Windows Forensics Analyst Field Guide: Engage in proactive cyber defense using digital forensics techniques

Windows Forensics Analyst Field Guide....2

Contributors....7

About the author....7

About the reviewers....8

Preface....19

Who this book is for....20

What this book covers....21

To get the most out of this book....22

Conventions used....22

Get in touch....23

Reviews....23

Share Your Thoughts....23

Download a free PDF copy of this book....23

Part 1:Windows OS Forensics and Lab Preparation....25

Chapter 1: Introducing the Windows OS and Filesystems and Getting Prepared for the Labs....26

Technical requirements....26

What is a Microsoft OS?....27

The modern Windows OS and filesystems....30

Windows XP....30

Windows Vista....31

Windows 7, 8 and 8.1....32

Windows 10....33

Digital forensics and common terminology....34

What is digital forensics?....34

Digital forensic terminology....38

The process of digital forensics....40

Digital evidence....40

Windows VSS....43

Preparing a lab environment....45

Summary....54

Questions....55

Chapter 2: Evidence Acquisition....56

Technical requirements....56

An overview of evidence acquisition for Windows OS....56

A forensic analyst’s jump bag (first responder kit)....58

Understanding the order of volatility....60

Acquisition tools for Windows OS....62

Using FTK Imager....62

Using KAPE....69

Additional tools....76

Evidence collection and acquisition exercise....79

Summary....79

Chapter 3: Memory Forensics for the Windows OS....81

Technical requirements....81

Understanding memory forensics concepts and techniques....82

Some techniques to overcome the challenges....82

Why memory forensics is important....83

Exploring the main components of Windows....84

The kernel....84

Windows processes....84

Windows services....86

Device drivers....87

DLLs....88

The registry....89

The filesystem....89

Investigation methodology....90

Understanding Windows architecture....91

Looking at the memory acquisition tools....92

Using FTK Imager to capture memory....93

WinPmem....95

DumpIt....98

Belkasoft RAM Capturer....100

MAGNET RAM Capture....102

Using Volatility to analyze memory dumps and plugins....103

Volatility architecture....103

Volatility plugins....104

Volatility commands....104

Identifying the profile....106

The imageinfo plugin....106

The process list and tree....107

The netscan plugin....109

The hivescan and hivelist plugins....109

A brief overview of Volatility 3....111

Evidence collection and acquisition exercise....114

Summary....114

Chapter 4: The Windows Registry....116

Technical requirements....117

Windows Registry fundamentals....117

Why do we care about the Windows Registry?....117

Components of the Windows Registry....119

Windows Registry hierarchy....120

Windows Registry hives....121

HKLM....121

HKCU....122

HKCR....124

Windows Registry data types....126

User registry hives....127

NTUSER.DAT....127

UsrClass.dat....129

Windows Registry acquisition and analysis....130

regedit.exe and reg.exe....131

powershell.exe....133

Windows Registry acquisition....134

Windows Registry analysis tools....137

Registry Explorer....138

RegRipper....140

Registry Viewer....145

RECmd.exe....147

Windows Registry forensic analysis exercises....149

Summary....149

Chapter 5: User Profiling Using the Windows Registry....151

Profiling system details....151

Identifying the OS version....152

Identifying CurrentControlSet....153

Validating the computer name....154

Identifying time zones....156

Identifying services....157

Installed applications....158

The PrefetchParameters subkey....160

Network activities....161

Autostart registry keys....163

Profiling user activities....164

SAM registry hive....166

Domain and local user details....167

NTUSER.DAT....168

The RecentDocs key....169

The TypedPaths key....170

The TypedURLs subkey....171

User profiling using Windows Registry exercises....172

Summary....172

Part 2:Windows OS Additional Artifacts....173

Chapter 6: Application Execution Artifacts....174

Technical requirements....174

Windows evidence of execution artifacts....175

Looking at the NTUSER.DAT, Amcache, and SYSTEM hives....177

Understanding and analyzing UserAssist....178

Background Activity Moderator (BAM)....181

Shimcache....182

Amcache.hve....184

RunMRU....185

LastVisitedPidlMRU....186

Windows Prefetch....187

Application execution artifact exercises....191

Summary....192

Chapter 7: Forensic Analysis of USB Artifacts....193

Technical requirements....193

Overview of USB devices and types....194

Understanding stored evidence on USB devices....195

Analyzing USB artifacts....196

Identifying the USB device type, product, and vendor ID....198

Identifying the volume serial number....200

Identifying the volume name and letter....201

Using the USBDeview tool....201

Exploring a real-world scenario of identifying the root cause....203

USB artifacts analysis exercises....206

Summary....206

Chapter 8: Forensic Analysis of Browser Artifacts....208

Technical requirements....208

Overview of browsers....208

Internet Explorer....210

Microsoft Edge....211

Google Chrome....213

Chrome artifacts....214

Firefox....217

Browser forensics exercises....221

Summary....221

Chapter 9: Exploring Additional Artifacts....223

Technical requirements....223

Email forensic analysis....224

Types of phishing emails....224

Email header analysis....225

Analyzing Outlook emails....233

Event log analysis....236

Security event logs....237

Application event logs....240

Analyzing $MFT....242

MFTEcmd.exe....247

LNK file analysis....250

Recycle Bin analysis....254

ShellBags and jump lists....257

System Resource Utilization Monitor (SRUM)....261

Case study – analyzing malware infections....265

Analysis....265

Belksoft Live RAM Capturer....265

KAPE....266

Additional forensic artifacts exercises....273

Summary....273

Index....276

Why subscribe?....295

Other Books You May Enjoy....295

Packt is searching for authors like you....298

Share Your Thoughts....298

Download a free PDF copy of this book....298

In this digitally driven era, safeguarding against relentless cyber threats is non-negotiable. This guide will enable you to enhance your skills as a digital forensic examiner by introducing you to cyber challenges that besiege modern entities. It will help you to understand the indispensable role adept digital forensic experts play in preventing these threats and equip you with proactive tools to defend against ever-evolving cyber onslaughts.

The book begins by unveiling the intricacies of Windows operating systems and their foundational forensic artifacts, helping you master the art of streamlined investigative processes. From harnessing opensource tools for artifact collection to delving into advanced analysis, you’ll develop the skills needed to excel as a seasoned forensic examiner. As you advance, you’ll be able to effortlessly amass and dissect evidence to pinpoint the crux of issues. You’ll also delve into memory forensics tailored for Windows OS, decipher patterns within user data, and log and untangle intricate artifacts such as emails and browser data.

By the end of this book, you’ll be able to robustly counter computer intrusions and breaches, untangle digital complexities with unwavering assurance, and stride confidently in the realm of digital forensics.

What you will learn

• Master the step-by-step investigation of efficient evidence analysis
• Explore Windows artifacts and leverage them to gain crucial insights
• Acquire evidence using specialized tools such as FTK Imager to maximize retrieval
• Gain a clear understanding of Windows memory forensics to extract key insights
• Experience the benefits of registry keys and registry tools in user profiling by analyzing Windows registry hives
• Decode artifacts such as emails, applications execution, and Windows browsers for pivotal insights

Who this book is for

This book is for forensic investigators with basic experience in the field, cybersecurity professionals, SOC analysts, DFIR analysts, and anyone interested in gaining deeper knowledge of Windows forensics. It's also a valuable resource for students and beginners in the field of IT who’re thinking of pursuing a career in digital forensics and incident response.