.
(3) Digital forensics is a critical discipline concerned
with analyzing anomalous activity on computers, networks, programs,
and data. As a discipline, it has grown with the expansion of a globally
connected digital society. As computing has become more sophisticated,
so too have the abilities to access systems and sensitive information.
Digital forensics professionals investigate and craft appropriate
responses to disruptions to governments, organizations, and individuals.
Whereas cybersecurity takes a proactive approach to information assurance
to minimize harm, digital forensics takes a reactive approach to incident
response.
(4) Digital Forensics introduces students to the knowledge
and skills of digital forensics. The course provides a survey of the
field of digital forensics and incident response.
(5) Students are encouraged to participate in extended
learning experiences such as career and technical student organizations
and other leadership or extracurricular organizations.
(6) Statements that contain the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(d) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Employability skills. The student identifies necessary
skills for career development and employment opportunities. The student
is expected to:
(A) investigate the need for digital forensics;
(B) research careers in digital forensics along with
the education and job skills required for obtaining a job in both
the public and private sector;
(C) identify job and internship opportunities and accompanying
job duties and tasks and contact one or more companies or organizations
to explore career opportunities;
(D) identify and discuss certifications for digital
forensics careers;
(E) explain ethical and legal responsibilities in relation
to the field of digital forensics;
(F) identify and describe businesses and government
agencies that use digital forensics;
(G) identify and describe the kinds of crimes investigated
by digital forensics specialists; and
(H) solve problems and think critically.
(2) Employability skills. The student communicates
and collaborates effectively. The student is expected to:
(A) apply effective teamwork strategies;
(B) collaborate with a community of peers and professionals;
(C) create, review, and edit a report summarizing technical
findings; and
(D) present technical information to a non-technical
audience.
(3) Ethics and laws. The student recognizes and analyzes
ethical and current legal standards, rights, and restrictions related
to digital forensics. The student is expected to:
(A) develop a plan to advocate for ethical and legal
behaviors both online and offline among peers, family, community,
and employers;
(B) research and discuss local, state, national, and
international law such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act
of 1986, Title III (Pen Register Act); USA PATRIOT Act of 2001; and
Digital Millennium Copyright Act;
(C) research and discuss historic cases or events regarding
digital forensics or cybersecurity;
(D) analyze ethical and legal behavior when presented
with confidential or sensitive information in various scenarios related
to cybersecurity activities;
(E) analyze case studies of computer incidents;
(F) use the findings of a computer incident investigation
to reconstruct a computer incident;
(G) identify and discuss intellectual property laws,
issues, and use;
(H) contrast legal and illegal aspects of information
gathering;
(I) contrast ethical and unethical aspects of information
gathering;
(J) analyze emerging legal and societal trends affecting
digital forensics; and
(K) discuss how technological changes affect applicable
laws.
(4) Digital citizenship. The student understands and
demonstrates the social responsibility of end users regarding digital
technology, safety, digital hygiene, and cyberbullying. The student
is expected to:
(A) identify and use digital information responsibly;
(B) use digital tools responsibly;
(C) identify and use valid and reliable sources of
information; and
(D) gain informed consent prior to investigating incidents.
(5) Digital forensics skills. The student locates,
processes, analyzes, and organizes data. The student is expected to:
(A) identify sources of data;
(B) analyze and report data collected;
(C) discuss how to maintain data integrity such as
by enabling encryption;
(D) examine and describe metadata of a file; and
(E) examine and describe how multiple data sources
can be used for digital forensics, including investigating malicious
software (malware) and email threats.
(6) Digital forensics skills. The student understands
software concepts and operations as they apply to digital forensics.
The student is expected to:
(A) compare software applications as they apply to
digital forensics;
(B) describe the purpose of various application types
such as email, web, file sharing, security applications, and data
concealment tools;
(C) identify the different purposes of data formats
such as pdf, wav, jpeg, and exe;
(D) describe how application logs and metadata are
used for investigations such as Security Information and Event Management
(SIEM) reports;
(E) describe digital forensics tools;
(F) select the proper software tool based on appropriateness,
effectiveness, and efficiency for a given digital forensics scenario;
(G) describe components of applications such as configurations
settings, data, supporting files, and user interface; and
(H) describe how the "as a service" model applies to
incident response.
(7) Digital forensics skills. The student understands
operating systems concepts and functions as they apply to digital
forensics. The student is expected to:
(A) compare various operating systems;
(B) describe file attributes, including access and
creation times;
(C) describe how operating system logs are used for
investigations;
(D) compare and contrast the file systems of various
operating systems;
(E) compare various primary and secondary storage devices;
and
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