I think for my part that in a professional arena I would rather pay for tools. Whilst it must be recognised that freeware is needed, and new developers should always be encourgaed, there comes a point when you really rely on a tool that you need strucutred, reliable support and development, rather than best efforts.
I think for my part that in a professional arena I would rather pay for tools. Whilst it must be recognised that freeware is needed, and new developers should always be encourgaed, there comes a point when you really rely on a tool that you need strucutred, reliable support and development, rather than best efforts.
I can't agree more with you. For my part, open source and freeware software only get used when no other option is available and only when I have tested and verified it first.
I still feel a list of various live CD's (free and commercial) would be a useful resource for us all.
Good morning,
Raptor - Intel and PPC Macs, reported to work on non-Macs but also heard of some issues.
BackTrack3
-David
Just a quick note to confirm that I'm hearing the request for further information on live CDs. In broad terms (as newsletter subscribers will know) one of the things highlighted in the recent survey was a strong interest in reviews and it's something I'm trying to get off the ground very shortly. In the meantime, if there's anyone who's interested in reviewing live CDs for publication at Forensic Focus please drop me a line.
Cheers,
Jamie
Why do we have to pay for good tools? We don't. A full forensic examination can be carried out on open-source tools. I know that these tools aren't as refined as the commercial solutions but they do work.
There are tools worth paying for and Helix may well be one of them, fact is I'm not prepared to invest money to find out when there is a large collection of other boot CDs around that can accomplish the same or similar job. Why spend money needlessly when there are free alternatives?
I think for my part that in a professional arena I would rather pay for tools. Whilst it must be recognised that freeware is needed, and new developers should always be encourgaed, there comes a point when you really rely on a tool that you need strucutred, reliable support and development, rather than best efforts.
Can you please remember that Helix is, for the most part, open source and free tools. The support that you would need for running such software is easily available on the internet.
Guidance do not charge for access to their forums, neither do AccessData. How would everyone feel if Jamie started charging for the use of this site? The fact is that the majority of help available IS free.
Can you please remember that Helix is, for the most part, open source and free tools.
Based on my conversations with e-fense the "new" Helix is no longer a collection of Open Source tools. They decided supporting a collection of Open Source tools was not a good/profitable business model and did a re-write based on their Aperio LE only tool. Charging for access to their forums which is where you download the code is not much different than forums that only allow registered users of a software product to be members.
Can you please remember that Helix is, for the most part, open source and free tools.
Based on my conversations with e-fense the "new" Helix is no longer a collection of Open Source tools. They decided supporting a collection of Open Source tools was not a good/profitable business model and did a re-write based on their Aperio LE only tool. Charging for access to their forums which is where you download the code is not much different than forums that only allow registered users of a software product to be members.
Fair point but the benefit of the original Helix disc, for me, is now gone.
I think for my part that in a professional arena I would rather pay for tools. Whilst it must be recognised that freeware is needed, and new developers should always be encourgaed, there comes a point when you really rely on a tool that you need strucutred, reliable support and development, rather than best efforts.
I think reliable support and continuing development is important but I don't think you can rely on it being there for paid tools and be absent/lacking with not-paid-for tools. For example AccessData's support forums are very barren and many questions go unanswered by support staff. Plus for many there's not always someone else footing the bill for their tools so they need to look at the alternatives!
I can't agree more with you. For my part, open source and freeware software only get used when no other option is available and only when I have tested and verified it first.
I don't really have trust in something because I've paid for it eg Microsoft Windows costs you but often is insecure while Unbuntu for example is free and may well have less vulnerabilites.
Just a quick note to confirm that I'm hearing the request for further information on live CDs.
I think this would be very helpful. The more information and tools we have the better prepared we can be.
Jonathan, I couldn't have put it better myself.