Ride the Lightning

ACCESSDATA ANSWERS FTK 2 CRITICS – AND APOLOGIZES

May 14, 2008

The following e-mail appears to have been sent (without running a spellchecker!) to FTK’s registered users yesterday.

"Dear FTK 2 Customer:

The release of FTK 2 has created much more confusion than we had anticipated, so we would like to take a moment to once again clarify a very important point. FTK 2 is not meant to be a replacement for FTK 1 for all customers. While some customers will likely see FTK 2 as a superior solution and make the move, some will no doubt prefer the simplicity and minimal hardware requirements of version 1. It is for that reason that we are committed to not forcing our customers to choose between the two. Not only does every dongle of FTK 2 ship with a full working copy of FTK 1(both solutions can be utilized at the same time), but we are continuing to support and develop FTK 1.  A new version of FTK 1 will be releaed (sic) shortly with some powerful new features, and there will be additional new releases in the future.

We acknowledge there are challenges with FTK 2, such as slow processing, complex installation and GUI response issues. We are very well aware of these issues and diligently working on addressing them as quickly as possible.  Over time, as we learn to take greater advantage of the power that a database-driven approach provides, we believe the vast majority of the customer base will transition. However we are not now, nor do we plan to in the future, forcing custumers (sic) in one direction or the other. There are situations in which a database-driven solution is better and situations in which a memory-based solution is best. Therefore we are enabling you with both, and will allow you to decide when to use each.

We appreciate the continued feedback and support. We know we have not made it the easiest transition and for that we apologize. It is nobody’s fault but our own as the product manufacturer. So AccessData is committed to making FTK 2 easier to use and to providing continued customer support and educational resources for those who are interested in them . . ."

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The tone is nice and there is some candor here. However, the letter is a bit disingenuous in suggesting that users should have known that there were choices here. From the point of view of users, version 2 was simply advertised as an upgrade – not as a choice, with enumerated pros and cons. Also, it is clear that the release was premature as no one who really does computer forensics seems to believe that this is currently a viable product. Obviously, AccessData has been receiving a lot of heat. The company blew a whole lot of good will with this ill-advised move and has a long way to go to get it back.

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