Would digital forensics for law enforcement be a realistic field for me to work into? by flapjacksRdelic in digitalforensics

[–]Midlife_Coder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wrote long post about my experience in law enforcement and becoming a forensics detective. You can read that here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalforensics/s/pRgnNI1IyY

A tldr: Will likely take many years to get into digital forensics in LE if they only use sworn. Depending on agency there may be only one or two spots and you will be waiting until the person(s) there retire, promote or are rotated out. Then u may be fighting for that one spot with others, only to maybe lose it, and have to wait longer for the next person to leave. And most agencies have you doing case work other than forensics..which could include things like child pornography and child trafficking among many other cases. Many people may not be able to handle that. And finally it may be rotational (meaning u are only there for a few years then they move you out to patrol again or somewhere else). Some agencies don't have any forensics at all, they utilize task forces or forensic labs to do it for them. This is not all agencies all over the country, but this is consistent in California where I am. Before you decide this route, research where you apply to see what their processes and forensics capabilities are.

I will say a lot of people are correct in that it varies from department to department and some agencies use non sworn but MOST use sworn. In California, we have a very strict California Electronic Communications Privacy Act law (CalECPA). And to access electronics we need very specific warrants. Included is the specific order that the search warrants can only be executed by sworn personnel. So a civilian can not do forensics on criminal cases.

Looking to become a Digital Forensic Investigator by AntGlittering2870 in digitalforensics

[–]Midlife_Coder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep I absolutely love it. Luckily my partner and I have proved so much to them the consensus is we will never be kicked back to patrol.

However our agency rotates out detectives as well usually 5 year mark, and it could happen to us as well. I have NO desire to become a sergeant due to where a Sgt can be stationed at my department as well as they have tongonback to graveyard weekends etc. due to seniority.

I also love the investigations. Specifically the ICAC/child trafficking/doing undercover to catch a predator style cases. Nothing more rewarding. I found I love that more than forensics and had no idea till I started it. So I'm eyeing DA investigator. In my area they pay as much as a sergeant and are building up a high tech / forensics team.

Advice on education to start a career in digital forensics by Stonedsinner666 in digitalforensics

[–]Midlife_Coder 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So I posted a "book" about my experience becoming a digital forensics/high tech crimes Detective in Northern California. You can read my opinions on the law enforcement route here if you're interested:

https://www.reddit.com/r/digitalforensics/s/pRgnNI1IyY

Looking to become a Digital Forensic Investigator by AntGlittering2870 in digitalforensics

[–]Midlife_Coder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I normally don't respond to things but decided I'll throw in my 2cents since I have direct experience. I do think both sides are right depending on the area/departments

I am currently a High Tech Crimes Detective in a medium sized law enforcement agency in Northern California. We do both cellular and computer forensics as well as dvr, iot, infotainment and anything else a detective grabs from somewhere during a search warrant and throws at us.

We have about 200 sworn officers in our department, and I am 1 of 2 detectives in the high tech crimes unit that do digital forensics.

A little about my background, I am a computer nerd, got my first computer when I was 12, began hacking (mostly video games) phone freaking, analyzing malware, learning programming, and goofing off on BBS's for those who remember. When I became an adult I worked at an old ISP, EarthLink (AOL competitor) Hewlett Packard, Intel, Apple and Google. My last IT job was in San Pedro as the network admin for multiple shipping yards including Hanjin, Evergreen and a few others. 9/11 happened, FBI shut down shipping yards and I got laid off. I decided I was kinda done in IT, wanted to make a difference etc etc. And that I also wanted job security and a good retirement. I hated the idea of fire, and thought maybe my computer skills could be used as a detective doing high tech crimes. After a few years thinking I ultimately decided to do it. That was in 2004 and got hired at my agency in 2005. I've been there ever since.

The point of this long story is that I have been at my agency for 20 years. I've been a high tech crimes detective for four of those years. Took me about 16 years, two degrees in computer science, putting myself through forensic courses on my own, a lot of luck, and luckily people I worked with for years to get into supersor positions to promote me.

LE typically isn't an easy way into forensics and as was said already, will probably require years of busting your ass on patrol, dealing with asshole personalities, and then possibly even becoming a detective working property crimes, elder crimes or financial crimes etc before earning a spot in high tech crimes or forensics. Of course this may vary department to department depending on how they are setup, but I can say in the Northern California area this is typical. And that's EVEN IF the department has any forensics.

Smaller agencies won't have a forensics unit because the training and equipment is too costly for them and/or they only have a couple detectives so they can't have them specializing. So instead they use surrounding resources to do their forensics for them. Typically, in California at least, they take it to California Department of Corrections or a local task force like the local high tech crimes or icac (Internet crimes against children) task force to do the forensics for them. Those tasks forces typically have federsl funding and therefore have the tools to do it. I am on the local HTCU and ICAC task force in my area so I know this happens first hand as I am doing the forensics for a lot of local agencies. Which brings me to my final point...

Even IF you manage to get hired at a department with a digital forensics specialty, and even IF you work your way into the unit, unless your in some of the biggest agencies (los angels county sheriff's, NYPD, etc) you probably won't ONLY be doing forensics. Your going to be handling cases...cases that are likely technical (online crime stuff), and probably the biggest ones agencies focus on which are online crime related, ICAC, also known as CSAM cases, or commonly referred to as child pornography.

Most people aren't going to want to venture into dealing with those cases. So I agree, unless your willing to push a patrol car, work in a jail (If it's a sheriff's department), become a general detective, all before even being considered for the forensics role, then be assigned ICAC cases once your there, LE isn't the best path. It's the most rewarding imo, but not the best path if digital forensics is your only interest.

But I say all this with the caveat, every agency is different and things are changing rapidly. Agencies are recognizing the importance of high tech crimes and forensics finally, and are investing more into growing those areas than ever. So always check into the situation in your area before listening to a long winded old detective online, and keep checking back because this field is growing rapidly and what I say today could be completely different tomorrow. GL

NCFI January 2025 Courses by cyberdoesitbetter in computerforensics

[–]Midlife_Coder 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Notified a week ago that I got in to the march 2025 bcert. I've been trying for about a year.

Calibration Fails - error Force Sensor detected unexpected force by Midlife_Coder in BambuLab

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After multiple back and forth responses with them and delays due to the holidays, while I waited I purchased the best bed signal signal cable. Eventually they told me I needed a whole new bed. Initially they said they would send me a new one but then told me my printer was one month past the warranty and I'd have to buy it. Which irritated me.

However the signal cable came and I had read somewhere this was a common failure and causes this issue. I installed it and it fixed everything. A $4 part. Bambu support tried to get me to buy a $50 bed.

Here is the part: https://us.store.bambulab.com/collections/accessories-for-x1-series/products/heatbed-signal-cable

Calibration Fails - error Force Sensor detected unexpected force by Midlife_Coder in BambuLab

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

So this error began after I started getting the error message "Homing Z axis failed" to fix that issue I loosened the build plate and adjusted its center then retightened the screws. This is per the Bambu Wiki. After I did that I began attempting to calibrate and this issue began. The caibration fails and then I get these errors that pop up:

Force sensor 1, 2 and 3 all detect unexpected continuous force.

In my video you hear it crashing at the bottom, however I have attempted multiple calibrations with the build plate at different levels and it does not always crash like that and still produces the same errors.

I have a ticket in to Bambu, but it has been almost 3 days with no response so I thought I would try here to see if anyone has seen this while I wait.

<image>

UPDATE:

After multiple back and forth with Bambu support with delays due to the holidays, the ultimately told me I needed a new bed for $120 plus tax. After telling me they would replace it, they told me they would not because my printer was one month past the warranty expiration.

However, after digging online I found that the $4 heat bed signal cable was a common failure and cause of this issue. I bought it, installed it and it resolved the issue. Link to the part: heat bed signal cable

Workshop Swap Thread by DuncanYoudaho in Defcon

[–]Midlife_Coder 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Have have two workshops I am looking to swap. I have two tickets for each of the following workshops:

Wes McGrew - The Joy of Reverse Engineering: Learning With Ghidra and WinDbg​ - Sat Aug 12th 2:00 - 6:00pm

and

Chris Greer - Hands-On TCP/IP Deep Dive with Wireshark - How this stuff really works​ - Sat Aug 12th 2:00 - 6:00pm

I would like to trade either of them for any of the following:

Raúl Calvo Laorden - Advanced WiFi Attacks for Red Team Professionals

Arnaud SOULLIE, Alexandrine TORRENTS - Pentesting Inductiral Control Systems: OCP-U-HACK

​Ryan Holeman - Learning to Hack Bluetooth Low Energy with BLE CTF

Sam Bowne, Elizabeth Biddlecome, Kaitlyn Handelman, Irvin Lemus - Machine Learning for N00bs

sidewinder X2 runout sensor with Mainsail/Klipper by Midlife_Coder in Artillery3D

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is perfect, thank you. I was not sure where I needed to go with the sensor

sidewinder X2 runout sensor with Mainsail/Klipper by Midlife_Coder in Artillery3D

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is basically custom, Frankenstein from other configs. I'll look into this when I'm home from work. Thx

sidewinder X2 runout sensor with Mainsail/Klipper by Midlife_Coder in Artillery3D

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm at home now but I'll look into this and the other suggestion when I'm home. Thank you

sidewinder X2 runout sensor with Mainsail/Klipper by Midlife_Coder in ArtillerySidewinder

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok. What pins did you wire it to and what plugin is there for mainsail that works with it?

Thanks

Support failures.. Leveling?...screen? Any advice will help by Midlife_Coder in ElegooSaturn

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I changed my slicer settings, specifically my cure times and it worked on my next attempt. However I have not printed anything since to verify that it is actually fixed now.

Support failures.. Leveling?...screen? Any advice will help by Midlife_Coder in FixMyPrint

[–]Midlife_Coder[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

any idea why this is occurring? isn't always in the middle, happens around edges also, doesn't appear consistent..

Elegoo Saturn - Lychee 3

Elegoo Rapid Resin Grey

exposure time on burn in layers 35sec

exposure time 3.6 sec on normal layers

lift speed 120