Table of Contents for
System Forensics, Investigation, and Response, 3rd Edition

Version ebook / Retour

Cover image for bash Cookbook, 2nd Edition System Forensics, Investigation, and Response, 3rd Edition by Easttom Published by Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2017
  1. Cover Page
  2. Contents
  3. System Forensics, Investigation, and Response
  4. Title Page
  5. Copyright Page
  6. Content
  7. Preface
  8. About the Author
  9. PART I Introduction to Forensics
  10. CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Forensics
  11. What Is Computer Forensics?
  12. Understanding the Field of Digital Forensics
  13. Knowledge Needed for Computer Forensics Analysis
  14. The Daubert Standard
  15. U.S. Laws Affecting Digital Forensics
  16. Federal Guidelines
  17. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  18. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  19. CHAPTER 1 ASSESSMENT
  20. CHAPTER 2 Overview of Computer Crime
  21. How Computer Crime Affects Forensics
  22. Identity Theft
  23. Hacking
  24. Cyberstalking and Harassment
  25. Fraud
  26. Non-Access Computer Crimes
  27. Cyberterrorism
  28. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  29. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  30. CHAPTER 2 ASSESSMENT
  31. CHAPTER 3 Forensic Methods and Labs
  32. Forensic Methodologies
  33. Formal Forensic Approaches
  34. Documentation of Methodologies and Findings
  35. Evidence-Handling Tasks
  36. How to Set Up a Forensic Lab
  37. Common Forensic Software Programs
  38. Forensic Certifications
  39. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  40. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  41. CHAPTER 3 ASSESSMENT
  42. PART II Technical Overview: SystemForensics Tools, Techniques, and Methods
  43. CHAPTER 4 Collecting, Seizing, and Protecting Evidence
  44. Proper Procedure
  45. Handling Evidence
  46. Storage Formats
  47. Forensic Imaging
  48. RAID Acquisitions
  49. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  50. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  51. CHAPTER 4 ASSESSMENT
  52. CHAPTER LAB
  53. CHAPTER 5 Understanding Techniques for Hiding and Scrambling Information
  54. Steganography
  55. Encryption
  56. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  57. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  58. CHAPTER 5 ASSESSMENT
  59. CHAPTER 6 Recovering Data
  60. Undeleting Data
  61. Recovering Information from Damaged Media
  62. File Carving
  63. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  64. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  65. CHAPTER 6 ASSESSMENT
  66. CHAPTER 7 Email Forensics
  67. How Email Works
  68. Email Protocols
  69. Email Headers
  70. Tracing Email
  71. Email Server Forensics
  72. Email and the Law
  73. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  74. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  75. CHAPTER 7 ASSESSMENT
  76. CHAPTER 8 Windows Forensics
  77. Windows Details
  78. Volatile Data
  79. Windows Swap File
  80. Windows Logs
  81. Windows Directories
  82. Index.dat
  83. Windows Files and Permissions
  84. The Registry
  85. Volume Shadow Copy
  86. Memory Forensics
  87. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  88. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  89. CHAPTER 8 ASSESSMENT
  90. CHAPTER 9 Linux Forensics
  91. Linux and Forensics
  92. Linux Basics
  93. Linux File Systems
  94. Linux Logs
  95. Linux Directories
  96. Shell Commands for Forensics
  97. Kali Linux Forensics
  98. Forensics Tools for Linux
  99. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  100. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  101. CHAPTER 9 ASSESSMENT
  102. CHAPTER 10 Macintosh Forensics
  103. Mac Basics
  104. Macintosh Logs
  105. Directories
  106. Macintosh Forensic Techniques
  107. How to Examine a Mac
  108. Can You Undelete in Mac?
  109. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  110. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  111. CHAPTER 10 ASSESSMENT
  112. CHAPTER 11 Mobile Forensics
  113. Cellular Device Concepts
  114. What Evidence You Can Get from a Cell Phone
  115. Seizing Evidence from a Mobile Device
  116. JTAG
  117. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  118. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  119. CHAPTER 11 ASSESSMENT
  120. CHAPTER 12 Performing Network Analysis
  121. Network Packet Analysis
  122. Network Traffic Analysis
  123. Router Forensics
  124. Firewall Forensics
  125. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  126. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  127. CHAPTER 12 ASSESSMENT
  128. PART III Incident Response and Resources
  129. CHAPTER 13 Incident and Intrusion Response
  130. Disaster Recovery
  131. Preserving Evidence
  132. Adding Forensics to Incident Response
  133. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  134. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  135. CHAPTER 13 ASSESSMENT
  136. CHAPTER 14 Trends and Future Directions
  137. Technical Trends
  138. Legal and Procedural Trends
  139. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  140. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  141. CHAPTER 14 ASSESSMENT
  142. CHAPTER 15 System Forensics Resources
  143. Tools to Use
  144. Resources
  145. Laws
  146. CHAPTER SUMMARY
  147. KEY CONCEPTS AND TERMS
  148. CHAPTER 15 ASSESSMENT
  149. APPENDIX A Answer Key
  150. APPENDIX B Standard Acronyms
  151. Glossary of Key Terms
  152. References
  153. Index

Windows Logs

All versions of Windows support logging; however, the method to get to the log can vary from one version to another. With Windows 10 and Windows Server 2012, and now Server 2016, you find the logs by clicking on the Start button in the lower-left corner of the desktop and then clicking Control Panel. You then select Administrative Tools and then Event Viewer. You would check for the following logs:

  • Security log—This is probably the most important log from a forensic point of view. It has both successful and unsuccessful logon events.

  • Application log—This log contains various events logged by applications or programs. Many applications record their errors here in the Application log.

  • System log—The System log contains events logged by Windows system components. This includes events like driver failures. This particular log is not as interesting from a forensic perspective as the other logs are.

  • ForwardedEvents log—The ForwardedEvents log is used to store events collected from remote computers. This has data in it only if event forwarding has been configured.

  • Applications and Services logs—This log is used to store events from a single application or component rather than events that might have systemwide impact.

FIGURE 8-6 shows the Windows logs.

FIGURE 8-6
Viewing Windows logs.

Used with permission from Microsoft

Windows servers have similar logs; however, it is possible that the logs will be empty. For example, the tool auditpol.exe can turn logging on and off. Savvy criminals might turn the logging off while they do their misdeeds, and then turn it back on. In addition, the tool Win-Zapper allows you to selectively erase individual records in the log, so it is possible that the logs will yield no evidence, even if a crime did take place.

In the security log, you will find numbers designating entries. It is beyond the scope of this text to cover all of them, but a few common issues of concern are discussed here:

  • 4902—Changes to the audit policy such as using Auditpol.exe. Auditpol.exe is a tool for admins to change policies; however, hackers sometimes use it to temporarily turn off logging. Seeing this number in the log may indicate a hacker was in your system and disabled logging.

  • 4741—A computer account was created. Obviously, accounts are created in normal network operations. But, if this account creation cannot be accounted for by network administrators, then an attacker may have created this account. This is closely related to 4742, which shows a computer account was changed.

  • 4782—The password hash account was accessed. Again, this can occur during normal operations, but you do want to check and see if it is accounted for by normal operations.

  • 4728—A member was added to a security-enabled global group. If your administrators can account for this, then it is normal operations. If not, then it could indicate an attacker was elevating privileges and now has wider access to your network.

Another system monitoring tool that is often used on PCs, servers, routers, switches, and other devices is Tripwire, which you can find at http://www.tripwire.com. A newer tool is CimTrak, which you can find at https://www.cimcor.com/cimtrak. These programs store a secure hash of files and the static part of device memory and monitor for changes to the files and/or memory. Security practitioners can use the tools to harden their defenses and make their systems “aware” of attacks when they occur. They can also allow files or memory to be checkpointed and restored to a preattack condition. This class of tool can also be very important to the forensic examiner, because a large amount of information is made available due to different generations of files, as well as multiple log files.