Back in September we unveiled a brand new second classroom at our HQ here at Wyboston Lakes on the Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire border. The classroom provides a light and bright environment with ergonomic seating, dual monitors and two huge LCD screens.
It’s a really nice space to teach in, and our delegates are telling us that they’re enjoying it too.
The excellent Netflix show Adolescence has not only raised interesting questions about parenting responsibilities in relation to technology and misogyny in teenage boys, it also touches upon a really interesting area of digital forensics.
Without providing any plot spoilers, the topic of how specific emoji are interpreted crops up and the investigation team get a quick lesson in how something as subtle the colour of an emoji can convey a specific meaning. That meaning can easily be overlooked if:
– the emoji aren’t captured and presented accurately in reports
– the reviewer of said reports doesn’t recognise the significance of a particular emoji, its colour etc.
We’re undertaking a short online survey to collate feedback on current processes relating to emoji capture, reporting and interpretation. We will then share back with the digital forensics community.
If it’s an area you’re interested or have experience in, we hope you’ll take time to complete the short survey (or share it with colleagues who may have relevant experience).
Acquiring Challenging Computer Devices (ACCD) is currently a 2-day course covering Microsoft Surface Pro, Apple Mac and Chromebook devices. It’s very much a practical course which looks to equip students with the vital hands-on experience of acquiring devices which behave in somewhat “non-standard” ways or which are seen less often.
We are currently working on some exciting R&D which we hope will expand the course. It’s exciting because it has the potential to increase the number of encrypted devices that our delegates will be able to acquire.
We are therefore “pressing pause” on our scheduling of ACCD at the present time. We look forward to welcoming the course back to our schedule under a new name later this year.
Please get in touch if you’d like us to keep you updated.
Control-F ran its first Advanced Smartphone & Tablet Acquisition course in February 2015. The Samsung Galaxy S5 was a handset of choice and David Cameron was UK prime minister. We’ve run 43 ASTA courses over the intervening 10 years during which time we’ve helped provide students with acquisition techniques and tricks to allow them to maximise the evidence they could recover from Android and iOS exhibits. Together we’ve cracked passwords, decrypted device backups and used AI models to identify keywords within voice notes and videos.
Although the title of the course has stayed the same, the content has changed many times over (as you would hope and expect!) Devices, exercises and lessons have been retired and replaced over the years in an effort to keep pace with the continual changes in mobile devices and forensic tool capabilities.
However, the time has now come to retire the ASTA course. The continuously evolving mobile forensic landscape not only presents challenges but also provides opportunities, and we feel the time is right to adjust our focus and take a new approach. Rest assured we are already working on a brand new smartphone forensics course which we look forward to announcing to our customers later this year.
Our last ASTA course will run w/c 28 April, so reach out if you wish to secure one of the last remaining seats.
Our course prices will be increasing with effect for bookings made from the 1 April 2025 onwards. We never like increasing our prices, but it won’t have escaped your attention that the cost of most things has increased dramatically over the last couple of years. As a business, we have seen our costs increase by over 30% in the last three years.
Our course schedule page has been updated to show two prices for each course:
To be clear, it doesn’t matter when the course runs, the price will depend upon when the booking is made.
There are three changes for customers who choose to purchase training via a Training Pass:
Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.
Control-F is now looking for a Course Manager to join our Wyboston-based team. This role takes responsibility for creating, delivering and maintaining training course content, ensuring that our materials and delivery remain current, engaging, and accurate.
Key to the role is previous hands-on experience as a digital forensics practitioner. Ideally, we’d love you to have experience in classroom teaching, but we can teach you that bit as long as you are a confident and clear communicator. Please note this is a Wyboston-based role and we’re willing to provide relocation support for the right candidate.
Find out more about the role here.
Salary range £20,000 to £24,000 (depending on experience)
Are you the unofficial tech support for friends and family? The one people call on to set up their new laptop or to work out why they can’t connect to the internet? Constantly being asked for your opinion on the merits of iPhone over Android?
In other words, are you interested in tech and wishing you could find a job where you can indulge your passion and become an integral part of the team?
Then read on. We have the IT Technician job for you!
About you
About the role
This full-time Monday to Friday role supports the internal and classroom IT of our busy digital forensics training company. This is an office-based role at our Wyboston Lakes headquarters on the Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire border with a requirement for occasional travel to a company location in Leeds.
Reporting to the Digital Learning Manager, you’ll be taking responsibility for overseeing the classroom and office IT infrastructure, encompassing the following (this is not an exhaustive list and other responsibilities may be added as you grow into your role):
This is a perfect role for you if you’re setting out in your IT career, you’re interested in tech and you have (or can develop!) an interest in digital forensics. It’s one of those roles where you can learn a lot and you’ll be surrounded by colleagues who want to support you and help you to develop.
About us
The Company offers digital forensics training to mobile phone and computer examiners, mainly in UK police forces but also to private companies and overseas law enforcement organisations. We’re getting really busy with more demand than ever for our courses and you know what that means – lots of IT support needed!
Benefits
Interested?
Get in touch with your CV – we’re waiting to hear from you! Please note that we are planning to recruit during September and October with the expectation of a November start date.
For too long, investigators have been the neglected link in a chain which stretches from device seizure all the way to the courtroom. Investigators are passed huge volumes of data to review in multiple tools and expected to understand and locate data which could be critical to the investigation; all without the benefit of structured training.
Until now.
Control-F is launching two courses in the 4th quarter of 2023 to support investigators, analysts and anyone who needs to work with data extracted from mobile devices:
Get in touch to find out more and to check availability.
We’re delighted to be announcing the launch of our new Acquiring Challenging Computer Devices training course.
This 2 day, intermediate-level course picks up where our entry-level Foundation in Securing Computer Evidence course leaves off in providing simple explanations (and hands-on experience) of acquiring data from Macs, Chromebooks and Surface Pro devices.
The combination of “soldered on” storage and security chips (like the T2 and M1 chips in recent Apple Mac computers) mean that traditional imaging approaches for these types of devices simply don’t work.
You can read more about the course contents, target audience, locations and pricing on the course page here.
Our first courses run during the week commencing 31 October, so get in touch if you’d like to check availability.
Control-F is now looking for an office-based Course Manager to join our small but growing team. We need someone to take responsibility for creating, delivering and maintaining training course content, ensuring that both materials and delivery remain current, engaging and accurate.
The role involves both classroom delivery of existing training courses, alongside design and development of new training course content. The impact and importance to the business couldn’t be greater: you’ll be “on your feet” in the classroom helping our delegates get to grip with digital forensics and when you’re not teaching, you’ll be helping shape new courses and keeping our current courses bang up to date (which is no small undertaking in the fast-moving world of digital devices!)
Our HQ is located at Wyboston Lakes on the Cambridgeshire/Bedfordshire border. This role will involve teaching at HQ as well as at various other locations.
You’ll have previous hands-on experience as a digital forensics practitioner using MSAB XRY and Cellebrite UFED and will have recognised training courses under your belt (you might have a digital forensics degree, but this isn’t essential). You’ll also have excellent written English and be a clear and confident verbal communicator. Not only that, you’ll be comfortable managing multiple ongoing work activities to ensure that deadlines are met.
If you have experience of the following, they would be an advantage:
As a person, you’ll be comfortable in the classroom spotlight and good at building rapport with others. You’ll be working within a small team of people who pay attention to the detail and have a “can do” customer-focused attitude.
Interested, but not sure you can tick all of the boxes right now? If you feel you have most of the right attributes for this role, do get in touch. As an experienced Training Provider, we are more than happy to support you to develop the skills needed for this role, whether that’s in terms of digital forensics knowledge or the ability to teach. We offer the opportunity to start out as a Trainee Course Manager until you’ve really found your feet.
We’re a digital forensics training provider who deliver classroom and online courses, primarily to law enforcement customers. We’re based just 30 minutes drive from Cambridge, the heart of “Silicon Fen”.
In return, our Course Manager will have a competitive salary, performance-based annual review, defined contribution pension scheme, 22 days a year annual leave (plus 8 Bank Holidays), an extra day’s annual leave for the first three years’ service, the ability to work flexitime and paid time off for volunteering. In addition, we offer a healthcare cash plan which entitles staff to:
Please note this is a Wyboston-based role and we’re willing to provide relocation support for the right candidate.
We are a small business with a big reputation in our field and we’d love to welcome you to join us. You can download the job description, read more about the courses we’re currently offering or contact us for more details and an ‘off the record’ chat about the role.