Dear students,

I have just released the points for Practical Sheet #2 and Theopractical Sheet #3. You find the solutions in the corresponding NextCloud folders.

Theopractical Sheet #4 is also out now - you can submit your solutions until next Wednesday, 23:59 in the new JSON format.

A couple of notes / important points:

Exam Admission Criterion

Remember, in order to get admitted to the final exam, you need to score at least 60/100 points and have submitted at least 6 out of the 7 sheets.

The first 40 people have scored the needed 60 points and hence fulfill the first criterion. If you belong to this group, you still need to submit one additional sheet to get admitted. A sheet counts as submitted if you hand in a valid JSON file and a proof-of-work file. But you can decide to work on just one question and even if your answer is wrong, the sheet counts as submitted. I need to update the "Number of Submissions" counter manually, so please accept some days in delay.

Once you fulfill both criteria, the exam registration buttons will magically appear and you can register yourself for one or both exams. Please make sure to also register on LSF. As both Janine and I do not have LSF accounts, we cannot connect CMS and LSF, so please register on both systems if you plan to take the exam. 

Clearance Session

The clearance session for complaints about exercise sheet gradings will take place on July 17 between 13 and 14:15, so right before the last exercise session. You will need to register for this session on CMS. This session is only meant for students that have only little less than the 60 points and have a realistic chance to get admitted. If you are very far away or have already crossed the 60, this session is not for you.

"I have scored not enough points to get admitted to the exam, even if I score all points in the last two sheets. What should I do?"

First of all: That is not the end of the world. Please send me a mail. If applicable, explain special circumstances, for example, medical conditions. You might then be entitled to submit a bonus exercise.

With all other questions, consider the forum or the next exercise session on next Thursday.

Best regards,
Roman 

Dear all,

yesterday, a student of our course notified me that there is a security vulnerability in the CMS Online Test feature. As long as this vulnerability is not patched, we will adjust the modalities of exercise sheets slightly. You will need to submit your answers bundled in a single JSON file as a regular CMS submission instead of the online test.

You find a PDF file with the exercises in the corresponding NextCloud folder in CMS. Additionally, there is a file template.json that you please use for your submission. Replace my name and my matriculation number with your own and fill the "question_x" values accordingly. The expected answer format is also described in the PDF Sheet.

For multiple choice questions, please submit a JSON Array with all answer options that you consider valid. 

Example:

How hot is it today in Saarbrücken?

[] I need a jacket, it's too cold

[] Above 30°C? Really?!

[] Just a normal day in Autumn

Expected Answer:

["Above 30°C? Really?!"]

If you consider multiple answers correct, it would accordingly be:

["Above 30°C? Really?!", "Just a normal day in Autumn"]

Make sure to use valid quotation marks. Having everything in a single JSON file should make it easier to validate your file.

If you face any problems or have questions regarding the format or the questions, please use the forum.

Lastly, please note that there is a bank holiday on next Thursday. The next exercise session takes place on June 26 in CISPA's lecture hall.

Enjoy the sun! ☀️

Best,
Roman

Dear all,

I'd like to address a few recurring points regarding the exercise and communication practices for this course.

• The exercises are automatically graded, and due to the high number of participants, individual re-evaluation requests cannot be accommodated.

• If your submission was not graded due to an incorrect format, we regret to inform you that no adjustments can be made. It has been clearly and repeatedly communicated that submissions must strictly follow the required format in order to be processed by the automated system.

• The current format and rules of the exercise remain unchanged. This course awards 6 ECTS, which is a substantial amount of credit. It is therefore entirely appropriate to expect active participation in the exercises without additional incentives such as exam bonus points. Completing the exercises is part of the expected workload and a core component of your learning.

• Furthermore, please respect Roman’s request not to be contacted with individual emails about these topics. The exercise sessions are the appropriate place to raise questions so that they can be addressed in a way that benefits everyone.

While the majority of students have been respectful and engaged — and we truly appreciate that — it is important to be clear in this regard:
Emails concerning re-evaluation requests, exam bonus points, changes to the exercise format, or individual questions regarding the exercise sheets will be ignored from now on.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Best regards,

Janine

Dear students,

here are a couple of announcements! :)

Practical Sheet #2

As you have seen, the practical sheet 2 started yesterday. You have time until June 11 to submit your proof-of-work file and your answers in the online test. Please read the forum on a regular basis, as there might be some clarifications on some exercises. Also feel free to post your questions there if you have some.

I would recommend to start early, as the complexity and image sizes are a bit higher compared to the previous exercises.

Theopractical Sheet #2

I have just released the feedback and the points for the theopractical sheet #2. There were a couple of problems in exercise 1, I will go over them next Thursday. I will release a sample solution with references for all devices in CMS soon.

Before you complain via mail for the grading there, please double-check the following:

• Have you submitted valid JSON?
• Have you submitted JSON that adheres to the specified format? -> "product-number" is not the same as "product_number".
• Have you worked on the correct product? -> "Amazon Echo 1st Generation" is not the same as "Amazon Echo Dot" and "AVM FRITZ!Box 7490" is not the same as "AVM FRITZ!Box 7540".
• Have you worked on the correct product version? -> Compare the FCC IDs if necessary.
• Have you submitted valid product numbers? -> FBGA numbers are not necessarily also product numbers.

If you answer all these questions with yes and are very sure that you have another valid solution, please send me an email with a link to an online resource that supports your answer. In any other case, please do not send me mails about your individual points. Remember that we will have the clearing session in front of the exam. Thanks!

Exam Registration

The LSF registration for the final exam is already open (search for "IT-Forensik"). If you would like to take the exam, you have to register at least one week in advance of the exam.

You are admitted to the exam if you score at least 60/100 points in the exercise sheets and have submitted six proof-of-work files in total by the end of the lecture period. It is your own responsibility to de-register in advance if you do not score enough points for the exam admission. According to university regulations, taking an exam without admission can be considered fraud.

Exercise Session Room Change

The next exercise session on June 5 takes again place in E1.3, HS 003 and virtually via Teams. Happy to see you there!

Now please enjoy the rest of the weekend! Hope you are not unintentionally walking through the rain :D

Best regards,
Roman