Windows Forensic Analysis

Windows Forensic Analysis DVD Toolkit, Second Edition, is a completely updated and expanded version of Harlan Carvey's best-selling forensics book on incident response and investigating cybercrime on Windows systems. With this book, you will learn how to analyze data during live and post-mortem investigations. New to this edition is Forensic Analysis on a Budget, which collects freely available tools that are essential for small labs, state (or below) law enforcement, and educational organizations. The book also includes new pedagogical elements, Lessons from the Field, Case Studies, and War Stories that present real-life experiences by an expert in the trenches, making the material real and showing the why behind the how. The companion DVD contains significant, and unique, materials (movies, spreadsheet, code, etc.) not available anyplace else because they were created by the author. This book will appeal to digital forensic investigators, IT security professionals, engineers, and system administrators as well as students and consultants. Best-Selling Windows Digital Forensic book completely updated in this 2nd Edition Learn how to Analyze Data During Live and Post-Mortem Investigations DVD Includes Custom Tools, Updated Code, Movies, and Spreadsheets

Windows Registry Forensics provides the background of the Windows Registry to help develop an understanding of the binary structure of Registry hive files. Approaches to live response and analysis are included, and tools and techniques for postmortem analysis are discussed at length. Tools and techniques are presented that take the student and analyst beyond the current use of viewers and into real analysis of data contained in the Registry, demonstrating the forensic value of the Registry. Named a 2011 Best Digital Forensics Book by InfoSec Reviews, this book is packed with real-world examples using freely available open source tools. It also includes case studies and a CD containing code and author-created tools discussed in the book. This book will appeal to computer forensic and incident response professionals, including federal government and commercial/private sector contractors, consultants, etc. Named a 2011 Best Digital Forensics Book by InfoSec Reviews Packed with real-world examples using freely available open source tools Deep explanation and understanding of the Windows Registry – the most difficult part of Windows to analyze forensically Includes a CD containing code and author-created tools discussed in the book

Harlan Carvey has updated Windows Forensic Analysis Toolkit, now in its fourth edition, to cover Windows 8 systems. The primary focus of this edition is on analyzing Windows 8 systems and processes using free and open-source tools. The book covers live response, file analysis, malware detection, timeline, and much more. Harlan Carvey presents real-life experiences from the trenches, making the material realistic and showing the why behind the how. The companion and toolkit materials are hosted online. This material consists of electronic printable checklists, cheat sheets, free custom tools, and walk-through demos. This edition complements Windows Forensic Analysis Toolkit, Second Edition, which focuses primarily on XP, and Windows Forensic Analysis Toolkit, Third Edition, which focuses primarily on Windows 7. This new fourth edition provides expanded coverage of many topics beyond Windows 8 as well, including new cradle-to-grave case examples, USB device analysis, hacking and intrusion cases, and "how would I do this" from Harlan's personal case files and questions he has received from readers. The fourth edition also includes an all-new chapter on reporting. Complete coverage and examples of Windows 8 systems Contains lessons from the field, case studies, and war stories Companion online toolkit material, including electronic printable checklists, cheat sheets, custom tools, and walk-throughs

The Definitive Guide to File System Analysis: Key Concepts and Hands-on Techniques Most digital evidence is stored within the computer's file system, but understanding how file systems work is one of the most technically challenging concepts for a digital investigator because there exists little documentation. Now, security expert Brian Carrier has written the definitive reference for everyone who wants to understand and be able to testify about how file system analysis is performed. Carrier begins with an overview of investigation and computer foundations and then gives an authoritative, comprehensive, and illustrated overview of contemporary volume and file systems: Crucial information for discovering hidden evidence, recovering deleted data, and validating your tools. Along the way, he describes data structures, analyzes example disk images, provides advanced investigation scenarios, and uses today's most valuable open source file system analysis tools—including tools he personally developed. Coverage includes Preserving the digital crime scene and duplicating hard disks for "dead analysis" Identifying hidden data on a disk's Host Protected Area (HPA) Reading source data: Direct versus BIOS access, dead versus live acquisition, error handling, and more Analyzing DOS, Apple, and GPT partitions; BSD disk labels; and Sun Volume Table of Contents using key concepts, data structures, and specific techniques Analyzing the contents of multiple disk volumes, such as RAID and disk spanning Analyzing FAT, NTFS, Ext2, Ext3, UFS1, and UFS2 file systems using key concepts, data structures, and specific techniques Finding evidence: File metadata, recovery of deleted files, data hiding locations, and more Using The Sleuth Kit (TSK), Autopsy Forensic Browser, and related open source tools When it comes to file system analysis, no other book offers this much detail or expertise. Whether you're a digital forensics specialist, incident response team member, law enforcement officer, corporate security specialist, or auditor, this book will become an indispensable resource for forensic investigations, no matter what analysis tools you use.

Windows Forensic Analysis Toolkit: Advanced Analysis Techniques for Windows 7 provides an overview of live and postmortem response collection and analysis methodologies for Windows 7. It considers the core investigative and analysis concepts that are critical to the work of professionals within the digital forensic analysis community, as well as the need for immediate response once an incident has been identified. Organized into eight chapters, the book discusses Volume Shadow Copies (VSCs) in the context of digital forensics and explains how analysts can access the wealth of information available in VSCs without interacting with the live system or purchasing expensive solutions. It also describes files and data structures that are new to Windows 7 (or Vista), Windows Registry Forensics, how the presence of malware within an image acquired from a Windows system can be detected, the idea of timeline analysis as applied to digital forensic analysis, and concepts and techniques that are often associated with dynamic malware analysis. Also included are several tools written in the Perl scripting language, accompanied by Windows executables. This book will prove useful to digital forensic analysts, incident responders, law enforcement officers, students, researchers, system administrators, hobbyists, or anyone with an interest in digital forensic analysis of Windows 7 systems. Timely 3e of a Syngress digital forensic bestseller Updated to cover Windows 7 systems, the newest Windows version New online companion website houses checklists, cheat sheets, free tools, and demos

Windows Forensics is the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource for those wishing to leverage the power of Linux and free software in order to quickly and efficiently perform forensics on Windows systems. It is also a great asset for anyone that would like to better understand Windows internals. Windows Forensics will guide you step by step through the process of investigating a computer running Windows. Whatever the reason for performing forensics on a Windows system, be it incident response, a criminal investigation, suspected data ex-filtration, or data recovery, this book will tell you what you need to know in order to perform the vast majority of investigations. All of the tools discussed in this book are free and most are also open source. Dr. Philip Polstra shows how to leverage numerous tools such as Python, shell scripting, and MySQL to quickly, easily, and accurately analyze Windows systems. While readers will have a strong grasp of Python and shell scripting by the time they complete this book, no prior knowledge of either of these scripting languages is assumed. Windows Forensics begins by showing you how to determine if there was an incident with minimally invasive techniques. Once it appears likely that an incident has occurred, Dr. Polstra shows you how to collect data from a live system before shutting it down for the creation of filesystem images. Windows Forensics contains extensive coverage of Windows FAT and NTFS filesystems. A large collection of Python and shell scripts for creating, mounting, and analyzing filesystem images are presented in this book. The treasure trove of data found in the Windows Registry and other artifacts are discussed in detail. Dr. Polstra introduces readers to the exciting new field of memory analysis using the Volatility framework. Discussion of malware analysis rounds out the book. Book Highlights 554 pages in large, easy-to-read 8.5 x 11 inch format Over 11,000 lines of Python scripts with explanations Over 500 lines of shell and command scripts with explanations A 96 page chapter covering the FAT filesystem in detail A 164 page chapter on NTFS filesystems Multiple scenarios described in detail with images available from the book website All scripts and other support files are available from the book website

Leverage the power of digital forensics for Windows systems About This Book Build your own lab environment to analyze forensic data and practice techniques. This book offers meticulous coverage with an example-driven approach and helps you build the key skills of performing forensics on Windows-based systems using digital artifacts. It uses specific open source and Linux-based tools so you can become proficient at analyzing forensic data and upgrade your existing knowledge. Who This Book Is For This book targets forensic analysts and professionals who would like to develop skills in digital forensic analysis for the Windows platform. You will acquire proficiency, knowledge, and core skills to undertake forensic analysis of digital data. Prior experience of information security and forensic analysis would be helpful. You will gain knowledge and an understanding of performing forensic analysis with tools especially built for the Windows platform. What You Will Learn Perform live analysis on victim or suspect Windows systems locally or remotely Understand the different natures and acquisition techniques of volatile and non-volatile data. Create a timeline of all the system actions to restore the history of an incident. Recover and analyze data from FAT and NTFS file systems. Make use of various tools to perform registry analysis. Track a system user's browser and e-mail activities to prove or refute some hypotheses. Get to know how to dump and analyze computer memory. In Detail Over the last few years, the wave of the cybercrime has risen rapidly. We have witnessed many major attacks on the governmental, military, financial, and media sectors. Tracking all these attacks and crimes requires a deep understanding of operating system operations, how to extract evident data from digital evidence, and the best usage of the digital forensic tools and techniques. Regardless of your level of experience in the field of information security in general, this book will fully introduce you to digital forensics. It will provide you with the knowledge needed to assemble different types of evidence effectively, and walk you through the various stages of the analysis process. We start by discussing the principles of the digital forensics process and move on to show you the approaches that are used to conduct analysis. We will then study various tools to perform live analysis, and go through different techniques to analyze volatile and non-volatile data. Style and approach This is a step-by-step guide that delivers knowledge about different Windows artifacts. Each topic is explained sequentially, including artifact analysis using different tools and techniques. These techniques make use of the evidence extracted from infected machines, and are accompanied by real-life examples.

Unlike other books, courses and training that expect an analyst to piece together individual instructions into a cohesive investigation, Investigating Windows Systems provides a walk-through of the analysis process, with descriptions of the thought process and analysis decisions along the way. Investigating Windows Systems will not address topics which have been covered in other books, but will expect the reader to have some ability to discover the detailed usage of tools and to perform their own research. The focus of this volume is to provide a walk-through of the analysis process, with descriptions of the thought process and the analysis decisions made along the way. A must-have guide for those in the field of digital forensic analysis and incident response. Provides the reader with a detailed walk-through of the analysis process, with decision points along the way, assisting the user in understanding the resulting data Coverage will include malware detection, user activity, and how to set up a testing environment Written at a beginner to intermediate level for anyone engaging in the field of digital forensic analysis and incident response

An authoritative guide to investigating high-technology crimes Internet crime is seemingly ever on the rise, making the need for a comprehensive resource on how to investigate these crimes even more dire. This professional-level book--aimed at law enforcement personnel, prosecutors, and corporate investigators--provides you with the training you need in order to acquire the sophisticated skills and software solutions to stay one step ahead of computer criminals. Specifies the techniques needed to investigate, analyze, and document a criminal act on a Windows computer or network Places a special emphasis on how to thoroughly investigate criminal activity and now just perform the initial response Walks you through ways to present technically complicated material in simple terms that will hold up in court Features content fully updated for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Covers the emerging field of Windows Mobile forensics Also included is a classroom support package to ensure academic adoption, Mastering Windows Network Forensics and Investigation, 2nd Edition offers help for investigating high-technology crimes.