Scott Moulton’s “5-...
 
Notifications
Clear all

Scott Moulton’s “5-Day Data Recovery Expert Certification”

11 Posts
7 Users
0 Likes
777 Views
Jamie
(@jamie)
Posts: 1288
Moderator
 

Please use this thread for discussion of the "5-Day Data Recovery Expert Certification Course" review.

 
Posted : 24/05/2011 5:43 pm
(@armresl)
Posts: 1011
Noble Member
 

I don't really see much described about the class in any detail.

There are physical and logical recoveries
We got some food and he talked really fast.
Deep Spar cost @ $5k
You can become a certified data recovery expert.

I've gone to several data recovery classes and can say as well as anyone who does physical recoveries and not just has a few pieces of software to work with, that the classes do you little to no good unless you're willing to make the jump in purchasing hardware like deep spar, PC-3k, salvation, on and on.

Also this is also a major consensus among people providing data recovery services, it's not like CF work, the customer doesn't care if you are a CDRE, but people do, they love having initials after their names. In almost 12 years I've never one time had anyone call and say are you a certified data recovery expert, or even have you attended any specialized training. When you begin to talk to them you can either articulate yourself and that you understand their problem, or you can't.

Lastly, there is already a link up saying

"Read a review on Forensic Focus that was posted by a forensic specialist who formally took the class and release a review."
http//www.myharddrivedied.com/data-recovery-training

The review is supposed to be made by a forensic specialist Karlo Arozqueta, who I have no info on to base the review on.

Just my take.

 
Posted : 25/05/2011 6:10 am
Jamie
(@jamie)
Posts: 1288
Moderator
 

The review is supposed to be made by a forensic specialist Karlo Arozqueta, who I have no info on to base the review on.

This is a fair point but I'd like to point out that the blame lies entirely with me. I already have some detailed background on Karlo but in my rush to get the review online in time for the newsletter ran out of time to agree an appropriate byline. I'll follow up with him shortly and update the review page as soon as I can.

Jamie

 
Posted : 25/05/2011 1:39 pm
rwuiuc
(@rwuiuc)
Posts: 24
Eminent Member
 

I took Scott's class and it was educational, interesting, and I agree. Unless you are going to buy a deepspar, a bunch of other tools, and do this a lot the value is low.

Again good course, Scott, jams a lot in, but tough IMHO to make it work. Really validated a lot of what i know and do as data recovery work and added a few extra tidbits

 
Posted : 25/05/2011 7:14 pm
(@craigball)
Posts: 7
Active Member
 

I took the course and was deeply impressed with the scope of the coverage and utility, as well as the dedication and creativity Scott brought to the program. I wasn't seeking to open a data recovery business, so the cost of a PC3000 or DeepSpar was a non-issue. My goal was to better understand storage media physically and logically and, crucially, to get hands on with the components of the media and their interaction as a complex system.

I recommend this course for any forensic examiner who wants a deeper, richer feel for data storage devices. If you value knowledge for its own sake, the value is high whatever you do afterward. Though I've not opened a drive since to repair same, I don't regret a second or a dollar I invested in Scott Moulton's unique course.

 
Posted : 25/05/2011 7:57 pm
(@madmex)
Posts: 2
New Member
 

I don't really see much described about the class in any detail.

There are physical and logical recoveries
We got some food and he talked really fast.
Deep Spar cost @ $5k
You can become a certified data recovery expert.

This was my first review I'd ever written and followed the guidelines I was provided. It was a tough call in terms of trying to figure out how in-depth a review I should write, and I didn't feel a laundry list of 10+ software tools would have been beneficial or if the reader would just glaze over. I'll keep your advice in mind next time if I decide to write a review for something else.

The review is supposed to be made by a forensic specialist Karlo Arozqueta, who I have no info on to base the review on.

Hi, that's me. Pleased to meetcha! I'm not sure where you were going with the statement that there was already a link up on Scott's site about the review, but is it safe to say you were hinting at the possibility that I was a ghost-writer or that Scott was directly or indirectly responsible for the review? He wasn't, he didn't even know I was writing one.
I was overly detailed in my introduction to Jamie via email when I first approached him about writing the review. I wanted to make sure he knew exactly what my involvement was with the class and Scott and that he was ok with it all before I wrote a review. I actually just sent him a quick bio to add to the review at his request.

To your point about how people love letters after their name. I can see both sides of that issue. I personally am not a fan, so to your point that people love them, well, yes. I think for some people it's an ego thing.

For me, it's more of a necessary evil. I run the IR team for a gov agency, and I've found that gov clients seem to treat you differently when they see certain acronyms after your name. For me it is a way to try and establish that I have at least a universally accepted benchmark of knowledge in certain fields and then, as you said, TALK to the client and proceed to further impress them with your deep knowledge and abilities. So I agree with you completely that initials are meaningless without the follow through.

Additionally certain certifications (like the CISSP) are necessary on certain gov contracts to justify bill rates for contractors at the higher hourly rates. So you can be opposed to them from a philosophical standpoint, but financially (at least in my field) they are necessary.

I do love the forensic community. Nowhere can you find a more paranoid bunch of people who are always looking for the angle. It jades us to people and their motives at times, but we are all problem solvers and can learn a great deal from each other.

Let me know if there is any other information that you would feel would have been good in the review and I'll be sure to include that next time.

 
Posted : 25/05/2011 8:56 pm
(@douglasbrush)
Posts: 812
Prominent Member
 

I do love the forensic community. Nowhere can you find a more paranoid bunch of people who are always looking for the angle. It jades us to people and their motives at times, but we are all problem solvers and can learn a great deal from each other.

The challenge I have is staying skeptical with out becoming cynical; an edge that most of us ride in this field.

I don't think that armresl was implying ghost writing; just wanted further detail about the author to know how to understand the author's point of view. Jamie covered that as well.

I do encourage everyone to do the research associated with any post or article to know where the author is coming from or hear other view points. It is a critical aspect of our field not to take everything at face value. Though at times we all tend to go along with senior members recommendations it is always a good idea to try to gain insight in how they formed their opinion. You gain more knowledge from their journey then seeing them at the destination. Also - Why did the forensicator cross the road? Because Harlan Carvey/Rob Lee/Craig Ball/etc. told me to is not a good answer on the stand.

 
Posted : 25/05/2011 10:41 pm
(@armresl)
Posts: 1011
Noble Member
 

Ghost Writing? Never mentioned it.

My review is based upon what you wrote. As a member of this site and many others for a good number of years, you get to know people and your name has never come up. But, here is a review of a class, and if I don't know you or anything about you, then it makes it much harder ride along with the review based on other things you have reviewed, worked on, or talked about.

This was a discussion on the article, I was merely trying to do that.

To the point about the stand, you're correct, I don't do something specifically because someone else said do it/buy it, but a recommendation from another person who I have read their review before and then for myself tried things out and arrived at the same conclusion, goes a long way.

(actually it goes longer than that last sentence)

 
Posted : 25/05/2011 11:17 pm
Jamie
(@jamie)
Posts: 1288
Moderator
 

I'm back after a long day away and have updated the review with some background on Karlo. Speaking personally, I found it a useful review and I'm grateful to him for taking the time to put it together.

Jamie

 
Posted : 26/05/2011 4:35 am
(@madmex)
Posts: 2
New Member
 

Honestly? I've done my best to keep a low profile so it isn't too surprising you had no clue who I was, where I came from, or what qualifies me to write a review (besides the obvious which is attending the class, and yes, I guess the missing bio may have added to the concern)

I am a member of a slew of InfoSec/IR/Forensics/Data Recovery groups but rarely post and if I do, it's 99% of the time under a pseudonym. Having one of the few names on this planet that 100% means that if you google it, you will find information about no-other-than-me has some severe disadvantages in our super-connected world, so I'm not surprised that you and likely others had to ask themselves "Ok, but.. whothehell is this guy?!"

This review is the first in what I hope will be a series of ways in which I can contribute back to the communities that have been so kind and helpful in providing their knowledge to the masses (regardless of if their advice went unheeded or followed).

I'll be speaking in August at the GFIRST conference put on by CERT/DHS so if any of your guys will be attending that in Nashville, TN, USA, I'd invite you to come listen to my talk on Incident Response techniques via the windows command line.

@Jamie Thanks for putting up the bio info as well.

 
Posted : 26/05/2011 10:32 pm
Page 1 / 2
Share: