Should Forensic Focus be a protected forum

debaser

I do see your point totally ?

Is that the way to go for this forum to have a fully registerd area, im not saying the whole of the FF needs to be private, just a area.

Mitch

I'm not sure I really see the benefit? Surely you shouldn't be discussing case specifics using a message board stored on a public third-party server, so wouldn't creating a LE-only forum only serve to create a clique?

I understand a lot of LE practitioners are (justifably?) paranoid, but doing something like that would just

a) hurt those who aren't LE by preventing them from learning topics discussed in the protected forum
b) hurt those who are LE by preventing non-LE folks from contributing knowledge to topics discussed in the forum
c) not protect any techniques from people who might try to subvert them, because they probably know/can find out about them anyway

I think this topic was discussed here somewhere before and Jamie wasn't keen on the idea anyway. Mind you, I think there are a bunch of LE-only forensic sites - doesn't Microsoft run one for topics relating to Windows?

I think you may have mis-read what he sugggested (ie, a restricted area for practitioners both le AND not) although i could be wrong. There are vetted-registration sites like this already (digital detective for example). I can see the point/need, although it'd require more work on the admin's part - vetting every registration, so understandable not wanting to take on the extra workload.

I read it to mean that there would be a section of the forum that would be for registered LE only. I'd find it frustrating if there was (imagine if the answer you was searching for or some other piece of useful information and you wouldn't even know!) but I personally won't moan about it because this site is a good resource.

If anyone wants to read existing opinions on (what I perceive to be) the same subject, check out this FF thread. It's also got a link to a LE-only forum on the first post.

Oh, and I take back what I said in my last post about Jamie not being keen. Sorry. From the thread above

Personally, if LE sees the need for a restricted forum (and I believe that's what Ben is saying) then I have very few qualms about it. If anything I'm surprised that there isn't already an established forum fulfilling exactly this role…

Jamie

Have a good weekend all,

Tom

No disrespect to LEOs, but most of the cutting edge technology in forensics will not be tested or adopted by them. It will be businesses whom are willing to dish out the extra cash for hardware, software, and training.

It would be a bigger loss for LEO forensic experts to have their own private area than non-LEO forensic experts.

I personally feel should be viewable ONLY for forensic practitioners either LE or Private.

I cannot tell if you are suggesting to have a private area for verified practitioners, both from private industry and LE, or separate for each.

I think a "private" area should be accessable ONLY to registered users

OK, I'll bite. Why?

I think a "private" area should be accessable ONLY to registered users

OK, I'll bite. Why?

I for one feel uncomfortable sharing this forum with people who with their first post ask "how do I find the password for such and such", "how do I break in to this", etc. Funnily enough you never see them post again. Should genuine CF knowledge (whether LE or corporate, defence or prosecution) be used to answer these requests?

There's a lot of knowledge here. Should it be shared with those who quite possibly want to use it for illegal or possible 'immoral' purposes?

why not have a forum named newbie & trash where all stupid Q. will be dumped in it and (maybe) deleted in 1 month time?

it will help mantain the quality of post in other forum

There already are 'vetted' forums that do basic checks/vetting of members, but it's not as if they share any 'trade secrets' on these forums. Alot of teh info we discuss is available elsewhere, and am sure that many members are able to spot 'people of malicious intent' a mile away based on their postings, questions and depth of their knowledge. Another restricted & 'exclusive' forum is not what I thought the objectives of Forensic Focus were, and really serves little purpose other than acting as a barrier to learning and sharing people's experiences. What's next? barring folk that work for the defense too?

Fact is we were all newbies at some stage, and the reason many of us are members of this forum - is still to learn, discuss and share ideas.

Just a thought.