I read today that there are some technical bloggers that have resolved to not make any New Years resolutions. Uh...okay...but isn't saying that you're not going to do that, in essence, a resolution? Hey, I'm just sayin'...

To kick 2007 off, I'm going to resolve to think big thoughts about IR and CF this year. Seriously. There has to be more to IR and forensic analysis than just what we're seeing. Think about it. There's got to be ton of evidence in Registry, right? After all, no one goes there. What about in RAM? And I know that there are a lot of questions out there, as I see some of them again and again. Questions like:

• How do I show files were copied to/from a system?
• How do I show that a CD/DVD was created on a system, and by whom?
• How do I show that a user account was changed from a User to an Administrator, and when?
  

What I would ask of all of you for 2007 is to build the knowledge base of the forensic community. Remember, it takes a village...I know, I can't believe I said that either, but hey, it makes my point. I've heard that a lot of folks don't post or comment or ask questions online because they don't want to look stupid. Okay, so post under someone else's name so they look stupid. Or post anonymously. Whatever works. The point is that there're a bunch of us out there working in this area, and every now and then a "hey, what about..." or "hey, what if..." or "hey, look what I found..." would really go a long way toward adding to all of our knowledge.

I've also been told that LEOs don't like to post questions because opposing counsel might see it and hold that against them in court. Well, if that's the case, then couldn't opposing counsel pretty much get any testimony thrown out because at one point, before all of your training and reading, you didn't know anything? I mean, doesn't it make sense that you'd ask, get an answer, and verify it, and let that be the case, rather than go into court with less of a case, all because you didn't want to ask a question?

One last thing...please resolve that in 2007, when posting questions, you'll include the OS and version. Seriously. I know some of you think that when someone responds to your post with "what OS/version?", you've been "chastized" or p0wned...whatever. Get over it. Most times, the answer will be different, depending on whether we're talking Windows 2000, XPSP2, or Vista, and I don't have the time to write or read an if...then...else encyclopedic answer.