Introduction

Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) in Windows environments presents unique challenges that require a structured approach and proper tooling. This two-part series focuses on establishing a foundational DFIR workflow for organizations. Part 1 covers the essential steps of forensic image acquisition and initial triage, ensuring organizations can properly preserve evidence during security incidents and prepare for potential expert analysis.

Prerequisites

Required Tools

• FTK Imager - Industry-standard forensic imaging tool
• Arsenal Image Mounter - Forensic image mounting utility
• Kroll Artifact Parser/Extractor (KAPE) - Triage and artifact collection tool

Additional Resources

• TCM Security Academy - Practical Windows Forensics
• Blue Cape Security - Building a Forensic Workstation

Forensic Process Overview

The forensic acquisition process follows a critical order: memory acquisition first, followed by disk imaging. This sequence is essential because:

1. Memory contains volatile data that is lost upon system shutdown
2. System state must be preserved for accurate analysis
3. Network isolation is crucial before acquisition

Important: When containing a potentially compromised system, isolate the network by disconnecting ethernet cables or disabling wireless adapters. Never immediately shut down the system, as this destroys volatile evidence.

Evidence Acquisition

Memory Acquisition

1. Prepare an external drive or network share with sufficient storage capacity
2. Launch FTK Imager and select the memory acquisition option
3. Configure the destination and enable pagefile inclusion for comprehensive memory capture

Disk Imaging

1. Select the Physical Drive option to ensure complete data capture, including deleted files
2. Choose appropriate destination storage
3. Initiate the imaging process

Image Analysis Preparation

Mounting the Forensic Image

Arsenal Image Mounter enables analysis of the captured disk image:

1. Select the image file from its storage location
2. Configure mounting options as shown below
3. Verify successful mount and drive letter assignment

Artifact Collection with KAPE

KAPE streamlines the triage process through predefined artifact collections:

1. Launch KAPE’s graphical interface
2. Select the mounted image as the target source
3. Specify a destination for collected artifacts
4. Use the “KAPETriage Compound” option for comprehensive event log collection

Command Line Alternative:

.\kape.exe --tsource E: --tdest C:\Cases --tflush --target KapeTriage --gui

The resulting collection provides a structured set of artifacts for analysis:

Conclusion

This guide demonstrates the fundamental steps for proper forensic image acquisition and initial triage using industry-standard tools. While other tools may offer faster acquisition times, FTK Imager and KAPE provide a reliable, well-documented workflow suitable for both internal analysis and expert handoff.

The combination of proper memory capture, full disk imaging, and structured artifact collection creates a solid foundation for incident response. KAPE’s modular approach offers additional automation capabilities worth exploring for advanced workflows.

Part 2 of this series will focus on detailed artifact analysis using specialized DFIR tools and techniques.

I hope that you enjoyed this writeup. Until next time, take care.