Cybersecurity

Cyber Forensics

The process of collecting, analyzing, and preserving digital evidence to investigate cybercrimes and incidents.

Key goals of Cyber Forensics

Identify and recover digital evidence, analyze its authenticity and integrity, determine the scope of a cyber incident, and provide evidence for legal proceedings.

Volatile data

Data that can be lost when a system is powered off.

Live Analysis

Analyzing a system while it's running to gather evidence from volatile memory and active processes.

Post-mortem Analysis

Analyzing data after a system has been shut down to examine the state of files, artifacts, and configurations.

RAM analysis

Extracting and analyzing the contents of a system's volatile memory to gather information about running processes, open files, and potential malware.

Incident documentation

Recording detailed information about a situation, actions taken, evidence collected, and analysis results.

Event reconstruction

Piecing together a sequence of events based on collected evidence to create a cohesive narrative of the incident.

Recover deleted files

Recovering files from the storage media using specialized tools that identify and restore data marked as deleted but not yet overwritten.

Metadata

Additional information about a file or document, such as creation and modification dates, author information, and file properties.

Preservation of digital evidence

Creating forensic images of storage media using write-blocking tools to prevent alteration, maintaining a strict chain of custody.

Hashing

The process of converting data into a fixed-size string of characters, used to verify the integrity of evidence.

Hash analysis

Calculating and comparing hash values of files to verify integrity and ensure authenticity of evidence.

Write-blocker

A tool used to prevent write access to storage media during evidence collection to ensure data integrity.

Blockchain forensics

Analyzing transactions on blockchain networks to uncover potential fraudulent activities or unauthorized transactions.

Chain of custody

A documented record of the possession, control, transfer, and disposition of evidence to maintain integrity for legal proceedings.

Disk imaging

Creating a bit-for-bit copy of an entire storage device for analysis without altering the original evidence.

File system analysis

Examining the structure and contents of a storage device's file system to retrieve information about files and access permissions.

Recover data from encrypted storage

Requires decryption using the appropriate encryption keys for evidence analysis.

Data carving

Recovering files and fragments from storage media without relying on file system metadata.

Admissibility of digital evidence

Collecting, preserving, and analyzing evidence following standardized procedures to maintain chain of custody and authenticity.

Analyze USB devices

Examining metadata, identifying connected systems, retrieving files, and understanding usage history for evidence.

Image forensics

Analyzing digital images to detect tampering, alterations, or signs of manipulation.

Network forensics

Analyzing network traffic and logs to identify unauthorized activities and potential security breaches.

Determine the origin of an email

Email headers contain information for tracing the sender and route taken for delivery.

Email forensics

Analyzing email messages, attachments, headers, and metadata for evidence related to communication and potential security breaches.

Analyze email attachments for potential malware

Scanning attachments using antivirus tools and examining file headers for malware detection.

Analyze email headers

Examining headers to trace the route an email took through various mail servers.

Network packet analysis

Examining the contents of network packets to understand communication patterns and detect unauthorized activities.

Analyze network traffic

Monitoring patterns and anomalies in communication to identify potential security breaches.

Data retention policies

Policies dictating how long data is stored and its management impacting the availability of historical data for analysis.

Analyze network logs

Monitoring authentication logs and correlating events to uncover unauthorized access attempts.

Forensic artifact analysis

Examining artifacts left by systems, applications, and user activities for insights into actions and behaviors.

Signs of malware infection

Unusual network traffic, unexpected behavior, altered timestamps, and suspicious files or processes.

Timeline analysis

Creating a chronological sequence of events to reconstruct the actions on a system.

Log analysis

Reviewing system and application logs to identify events, anomalies, and potential security breaches.

File signature analysis

Identifying files based on unique signatures or patterns for classification.

Automated analysis tools

Using scripts or software to process and analyze large volumes of data quickly to identify patterns and anomalies.