Performing Disk Forensics Investigation

Performing Disk Forensics Investigation

Overview

Cybersecurity skill for performing disk forensics investigation. Follows industry best practices and security standards.

When to Use

Trigger phrases:

• "performing disk forensics investigation"

• "Conducts disk forensics investigations using forensic imaging, file system analy"

• A security incident requires forensic analysis of a system's persistent storage

• Evidence preservation is needed for potential legal proceedings or HR investigations

• Deleted files, browser history, or application artifacts must be recovered

• A timeline of user or adversary activity must be reconstructed from file system metadata

• Malware persistence mechanisms stored on disk need identification and documentation

Do not use for volatile evidence (running processes, network connections); use memory forensics with Volatility instead.

When NOT to Use

• When you lack proper authorization for testing
• For production systems without change management
• When the task requires legal or compliance expertise beyond technical scope

Prerequisites

• Forensic workstation with write-blocking hardware or software (Tableau T35u, Arsenal Image Mounter)
• Forensic imaging software: FTK Imager, Guymager, or dd with dcfldd
• Analysis platform: Autopsy, FTK (Forensic Toolkit), or X-Ways Forensics
• Sufficient storage (2-3x the target drive size for image plus working copies)
• Chain of custody forms and evidence bags for physical media
• Hash verification tools for evidence integrity (SHA-256)

Workflow

# Example: IOC detection
import re

IOC_PATTERNS = {
    "ip": r"\b(?:\d{1,3}\.){3}\d{1,3}\b",
    "domain": r"\b[a-z0-9-]+\.[a-z]{2,}\b",
    "hash_md5": r"\b[a-f0-9]{32}\b",
    "hash_sha256": r"\b[a-f0-9]{64}\b",
}

def extract_iocs(text: str) -> dict:
    return {k: re.findall(v, text) for k, v in IOC_PATTERNS.items()}

1. Plan Operations — Define objectives, scope, and success criteria for disk forensics investigation operations.
2. Prepare Environment — Set up tools, access, and data sources required for disk forensics investigation.
3. Execute Core Workflow — Perform the disk forensics investigation operations following established procedures.
4. Validate Results — Verify that results meet quality standards and objectives.
5. Report Findings — Document results, observations, and recommendations.
6. Follow Up — Track remediation actions and verify fixes where applicable.

Tools

• Analysis Platform — Data processing and visualization
• Collaboration Tools — Team coordination and knowledge sharing

Process

1. Reconnaissance — Gather target information, identify attack surface, enumerate services
2. Analysis/Exploitation — Execute the technique, analyze results, document findings
3. Reporting — Document IOCs, write findings, provide remediation recommendations

Verification

• All disk forensics investigation procedures executed completely and documented
• Findings validated against multiple data sources
• False positives identified and filtered
• Results documented with evidence and timestamps
• Recommendations provided with risk-based prioritization

Anti-Rationalization Table