Review of Windows Forensic Analysis and Windows Registry Forensics

  

     Both "Windows Forensic Analysis (Third Edition)" and "Windows Registry Forensics" are authored by Harlan Carvey and he is the author of a few other books regarding digital forensics.  This will be a short review of both books.  I really enjoyed both of these books.  If you've ever read anything from Harlan, his writing style is very easy to follow and understand.  Each book is laid out in a manner that makes sense as far as being applied practically.

     Windows Forensic Analysis is the third installment to Harlan's Windows forensics books; however, as he says in the intro you should think of it as a companion to the second edition rather than a re-write replacement. This book includes all the latest and greatest information from the latest Windows 7 release.  Things like volume shadow copies, application analysis, and a summary of registry analysis provide great insight on Windows Artifacts.  Chapters on malware detection and timeline analysis are especially exceptionable.

      Windows Registry Forensics, I like to think of it, is an extension to Windows Forensic Analysis books.  The Windows registry is a treasure trove of evidence for analysis.  Registry forensics does an excellent job of not only outlining most of the artifacts that are known about, but gives you a background on available tools that can be used to analyze these artifacts.  The case studies are especially helpful in relating the discussed artifacts to practical experience.

      Both books are fantastic, and I would highly suggest adding them to your digital forensics library and put them next to at least the second edition of Windows Forensic Analysis.  Honestly, I feel like all three books should be considered one big compendium on Windows digital forensics.  I would also say that, at this point, there isn't a better collection of material on the subject of Windows analysis.  If possible, I would recommend setting up a lab with various Windows machines so you can test and play with all of the artifacts you will learn about.  Also, that will give you a chance to install the various tools mentioned in the text and test them out for yourself.

Road to CCE, Pt. 3: Review of Digital Forensics with Open Source Tools

     "Digital Forensics with Open Source Tools" (DFwOST), by Cory Altheide and Harlan Carvey is an excellent resource for a beginning forensics student I feel.  I am so happy that I decided to pick up this book, it has proven to be one of the best resources I now have.  This book reads extremely well, as the information it contains is concise and to the point.  DFwOST is certainly a value and I can see myself returning to it in the coming months.  

     As far as the content of the books is concerned, the authors provide a wealth of knowledge covering the basics of digital forensics.  The beginning chapter goes over what open source is and how its going to relate to the book.  The next chapter then discusses the differences in choosing a host operating system (mainly Windows vs Linux).  Chapters 3 through 8 analyze varying topics of digital forensics like file system analysis, points of analysis for varying operating systems, Internet artifacts, and file analysis.  These chapters hold a lot of information relating to the multiple points of interest in digital forensics; and while discussing the topics the authors provide the reader with examples of analysis with popular open source projects.  The final chapter then offers the reader insight into how to utilize the various discussed tools with better efficiency; as well as, the pros and cons of graphical user interfaces versus command line interfaces.  

     Overall, I feel like this is one of the best resources for learning about digital forensics because it provides great information along with practical knowledge of how to use the information.  It's easy enough to follow along with the reading while testing these tools with your own test lab.  The authors often provide easy to follow installation methods, which can often be valuable with dealing with some open source projects.  If you're looking to get into forensics more or even just learn about current open source projects going on in the forensics world I would recommend you go out and pick up this book.  I feel like this book helped me take the knowledge I've learned from other books I've discussed in this blog and transform it into practical knowledge as it's easy to get access to these tools and test them for myself without spending money (a plus for any college student).  

Road to CCE, Pt. II: Review of Windows Forensic Analysis 2E

“The key to forensic analysis isn’t pushing the button on an application user interface.  After all, as I’ve said time and time again, the age of Nintendo forensics is over!  The key to forensic analysis is understanding what artifacts are available to you and having a logical, reasoned, and comprehensive plan or process for collecting and interpreting data.”  These are the words of Harlan Carvey, the author of Windows Forensic Analysis (as well as other great titles).  Reading that quote within the final part of Carvey’s book really summed up what it was all about, for me.  Truly understanding what information that is available to us through thorough examination and not relying upon a tool, was really the underlying message I got from this book.  That message is spot on to me, and is the reason I picked up this book.  I did not want to become another ‘button monkey’ who had to rely on a program to perform an investigation.  Tools are great when you have the background knowledge necessary to understand what the application is doing in the background, and the value of the information it provides.  That being said this book is FANTASTIC; obviously with recommendations from Eric Huber, Rob Lee, and Richard Bejtlich this really didn’t need to be said.  

The first part (chapters 1, 2, and 3) of this book will cover the importance of live response to an incident.  It’ll give you examples of important places to look for and gather crucial data.  It will then give examples on how to analyze the data collected.  Chapter 3 delves into the truly fascinating world of memory forensics and how this portion of analysis should not be overlooked (memory holds a ton of information).  The next portion of the book goes into the various files that can be used in an investigation.  The fourth chapter of the book dives into the deep pool of information that the registry of a Windows system.  The fifth chapter covers the other various files that can be obtained, such as, event logs, browser history, and other numerous log files available on systems.  These chapters are very technical and provide a vast wealth of knowledge.  The next portion of the text goes over executable files and rootkits; which covers the interesting ways in which a program operates and then can be altered.  And the final portions of this book ‘ties it all together’ with great examples and providing ways to perform an investigation on the cheap (particularly interesting to me as a student).

This book is an excellent source of information if you’re interested in learning more about what a Windows computer has to offer to your investigation.  I will definitely be keeping this book around for all the great information it provides.  Carvey, not only provides a treasure of information but he provides data within the text so you can get a good look at what sort of information you’re going to want.  To go along with all the miscellaneous data sources, you’re provided with suggestions/recommendations on tools that can help you obtain and analyze that data.  On top of this there are also tips, notes, and warnings that can apply to the topic at hand that help put the provided material into better context.

To sum up, this book is a must for anyone interested in the topic, it reads like a dream for such a technically heavy text. 

____________________________________________________

With yet another book completed on my list of texts I wanted to finish, before moving to more of an intensive hands-on approach to learning forensics.  I will be finishing one last book (of which Harlan Carvey is a contributing author to along with Cory Altheide) before applying everything.  I will be reading Digital Forensics with Open Source Tools next for obvious reasons; with more hands on stuff next in what I want to do why not use open source tools?  I am a bit nervous as to the few “not for beginners” mentioned on the Amazon reviews, but I always like a challenge.  However, hopefully it will be as good as a companion to The Sleuth Kit as some reviews say, as well.  Look for a review in a few weeks!   

Road to CCE, Pt. I: Review of Handbook of Digital Forensics

                “Handbook of Digital Forensics and Investigation”, by Eoghan Casey is a fantastic read.  I had recently completed Brian Carrier’s, “File System Forensic Analysis,” (also an amazing book) and was looking for something a bit less in-depth and more of a general digital forensics book.  Luckily, I got a recommendation from Eric Huber over at the ‘A Fistful of Dongles’ blog for this book, as well as, a few others; you can read his review of the book at Amazon.  I really enjoyed this book a lot, and it was exactly what I was looking for; an overview of the wide variety of topics that encompass digital forensics.  Casey had accumulated a great text from a wide variety of contributing authors and put it in volume that will take you through common topics in digital forensics including anything from data gathering to embedded systems analysis.

            Casey begins with an introduction that included a brief of what the book will include and the basics of a forensic examination.  Chapter 2 covers the importance of tried and tested methodologies and some of the complications that arise that arise with digital forensics when gathering and maintaining forensically sound evidence.  The electronic discovery chapter includes an overview of what E-discovery is and what it includes and gives you a great look at how large an E-discovery can be both in examination and cost.  Chapter 4 discusses the use of forensics in incidence response, and the importance maintaining files rather than utilizing the “wipe and re-install” mentality. 

            Part 2 of the book breaks away into the nitty-gritty technical end of forensics, at least as much as it can as an intro level book.  Chapter 5 covers the Windows operating systems and what you’re going to want to look for in an investigation, a sort of areas of interest sort of thing and explaining what those files are.  The next chapters do the same thing with the other main operating systems, both UNIX/Linux and Macintosh systems.  Chapter 8, for me, was really interesting.  It goes over the type of methodologies that will be utilized in an embedded system investigation with things like chip-off techniques and such.  The next chapter discusses network investigations and will show you the types of things you can discover through analyzing network traffic in your investigation.  The final chapter will point out areas of interest to be found in mobile devices. 

            This book is great in that it points out key areas you should be looking for within an investigation.  I particularly loved the “From the Case Files:” sections that give you a real world example of where you would use this knowledge that you’re reading about.  Even more, I LOVED the “Practitioner’s Tip,” sections.  For me, as a student, getting these little tips from experienced forensicators are invaluable.  Those tips, to me, were the best part of the book and was the like cherry on top of a sundae.  I felt the book was very well done.  My one criticism were the amount of output files, sometimes they seemed a bit long but appreciate what they were trying to do with it.  Other than that I would recommend this book to anyone looking to get into the digital forensic field, like myself.

________________________________________

I chose this book to begin my road towards gaining my Certified Computer Examiner certification.  I hope to complete the certification by the end of the year.  Right now my plan includes reading the following:

• Handbook of Digital Forensics and Investigation by Eoghan Casey (Completed)
• File System Forensic Analysis by Brian Carrier (Completed)
• Windows Forensic Analysis by Harlan Carvey (In-Progress)
• Digital Forensics by Cory Altheide and Harlan Carvey

Open finishing these works, I plan on working on practical application.  So look for more on these books and possibly some examples from my practice sessions.  Any recommendations and comments are welcome.  Enjoy memorial day weekend!