20 NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.
0
23
e U l t im a t e G u id e
Th
t a r t e d in D ig it a l
to Getting S
In c id e n t R e s p o n se
Forensics & R))
DFFIIR
((D
Think DFIRently
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 1
Introduction by the SANS DFIR Curriculum Lead,
Heather Mahalik
DFIR is not only a career field, but it’s also a passion of many. There are so many avenues
one can take once you dip your toe into the pool of digital forensics. Getting started is
often the hardest part and we hope this guide pushes you down a road where you land
a job that not only pays the bills but fulfills your soul knowing that you are making the
world a safer place while fighting digital crimes.
Some advice I have for you based upon how I got started in this field 20 years ago.
• L
eave your fear at the door. Someone will always be smarter than you. Learn from
them and take the opportunities listed in this guide to learn on your own.
• D
on’t let your background or education deter you. As stated, you don’t need to be a
computer wizard to excel in DFIR. You need to be curious, enjoy puzzles and have a
hunger for knowledge.
• N
etwork. People will make a difference! The DFIR community is like no other and
we all want to help, learn, and grow in our skill craft. Talk to people. Get out of
your shell.
• T
ake all the training you can. There is always something new to learn. This is one of
the beautiful things about DFIR... something new is always on the horizon.
• R
esearch. When you become curious about something, research it. Review the work
that others have done and don’t be afraid to share your research back with the
community via blogs, presentations or even a simple Twitter post.
Never let someone or something make you think you cannot jump into
this career field. Take the first step and you may find that you have not
only found the job of your dreams, but also a brand-new hobby! If you
are ever at a conference or event and you see me, please stop and say
hello so I can welcome you to the DFIR family.
- Heather Mahalik
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 2
One of the most asked questions we get is
“How Do I Get Started in DFIR?”
There are many paths to build a career in DFIR, and this guide was created to help you
figure out the best one for YOU. Use it to help develop your skills and find a network of
people to support you getting into the industry.
What to expect from this guide
This guide contains 10 sections, each focusing on different ways to develop skills. If you
focus efforts on each one of these, you will gain exposure to the industry and be able to
define your specific pathway.
1. What makes someone good at DFIR?
2. 20 coolest careers in cybersecurity (10 are DFIR)
3. Take advantage of free content
4. Build your skills
5. Surround yourself with industry experts and mentors
6. Attend free and low-cost events
7. Engage with the community
8. Scholarships, sponsorships and community programs
9. Get training and certification
10. Learn from the community – featured interview with Kat Hedley
Why Digital Forensics & Incident Response?
Digital Forensics and Incident Response roles will always be required, and always be
in demand. Crimes involving digital assets are becoming increasingly common, and as
technology and techniques evolve over time, the field needs to adapt and innovate to stay
one step ahead, which makes DFIR such an interesting area to work in. It’s also one of the
most satisfying and rewarding careers, knowing that you are helping to solve crimes, find
the right answers, and stop bad people doing bad things.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 3
1. What makes someone good at DFIR?
You don’t need a background with computers to succeed. In fact, some of the most
successful students at the SANS Technology Institute didn’t. As part of the admissions
process, you’ll take a quiz that tests your natural ability to succeed in DFIR. If you like solving
puzzles and have a desire to learn about technology, DFIR could be a great fit for you.
We often get asked about how to get started in DFIR—and really there are just so many
different ways that it’s difficult to point out “the one way into DFIR.” That being said, one of
the main things that sets a candidate apart is whether they can demonstrate the qualities
that a hiring manager is looking for that are critical to working in digital forensics and
incident response:
• P
roblem solving • Communication
• C
ritical thinking • Teamwork
• T horoughness and attention to detail • Ownership
Notice that technical ability is actually less important here at an entry level. We teach
people how to do forensics all the time (in fact, it’s one of the things SANS is known for!),
what we can’t teach is the ability to see a problem and say, “I’m going to figure out how
to solve that!” In DFIR, we typically have to be across a lot of different data sources, within
a very short period of time, and with a high level of accuracy (and even more often the
documentation is either non-existent, incomplete, or even incorrect).
Ok, but how does knowing this help you “get started in DFIR”?
Being able to demonstrate you can take a problem, work it through, and share it
with your team is unbelievably important. If you can demonstrate that you can take
something you don’t know anything about, find available resources, and present them
at the appropriate level for your audience then you’re already ahead of everyone that
isn’t doing the same. You’re demonstrating a key still that your future coworkers want to
see! Everyone wants to work with the person they can give a problem to, and that person
comes back with the solution!
The best part about all of this is you actually don’t need to know a lot about the topic
before you start. Perfect for a beginner! But where do you start? There’s so many facets of
DFIR to start with, and we can tell you, you can spend a long time in this industry and you
will never know everything. There will always be things you don’t know, and the ‘to-do’ list
of things to learn will always keep getting longer.
We tell everyone, especially newer examiners, that they should dive into the community
and start documenting their journey. We’re a very welcoming bunch - we like to see others
succeed because we’re all in this together. Someone brand new to the field may look at
something everyone else overlooked, or maybe they validate something we already knew,
but that’s useful too.
By starting to document your understanding, you are already setting yourself apart from
everyone else that isn’t. It’s definitely a good way to set yourself apart, and a fantastic way
to demonstrate the skills you need to get started in DFIR.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 4
2. SANS 20 Coolest Careers in Cybersecurity
Here’s the list of Top 20 Coolest Careers in cybersecurity. Challenge your skills, take the
next step in your career, and become an invaluable asset to employers. Ten of the coolest
careers are DFIR!
• Threat Hunter - Applies new threat • Incident Response Team Member - • Intrusion Detection/SOC Analyst -
intelligence against existing evidence Dynamic and fast-paced, this role involves Works alongside security engineers and
to identify attackers that have slipped identifying, mitigating, and eradicating SOC managers to implement prevention,
through real-time detection mechanisms. attackers while their operations are still detection, monitoring, and active
unfolding. response.
• Red Teamer - Focuses on making the
Blue Team better by testing and measuring • Cybersecurity Analyst/Engineer • Security Awareness Officer
the organization’s detection and response
policies, procedures, and technologies. • O
SINT Investigator/Analyst Technical • Vulnerability Researcher and Exploit
Director Developer
• Digital Forensic Analyst - Applies digital
forensic skills to a plethora of media that • Technical Director - Defines the • Application Pen Tester
encompass an investigation. technological strategies in conjunction
with development teams, assesses risk, • ICS/OT Security Assessment
• Purple Teamer establishes standards and procedures Consultant
to measure progress, and participates in
• Malware Analyst - Faces attackers’ • DevSecOps Engineer
the creation and development of a strong
capabilities head-on, ensuring the fastest
and most effective response to and
team. • Media Exploitation Analyst - Assists in
containment of a cyber-attack. the forensic examinations of computers
• Cloud Analyst - Contributes to the
and media from a variety of sources, in
design, integration, and testing of tools
• CISO/ISO or Director of Security view of developing forensically sound
for security management, recommends
evidence.
• Blue Teamer/All-Around Defender configuration improvements, assesses
- Must deal with engineering and the overall cloud security posture of the
architecture, incident triage and response, organization, and provides technical
security tool administration, and more. expertise for organizational decision-
making.
• Security Architect and Engineer
For more information about these careers, visit here.
DFIR Job Hunting Resources
LinkedIn
AboutDFIR
Discord DFIR server #dfir-job-postings
Getting Your Career Started in Cyber Forensics
Job Hunting in the Digital World
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 5
3. Take Advantage of Free Content
Take the time to watch webcasts and YouTube videos, read blogs, and start Googling when
something piques your interest. Here are some we recommend you start with:
Webcasts
Getting started in DFIR: Testing 1,2,3 - SANS@Mic
www.sans.org/webcasts/started-dfir-testing-123-sansatmic-118720
Securing Your Future in DFIR
www.sans.org/webcasts/securing-future-dfir-113305
Building a House on Sand Why Foundational Knowledge and Skills in Digital
Forensics are Crucial
www.sans.org/webcasts/building-house-sand-foundational-knowledge-skills-digital-
forensics-crucial-116715
DFIR 101: Digital Forensics Essentials | Kathryn Hedley
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eftOgRsHK4A
YouTube Channels
SANS DFIR – www.youtube.com/channel/UCwSo89W3KgPrid41vskBDYA
13Cubed – www.youtube.com/c/13cubed
DFIR Science – www.youtube.com/c/DFIRScience
Learn Forensics with David Cowen – https://www.youtube.com/c/
HackingexposedcomputerforensicsblogBlogspot/videos
Blogs & Newsletters
THIS WEEK IN 4N6 – https://thisweekin4n6.com
SANS Cybersecurity Blog – www.sans.org/blog
DFIR Diva – https://dfirdiva.com/
Podcasts
DF IRL by Magnet Forensics – https://www.magnetforensics.com/digital-forensics-in-
real-life-podcast/
Forensic Focus podcast – www.forensicfocus.com/podcast
The Digital Forensic Survival podcast – https://digitalforensicsurvivalpodcast.com/
Life Has No Ctrl Alt Delete Podcast – www.cellebrite.com/en/series/ctrl-alt-del/
Darknet Diaries – https://darknetdiaries.com/
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 6
4. Build Your Skills
It’s important to learn the core concepts and seek out hands-on opportunities to apply
them. Familiarize yourself with Windows, Linux, Coding Languages, and Networking. How?
• T here are lots of places where people can find test data sets to play with (DFIR
Training and AboutDFIR have pages dedicated to these). The test data sets are
usually associated with a challenge, which means that people can also have
something to search for.
• T here are services like Hack The Box which will allow people to test out
what attackers are doing, but it’s also easy to build your own using
freely available toolkits and SANS Cyber Securty Tools.
• E
veryone has a mobile phone or a computer they can use. They can also download
VirtualBox or VMWare Player and create virtual machines to create test data on.
Microsoft has ones you can download or Azure is inexpensive. The main benefit of
building your own datasets is that you know what you did, which means you know
when the information presented to you is correct or not.
• T here are plenty of books to read, and here’s a few that people have recommended.
Knowing the authors of those books and having read a few of them I would
recommend people picking them up and having a read.
• D
ownload Free Tools – play around with open-source tools like SIFT Workstation.
The SANS faculty has created over 150 free tools. Find them here.
• L earn to code! While coding in Python isn’t a requirement to get into DFIR it helps.
Alexis and Brooke put together this YouTube series on coding for DFIR.
• T here are various CTFs happening throughout the year, and there are even people
like Kevin Pagano or Shanna Daly who are regularly sharing the process they use to
work through these challenges. SANS also hosts the yearly Holiday Hack Challenge
as well as various NetWars challenges, including one specifically for DFIR!
• T ake a training class! SANS obviously has a lot of them, and if you’re just starting
out, we recommend the FOR308: Digital Forensics Essentials class to set up a
solid foundation.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 7
5. Surround Yourself with Industry Experts and Mentors
Follow
Following industry experts and mentors can open a world of tools, topics and events that
you would not otherwise be aware of. SANS Instructors are very active on Twitter and
worth following. Here’s a full list of SANS Instructors’ Twitter handles. In addition to the
full list, here are some of our most active:
• Rob Lee | @robtlee • Kat Hedley | @4enzikat0r • Megan Roddie | @megan_roddie
• Jason Jordaan | @DFS_JasonJ • Robert M. Lee | @RobertMLee • Mike Pilkington | @mikepilkington
• Katie Nickels | @likethecoins • Phil Hagen | @PhilHagen • Eric Zimmerman | @EricRZimmerman
• Heather Mahalik | @HeatherMahalik • Sarah Edwards | @iamevltwin • Kevin Ripa | @kevinripa
• Chad Tilbury | @chadtilbury • Ryan Chapman | @rj_chap • Lodrina Cherne | @hexplates
• Ovie Carrol | @ovie • Sean O’Connor | @vHUMINT • Lenny Zeltser | @lennyzeltser
• Phill Moore | @phillmoore • Dave Cowen | @HECFBlog
You can always find others to follow if you pay attention to hashtags such as #DFIR,
#computerforensics, #digitalforensics, #incidentresponse, #cybersecurity, and #infosec.
Mentorships
There are a ton of mentorship opportunities available (found with a quick search). Here
are a few of our favorites:
• C
ybersecurity Mentoring Hub
• Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) Mentorship
• International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP)
• K
en Johnson Scholarship opened yearly six months prior to the SANS DFIR Summit
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 8
6. Attend Free and Low-Cost Events
There are so many great IT security conferences, and many of them post their content
online afterwards.
SANS Summits
SANS Summits
Connect with cybersecurity practitioners and experts
who deliver applicable content based on real-world “I’ve managed to learn something I didn’t
experience. Through in-depth presentations, panel know from nearly every session, and I’ve
discussions, interactive workshops, and sharing forums, been made aware of additional tools or
you’ll collaborate with fellow cybersecurity practitioners, methodologies that will help.”
learn about tools and generate solutions that will help you
—Dallas Moore, PepsiCo
protect your organization from ever-evolving threats.
SANS Workshops
Dive into material and get hands-on experience with tools
and techniques that you can apply immediately with these “After 7 years working in security, specifically
FREE workshops led by SANS Faculty. being a Cyber Security Analyst for almost
Magnet User or Virtual Summit 4 years, I was getting bored and burnt out.
Originally a showcase of the excellent work the Magnet
I’m more of a Sherlock Holmes by nature
Forensics team produces, the Magnet User Summit and but never knew about Threat Intelligence
Magnet Virtual Summit is a month-long extravaganza of until the SANS CTI Summit last year. It’s
forensic goodness for the entire community. taken me one year to find out what exactly
Open Source Digital Forensics Conference (OSDFCon)
a TI analyst does on the job day in, day out.
It’s so exciting--I’ve finally found where I’ve
OSDFCon is a one-day conference run by Basis Technologies
belonged this entire time.”
where open-source researchers and developers can
showcase their open-source digital forensic efforts. —Stephanie Totty, Availity
Digital Forensics Research Workshop (DFRWS)
DFRWS is a series of research-focused conferences held in North America, Europe, and
Asia Pacific. The conferences allow researchers to present their research papers in Digital
Forensic Science.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 9
BSides
“BSides is a growing community of real
BSides is a community-driven framework for building
security professionals who want to learn
events for and by information security community
members. The goal is to expand the spectrum of
from each other and grow. Unlike most cons
conversation beyond the traditional confines of space we see today, BSides cuts through the hype
and time. BSides creates opportunities for individuals to and allows you to have real conversations
both present and participate in an intimate atmosphere among your peers in an environment that’s
that encourages collaboration. These are intense comfortable and welcoming.”
events with discussions, demos, and interaction among
—Michelle Schafer
participants. It is where conversations for the “next big
thing” are happening.
7. Engage with the Community
Get involved with groups, meetups, lists, forums, and LinkedIn communities.
#DFIR on Twitter
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23DFIR
SANS DFIR LinkedIn Community
Keep up with the latest of Digital Forensics & Incident Response topics, look for jobs, training, and
more at Linkedin.
SANS Industrial Control Systems Community Forum
Participate in the SANS Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Community Forum, where ICS professionals
discuss current security events, share tips, ask questions, and connect with others passionate
about securing the critical infrastructure.
AFCEA Chapters
AFCEA provides a forum for military, government, and industry communities to collaborate so that
technology and strategy align with the needs of those who serve.
ISACA Local Chapters
ISACA offers access to resources and a community of experts committed to lifetime learning and
career progression to help you stay up to date.
ISSA Chapter Directory
ISSA is the community of choice for international cybersecurity professionals dedicated to
advancing individual growth, managing technology risk, and protecting critical information
and infrastructure.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 10
SANS OSINT Community
This is a place for people who are OSINTers, looking to become an OSINTer, and who are
members of the global OSINT community!
Advancing Women in CyberSecurity (WiCys)
WiCyS is where the recruitment, retention and advancement of women in cybersecurity
happens.
High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA)
HTCIA was formed to provide education and collaboration to our global members for the
prevention and investigation of high-tech crimes.
International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists
The International Association of Computer Investigative Specialists is a non-profit,
volunteer organization wholly dedicated to training, certifying and providing membership
services to computer forensic professionals around the world.
Discord
• SANS Blue Team Ops
• The DFIR Discord (with a new SANS-specific channel!)
• Arsenal Recon
• Magnet Forensics
8. Scholarships, Sponsorships and Community
Programs
SANS Cyber Academies
To help fill the cybersecurity skills gap, the SANS Institute created the CyberTalent
Immersion Academy. It’s an intensive, accelerated training program that provides
world-class training and GIAC certifications to quickly and effectively launch careers in
cybersecurity. More than 600 scholarships have been awarded so far and 90% of our
graduates are employed within six months of graduation. Find out if you could be the one
to participate and launch a new career in cyber!
Department of Defense STEM
DoD STEM offers opportunities for potential students, educators, and the current workforce.
Scholarships
Here is a list of cybersecurity college scholarships:
• Scholarships.com
• Unigo
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 11
Capture-the-Flag Tournaments
Most vendors such as Belkasoft, Cellebrite, and Magnet Forensics offer Capture-the-Flag
Tournaments that enhance your knowledge on DFIR topics. These competitions offer
datasets, questions and often walk throughs of the answers.
Netwars DFIR
Netwars DFIR is a custom-built cyber range specifically focused on digital forensics,
incident response, threat hunting, and malware analysis, that is tool-agnostic, from low
level artifacts to high level behavioral observations.
9. Get Training and Certification
SANS offers an accredited college certificate—the Undergraduate Certificate in Applied
Cybersecurity from the SANS Technology Institute—that guides you through a sequence
of four courses. The program includes an introductory course plus three SANS courses
leading to GIAC certifications that provide the foundational knowledge and hands-on skills
needed to launch a cybersecurity career. The program provides lifetime career services
and also serves as a pathway to the SANS.edu master’s degree program and job-specific
graduate certificate programs. More than half of the certificate students received their first
cybersecurity job offer before they finished the program. A 100% online option is available.
Applications are accepted monthly.
SANS Security Essentials courses are designed to provide a range
of topics to help you grasp foundations quickly and fill critical “I was having a hard time getting a
knowledge gaps. The certifications associated with the courses job in information security due to my
provide assurance to employers that their prospective hires can lack of hands-on experience. SANS
actually do the job. Below is a list of SANS foundational courses gave me extraordinary training and
and certifications, with supporting resources that can help you get
the opportunity to rise to the top of
started, and that might give you an idea of the path that interests
the résumé pile.”
you the most.
—AJ Langlois, BB&T
SANS Foundations
SANS Foundations is the best single course available to learn
the core knowledge and develop practical skills in computers, “I think the biggest value add for
technology, and security fundamentals that are needed to kickstart
SANS Foundations was simply how
a career in cybersecurity. The course features a comprehensive
comprehensive it was. It covered a
variety of innovative, hands-on labs and practical exercises that
lot of topics, but each was covered
go far beyond what is offered in any other foundational course in
cybersecurity. These labs are developed by leading subject-matter in enough depth for a better
experts, drawing on the latest technology, techniques, and concepts handle on the basics without being
in cybersecurity. overwhelming.”
—U.S. government federal
law enforcement professional
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 12
The course provides students with the practical
“This course provided information I can take back to
learning and key skills to empower future
cybersecurity learning and professional
my company and begin using immediately. It will be
development. very easy to show leadership the ROI.”
FOR308: Digital Forensics Essentials is an —Jennifer Welsh, CNO Financial Group
introductory course aimed at people from non-
technical backgrounds, to give an understanding,
in layman’s terms, of how files are stored on a “In DFIR, things rarely go as planned. This course
computer or smartphone. It explains what Digital teaches you about the options to control when
Forensics and Incident Response are and the art things aren’t working as expected.”
of the possible when professionals in these fields
—Michael Roberts, Corvus Forensics
are given possession of a device.
This course is intended to be a starting point in
the SANS catalogue and provide a grounding in
knowledge, from which other, more in-depth, “Coming from a non-cybersecurity background, this
courses will expand. course was perfect for setting my cyber foundation.”
FOR498: Digital Acquisition and Rapid Triage, —Marco Godinez, Discover Financial
a digital forensic acquisition training course,
provides the necessary skills to identify the many
and varied data storage mediums in use today,
and how to collect and preserve this data in a
forensically sound manner despite how and where “The best parts of this class are the real-world
it may be stored. It covers digital acquisition from examples and historical events, which illustrate how
computers, portable devices, networks, and the these course topics are applicable and why they are
cloud. It then teaches the student Battlefield important to learn/understand.”
Forensics, or the art and science of identifying and
—Gia M..
starting to extract actionable intelligence from a
hard drive in 90 minutes or less.
GIAC Battlefield Forensics and Acquisition (GBFA)
SEC301: Introduction to Cyber Security, this introductory certification course, is the fastest
way to get up to speed in information security. Written and taught by battle-scarred
security veterans, this entry-level course covers a broad spectrum of security topics and
is liberally sprinkled with real life examples. A balanced mix of technical and managerial
issues makes this course appealing to attendees who need to understand the salient
facets of information security basics and the basics of risk management. Organizations
often tap someone who has no information security training and say, “Congratulations, you
are now a security officer.” If you need to get up to speed fast, Security 301 rocks!
GIAC Information Security Fundamentals (GISF)
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 13
SEC401: Security Essentials: Network, Endpoint,
“SEC401 took what I thought I knew and truly
and Cloud
explained everything to me. Now, I also UNDERSTAND
Whether you are new to information security or
the security essentials fundamentals and how/why
a seasoned practitioner with a specialized focus,
we apply them. I loved the training and cannot wait
SEC401 will provide the essential information
security skills and techniques you need to
to come back for more.”
protect and secure your critical information and —Nicholas Blanton, ManTech International
technology assets, whether on-premise or in the
cloud. SEC401 will also show you how to directly apply the concept learned into a winning
defensive strategy, all in the terms of the modern adversary. This is how we fight; this is
how we win!
GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC)
10. Learn from People in the Community
Featured Interview
NAME: Kathryn Hedley (Kat)
DAY JOB: Digital Forensics
COURSES TAUGHT OR AUTHORED: SANS FOR308, FOR500
Q: First of all, tell us a little about your background and how you got to where
you are today.
A: After graduating from university, I won a place on a graduate scheme and started out
as a developer on the Galileo European satellite navigation system. However, one of the
modules in that degree was an introduction to Digital Forensics, and it was by taking that
module that I decided my ultimate goal was a career in DFIR. Armed with only the limited
knowledge I had from that one module, I applied for a role in Digital Forensics after two
years as a developer. With a promise to get up to speed quickly by undertaking a Master’s
Degree in Computer Forensics, part-time, for the first two years in the role, I got the job.
It was the foundational knowledge the Master’s Degree gave me, that has allowed me to
build a career in DFIR in the 14 years since I started that first job.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 14
Q: There are lots of specializations in DFIR, how did you decide which area to
focus on?
A: For me, I’ve really developed focus organically, and dipped into various specialisms
over the years that were required by my role at the time. When I started out, all my
investigations were Windows-based, so I focused on Windows artifact analysis. As
smartphones became more popular, I saw more investigations coming in that involved
these devices, so learned about smartphone acquisition and analysis. At one stage,
the organization I was working for decided to create a malware investigation team, so
I focused on how to find malware within networks and on endpoints. As part of this
work, I also trained in memory analysis, to be able to search for malware and evidence
of malware in RAM. My main focus has remained on Windows systems over the years.
However, gaining some level of understanding of different specializations broadens overall
knowledge, and I’d encourage others to dip into them and use that knowledge to decide
their own focus.
Q: How do you recharge or take a break from work?
A: I #DFIRFit! The Twitter hashtag was created by Stacey Randolph around 2017, as a way for
people in DFIR to come together and encourage each other to move away from their desks
and get moving. I started posting with the hashtag in 2019, and really have Brian Moran
to thank for motivating me, and for getting me involved with all the subsequent virtual
challenges we’ve jointly run since then. Exercise is a really great way to de-stress, take
a break, and release endorphins, as well as counteract some of the downsides to sitting
at a desk all day, every day. It’s also something that everyone can do and get involved in.
Whether it’s going for a walk at lunchtime, doing some stretches to get the limbs moving,
going for a run, joining a regular exercise class, or taking up a sport, it all helps. #DFIRFit
has also spawned a number of related hashtags for other groups in InfoSec, which is
awesome. All of the hashtags are very inclusive, whether you work in those specific fields
or not, so do get involved.
Q: What DFIR tools can’t you live without?
A: A hex editor, because if all else fails, you can always look at the raw data.
I personally like 010 Editor, because it provides extra features such as file format
templates and scripts.
EZ Tools Suite, because if you’re dealing with Windows artifacts, there’s a tool for
everything!
X-Ways, because sometimes you just need a Forensic Suite, and despite a non-intuitive
user interface, it’s a very fast and accurate, feature-rich tool.
Just remember to always validate your tools before you use them in actual casework, so
you know you can trust the output.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 15
Q: What’s your best travel hack?
A: Take a drawstring bag with you inside your carry-on bag. Once you’re through security,
pack the drawstring bag with everything you want at your seat on the plane. When you’re
about to board the plane, take the drawstring bag out of your carry-on and once you find
your seat, you can put the carry-on straight into the overhead locker, and the drawstring
bag under the seat in front of you. When it comes to leaving the plane, you can then put
everything back into the drawstring bag before everyone stands up. When it comes to your
turn, you can grab the drawstring bag, stand up, grab your carry-on from the overhead
locker and leave the plane straight away. Makes boarding and leaving the plane super-fast
and super-smooth.
Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
A: Check out summit talks, webinars, podcasts; all content you’re interested in online.
There are lots of free resources provided by the community to help to broaden your
knowledge. To name just a few links:
• SANS Posters: www.sans.org/posters
• SANS Webcasts: www.sans.org/webcasts/archive
• This Week In Forensics Blog: https://thisweekin4n6.com
• Forensic Lunch: www.youtube.com/user/LearnForensics
• Magnet Forensics Cache Up Podcast: www.magnetforensics.com/cache-up
• Cellebrite’s Life Has No Ctrl Alt Delete Podcast: www.cellebrite.com/en/series/ctrl-
alt-del
Also, get involved! Whether it’s writing a blog, giving a talk at a summit, contributing to a
tool on GitHub, playing a CTF, or Tweeting with the #DFIRFit or another #*fit hashtag, just
join in. Doing your own research, playing CTFs, contributing to tools, are all great ways to
learn new skills, as well as connect with the community, and it’s a fantastic community to
be part of.
Q: What do you think are essential skills for people new to DFIR?
A: A thirst for knowledge, and a desire to explore and find answers. Knowledge of how raw
data is structured and how it can be understood is more important than being able to
use specific tools. If you understand the fundamentals of DFIR, you have solid ground to
then build on, and to focus in on any specialization(s) you choose, so start with the basics
before jumping into specific platforms, artifacts and tools.
NEW TO DFIR FIELD MANUAL 2.0 16
