The value of skills training

Our eye was caught recently by the editorial section of Digital Investigation journal (Vol 8, Issue 1, 2011, p2)

“Although it is important for practitioners to be conversant with forensic tools, training programs that concentrate on commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) forensic products are generally insufficient. An effective training program develops core competencies in digital forensics, and teaches practitioners to combine various existing tools and methods…….Although training that concentrates on commercial off-the-shelf forensic tools enables practitioners to perform certain routine tasks, digital investigators need to appreciate the limitations of each tool and have versatility in using multiple tools.

Hear hear!

At Control-F we believe passionately that digital forensics training is about more than knowing which buttons to click. We think digital forensic analysts need to understand underlying principles first and then introduce them to tools which will implement and automate those principles and processes (thereby making the forensic analyst more efficient).

Our vendor-neutral training courses utilise multiple tools from different vendors; we assess the value of different products during our research and course development and only include products on our courses which we trust. Any products which appear in our training courses are there because of their usefulness; we don’t get paid to include tools in our courses (although our customers often receive discounts for those products by attending our training!)

As the American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson once said

“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”