The University of Tennessee Awards Information Security Forensics Investigation Services RFQ to OculusIT

The University of Tennessee (UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, it is the flagship campus of the University of Tennessee system, with ten undergraduate colleges and eleven graduate colleges. It hosts more than 30,000 students from all 50 states and more than 100 foreign countries. It is classified among”” “R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity””””””.””.

UT Knoxville, which includes the UT Space Institute and the UT Institute of Agriculture, serves the state by educating its citizens, enhancing its culture, and making a difference in people’s lives through research and service.

UT rolled out this RFQ with a primary requirement for a vendor to provide Cyber Forensics and Incident Investigation services to The University of Tennessee. The services may encompass (but are not limited to logs collection, acquisition of data, imaging, examination, recovery, and presentation of digital evidence as determined by the University of Tennessee ISO team on an add needed basis.

UT rolled out this RFQ with a primary requirement for a vendor to provide Cyber Forensics and Incident Investigation services to The University of Tennessee. The services may encompass (but are not limited to logs collection, acquisition of data, imaging, examination, recovery, and presentation of digital evidence as determined by the University of Tennessee ISO team on an add needed basis.

After thorough assessment and evaluation, UT Knoxville awarded the RFQ to OculusIT in July 2021 for five years.

The scope of work includes, but is not limited to:

• Provide an end-to-end investigation that tracks all elements of a suspected compromise, including how the compromise was initiated, which devices/systems were compromised, and the associated recovery process.
• Shall provide cyber forensic services including (but not limited to) the examination of computers, mobile phones, and other digital devices (as requested). Provide appropriate evidence preservation, recovery, and analysis, as well as electronic mail extraction and database examination.
• Able to Perform Cyber forensic investigation of:
  • various operating systems (but not limited to) Windows, Linux, UNIX, and Mac OSX.
  • Web/client-based applications and databases including Sybase, Oracle, MS SQL, Postgress.
  • Networking and security devices.
• Provide information that identifies the malicious activities with respect to 5Ws + H (Why, When, Where, What, Who, How).
• Identify the attack vectors by which a hacker (or cracker) gained access to a computer or network to deliver a payload or malicious outcome.
• Ensure that proper chain of custody (CoC) is maintained for integrity and all evidence recovery and collection methods are conducted, managed, and achieved in a consistent manner consistent. Maintain preservation and protection of data and evidence in its original form such that it may be admissible in the court of law.
• Prepare and submit a detailed report on the technical and executive aspects of the investigation.
• Create, maintain, and provide an electronic audit trail or manual record of all processes, including work papers, applied to gather and examine relevant evidence in such a way to ensure even third parties should be able to examine those processes and achieve the same result.
• Project Management Services

OculusIT™ is a global, managed IT and cloud services company that, together with its technology partners, serves more than 600 colleges and universities. Headquartered in Chicago, OculusIT™ has a delivery network and operations across North America and globally. 

For further information, please visit www.oculusit.com  

Disclaimer: OculusIT is not a partner, affiliate nor does an agency relationship exist between Ellucian®, Banner®, or Colleague®. OculusIT does not develop, market, or distribute these products or services, nor do these companies endorse the products or services of OculusIT.