February 2020

The Evolution of my Home Lab: From Break-Fix to Forensics

One of my favorite things to do in my spare time is play around in my home lab. Aside from being fun (to me anyway), home labs are a great way to get hands on experience using different hardware and software. To demonstrate what a home lab can be used for, I will talk about what I have personally done in my home lab over the years. In 2009, I started studying for the A+ certification exam. I put an ad on Freecycle looking for unwanted computers and computer equipment so I could practice repairing them. This was the beginning...

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My Journey into DFIR

Prior to getting into IT, I held various positions such as office manager, accounts payable clerk, truck driver, and loss prevention agent. My father was a programmer for Sperry Univac and I loved going there with him on Take Your Kid to Work Day. In 1999, I started college as a Computer Science major but algorithms and subsequent calculus classes quickly changed that. Math was definitely not my strong point. I changed my major to Criminal Justice and planned on getting a CSI certificate as part of the degree. I liked investigating things. I was about six classes away from...

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Hello and Welcome to my Blog!

I entered the DFIR field in May of 2019 and created this site to document the resources I use as I learn and grow in DFIR. I’m hoping it will help others who are interested in the field or who are also just getting started. Under DFIR Resources, you will find books, training, webinars, videos, and other resources that I have found to be helpful. There are also over 400 training courses listed in the Free and Affordable Training sections. This is a personal blog and all views are my own.

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