Like The Sleuth Kit, Volatility is free, open-source and supports third-party plugins.

Volatility is the most well-known and popular tool for analysis of volatile memory. Important forensic information can be stored in RAM, and this volatile memory must be collected quickly and carefully to be forensically valid and useful. Tools like The Sleuth Kit focus on the hard drive, but this is not the only place where forensic data and artifacts can be stored on a machine. More information about FTK Imager is available here. This can be used to create disk images that can then be analyzed using Autopsy/The Sleuth Kit.

While the majority of the AccessData Forensics Toolkit items are paid tools, its FTK Imager is a free product. The benefit of analyzing an image (rather than a live drive) is that the use of an image allows the investigator to prove that they have not made any modifications to the drive that could affect the forensic results.Īutopsy does not have image creation functionality, so another tool needs to be used. Image creation: FTK imagerĪutopsy and The Sleuth Kit are designed to examine disk images of hard drives, smart phones and so on. Read more about Autopsy and The Sleuth Kit here. Both tools are free and open-source, but commercial support and training are available as well. The tools are designed with a modular and plug-in architecture that makes it possible for users to easily incorporate additional functionality. Autopsy is a GUI-based system that uses The Sleuth Kit behind the scenes. The Sleuth Kit is a command-line tool that performs forensic analysis of forensic images of hard drives and smartphones. Disk analysis: Autopsy/the Sleuth KitĪutopsy and the Sleuth Kit are likely the most well-known forensics toolkits in existence.

This list outlines some of the most common and widely used tools for accomplishing different parts of a computer forensics investigation. Forensic investigation often includes analysis of files, emails, network activity and other potential artifacts and sources of clues to the scope, impact and attribution of an incident.ĭue to the wide variety of potential data sources, digital forensics tools often have different specialties. Digital evidence can exist on a number of different platforms and in many different forms.

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