Digital Forensics

Digital forensics is collecting and analyzing evidence from computers, memory, networks and phones so it can explain what happened and stand up to scrutiny. You need operating-system basics and a lab with free forensic tools.

• Set up a forensic lab VM (SIFT or Autopsy)
• Get sample disk and memory images
• Plan your study time

• CyberA4U Academy — courses

Forensics follows a strict process — identification, preservation, collection, examination, analysis and reporting — so findings are reliable and repeatable.

• Describe each phase of the forensic process
• Understand evidence integrity and hashing
• Work on copies, never originals

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• NIST SP 800-86 — Integrating Forensic Techniques into Incident Response

A forensic image is a bit-for-bit copy of a drive, verified with hashes, so analysis never changes the original evidence.

• Create a verified image with a write blocker or read-only access
• Compare raw and E01 formats
• Hash images before and after

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• NIST — Computer Forensics Tool Testing (CFTT) program

File systems keep metadata about files — timestamps, deleted entries and allocation — that often reveals more than the files themselves.

• Explain NTFS MFT and ext4 inodes
• Interpret MACB timestamps
• Recover deleted file metadata

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• The Sleuth Kit
• Linux kernel docs — ext4 data structures and algorithms

A timeline merges timestamps from many sources into one chronological view — the fastest way to see what happened when.

• Build a super-timeline with Plaso
• Filter to the incident window
• Correlate events across sources

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• Plaso (log2timeline) documentation

The Windows registry records user activity, program execution, USB devices and persistence locations.

• Know key registry hives and artifacts
• Extract user activity evidence
• Spot persistence entries

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• Microsoft — Registry

Browsers store history, downloads, cookies and cache that show what a user visited and downloaded.

• Locate browser artifacts for Chrome and Firefox
• Parse history and downloads
• Interpret timestamps correctly

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• Hindsight — Chrome/Chromium forensics

RAM holds running processes, network connections and keys that never touch disk. Capture it first — it disappears at shutdown.

• Choose memory acquisition tools for Windows and Linux
• Follow order of volatility
• Verify the capture

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• Microsoft AVML — Linux memory acquisition

Memory analysis with Volatility reveals processes, injected code, network connections and command history.

• List processes and network connections from a memory image
• Spot suspicious processes
• Extract artifacts for further analysis

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• Volatility 3 documentation

During an investigation you often need a quick, safe first look at a suspicious file: hashes, strings, signatures and reputation, before deeper malware analysis.

• Collect hashes and basic metadata safely
• Check reputation and signatures
• Decide when to escalate to malware analysts

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• YARA documentation

Packet captures and flow logs show who talked to whom, when and how much — useful for spotting exfiltration and command-and-control.

• Analyze PCAPs for suspicious connections
• Use Zeek logs for summaries
• Extract transferred files

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• Zeek documentation

Phones hold messages, locations and app data, but encryption and locked devices limit what can be collected.

• Understand logical, file-system and physical extraction
• Know legal and technical limits
• Identify key mobile artifacts

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• NIST SP 800-101 Rev. 1 — Guidelines on Mobile Device Forensics

In the cloud you can't pull a disk; evidence comes from provider logs, snapshots and APIs, often with short retention.

• Know what evidence cloud providers expose
• Preserve snapshots and logs quickly
• Handle multi-tenant and jurisdiction issues

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• NIST IR 8006 — NIST Cloud Computing Forensic Science Challenges

Your report and chain-of-custody records are what others rely on. They must show who handled the evidence, when, and how findings were reached.

• Maintain a chain-of-custody form
• Write clear, factual findings
• Separate facts from interpretation

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• NIST SP 800-86 — Integrating Forensic Techniques into Incident Response

A good forensic lab uses validated, repeatable tools: Autopsy, The Sleuth Kit, Plaso, Volatility and hashing utilities.

• Install and update core tools
• Validate tools against known images
• Keep a clean analysis environment

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• Autopsy digital forensics platform
• SANS SIFT Workstation

Combine disk, memory, registry and network evidence to reconstruct an intrusion from first access to the last attacker action.

• Correlate evidence across sources
• Build an attack timeline
• Present conclusions with supporting evidence

الأدوات والتقنيات: Forensics

• NIST — CFReDS (Computer Forensic Reference Data Sets)

Check that you can acquire, analyze and report on evidence from disk and memory in a defensible way.

• Image and verify evidence
• Build a timeline and analyze memory
• Report with chain of custody

• CyberA4U CTF Arena — practice challenges

You can now perform core digital forensics. Continue with Incident Response, Malware Analysis, or a certification such as GIAC GCFE/GCFA.

• Keep your lab validated
• Choose your next roadmap
• Share an investigation write-up

• CyberA4U CTF Arena — practice challenges