The high cost of computer forensics software....

David,

I'm not going to comment on MacMarshal but I certainly agree with one of your later comments on pricing. I've thought for a long time that there's a real gap in the market for a forensics suite priced lower (in some cases far lower) than current market leaders. Of course, it would need to do certain things very well but I think that the level of functionality required is well within the reach of many small developent teams.

Jamie

Greetings,

Mac Marshal happened to be the one that set me off, and one that I could easily document. They're hardly the only example. I think there is a real market for some well crafted tools, and they don't require enormous amounts of effort. Lantern, from Katana, is a very good example. 6 months work, $400, good iPhone forensics tool.

-David

David,

I'm not going to comment on MacMarshal but I certainly agree with one of your later comments on pricing. I've thought for a long time that there's a real gap in the market for a forensics suite priced lower (in some cases far lower) than current market leaders. Of course, it would need to do certain things very well but I think that the level of functionality required is well within the reach of many small development teams.

Jamie

Then add in training/certification on top of package and you can be $8,000 - $10,000 invested. Very heavy upfront costs for business owners and individuals to get the returns on.

It is odd that how the price points jump around. A few out there around $200 and below. The around $1000 then a jump to $3000 +.

It seems that there is opportunity for vendors to develop products at other price levels to meet the demand.

Great blog posting as well David.

David,

I'm not going to comment on MacMarshal but I certainly agree with one of your later comments on pricing. I've thought for a long time that there's a real gap in the market for a forensics suite priced lower (in some cases far lower) than current market leaders. Of course, it would need to do certain things very well but I think that the level of functionality required is well within the reach of many small developent teams.

Jamie

I'd have thought that that gap was well and truly serviced by X-Ways Forensic. It's less than 1/3 the price of the competitors.

Kind of reminds me of former Senator Rick Santorum who lobbied to restrict public access to NOAA and NWS data on the grounds that the Federal Government should not be competing against the private sector (Weather Channel, AccuWeater, etc).

Problem is that the private sector used data collected by public agencies and paid for by the public.

I'd have thought that that gap was well and truly serviced by X-Ways Forensic. It's less than 1/3 the price of the competitors.

At one point in time I'd have agreed with you.

I actually think there's room to make a good living further down the price scale, close to where X-Ways Forensics started.

Jamie

All vertical market software are priced like this.

There will be some crumbs at the bottom, and anything larger requires a small national debt.

Come to think of it, I should make a few programs and sell them.

Thanks David,

I have to give a vote for X-Ways also. It was all I could afford when I first started but I haven't found a reason to move onto anything else right now. I even see features announced for EnCase and others that have been features in X-Ways for awhile.

Besides, it's only part of any investigation like you said, I usually end up reaching for Harlan's tools and a few others. First this was out of necessity, then out of confidence and familiarity.

Not to derail the thread…I know, that's never a great way to start…but there are some really good free and low-cost tools out there that just don't get any support from the community at all. In some ways, this pokes a pretty serious hole in the "high cost of tools" argument, when even the free ones don't get any support from the users.