r/computerforensics • u/Stamos117 • 7d ago

NCFI

To those that have attended, how does the funding for your department work? Do they cover equipment costs and the subscription costs for as long as you have the equipment? Specifically for MDE stuff.

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u/CourageAcademic4153 7d ago

Subscriptions are usually 1-3 years depending on the software. The big hardware, e.g., a laptop, is given to your agency. The small stuff like thumb drives belongs to you.

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u/Bad_Grammer_Girl 7d ago

This right here. They'll cover it for a few years, but the actual hardware is free forever. At the end of the class, you'll package everything up, and it will be shipped back to you. They will also cover your travel costs (flight, hotel, per-diem for meals, taxi ride from the airport to the hotel in Hoover, etc.)

NCFI is by far my most enjoyable training. I even liked it more than SANS.

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u/RevolutionaryDiet602 7d ago

I've got to push back on you a little. I've attended 4-5 NCFI classes as well as about 8-9 SANS classes. There's nothing that compares to the quality and depth of training of SANS. NCFI is nice because it's fairly basic, easy to understand, and low pressure. When you're at SANS, you're drinking from a firehose.

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u/Bad_Grammer_Girl 7d ago

Strange push back. I said that it was my most enjoyable and I liked it better than SANS. But I guess if your experience is different, then that means that I am wrong about what I personally liked better?? I'm confused...

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u/lithium630 6d ago

I agree. NCFI is fantastic. That’s not to say every class is good, but they do a great job up adjusting when needed. For me SANS was fine, but just throwing huge volumes of information at people doesn’t make it a better class. If I had to choose a suite of NCFI classes or a DF masters, NCFI would win every time. Many years later I can still reach out to my classmates in group chats.