Journey Into Incident Response

This post is a quick update about a few things I've been working on over the years.

auto_rip updates

auto_rip is a wrapper script for Harlan Carvey's RegRipper and the script has a few updates. For those unfamiliar with the program please refer to my post Unleashing auto_rip. The script's home has always been on the RegRipper Google Code site but Google dropped support for adding new downloads. As a result, I thought it might be helpful to make newer versions available at different places since Google Code can no longer be used. One of the download locations where the script will be available is Google Drive. The link to the download folder is located here. In addition, along the right side of this blog is a link to the script's download location.

Harlan has put in a ton of work on Regripper and in the spring he released some updates to the program. Inside the downloadable archive he made available a file named updates.txt that outlines all of the work he did. New plug-ins, combined plug-ins, retiring plug-ins, etc.. Needless to say, an outstanding tool is now even better. After Harlan released the updates others asked if I was going to update auto_rip to match. Things have been busy so it took longer than I wanted. However, I finally updated auto_rip to account for the new RegRipper updates.

The latest auto_rip download works with the RegRipper rr_20140414.zip download. All changes are noted at the top of the code. The changes include: adding plug-ins to parse, removing plug-ins no longer supported, adding the malware category (not all malware plug-ins run), and parsing the AMcache.hve registry hive with a new switch (Harlan, awesome job making this plug-in). I also renamed the executed to reflect it is 64bit and won't work on 32bit systems. Harlan, again thanks for all the work you put into maintaining the project.

tr3secure_collection_script

Another script I released is the tr3secure_collection_script. This script automates the collection of volatile and non-volatile data from systems to support incident response activities. For more information about the script refer to my posts: Dual Purpose Volatile Data Collection Script and Tr3Secure Data Collection Script Reloaded. This script was another Google Code causality and had to find a new home (Google Drive again.) The link to the download folder is located here. In addition, along the right side of this blog is a link to the script's download location.

Besides getting a new home there is only one small change in this version. I dropped support for pv.exe since it is no longer downloadable. At some point in the future there may be another update on this front.

Digital Forensic Search Update

I have been keeping track of the various blogs and websites to add to the Digital Forensic Search over the past six months. I finally added the new sites to the index. To access the custom Google you can use this link directly. To see the full list of what is included in the index refer to the post: Introducing the Digital Forensics Search.

A few quick updates about some things related to the blog …

Digital Forensic Search (DFS) Updates

I updated the Digital Forensic Search’s index today. Eight new blogs were added and I updated the URL for an existing blog. In no particular order the new editions are: Sketchymoose's Blog, Forensics For the Newbs, WriteBlocked, Hexacorn Blog, Zena Forensics, Taksati, Chris Sanders, and SANs Penetration Testing Blog. As usual, the Introducing the DFS blog post has been updated to reflect the changes.

I’m going to continue documenting the sites in the index on the Intro to DFS post. However, I’m probably going to stop posting updates on the blog since I’m leaning towards mentioning the changes through my twitter account.

I’m Now on Twitter

Earlier in the week I finally finished setting up my Twitter account and actually started to use it. As my profile indicates Twitter is my platform to share random thoughts which will mostly be focused on information security. I said mostly because the account won’t solely be used to discuss security. Please feel free to hit me up at corey_harrell.

A Different Approach to Analyzing Volume Shadow Copies

In a few weeks I’m going to have some time off from work since I’m taking some “furlough” days. My plan is to spend the time putting together some material (blog posts and videos) to further demonstrate a different approach to analyzing the data stored volume shadow copies.

Before discussing my approach I’m pointing out two current approaches. One is to image each VSCs then examining the data in the images. Another approach is to copy the data - including metadata - from all or select VSCs so it can be examined outside the VSCs. The approach I’ve been using is to examine the data while it’s still stored in the volume shadow copies. There are numerous benefits doing it this way such as reducing the amount of time needed or being able to work on both live systems and forensic images. I think the technique’s true power is the ability to see the same data at different points in time since shows how the data changed over time. This has been critical for me on a few different cases.

To help me examine VSCs in this manner I wrote a few different scripts. The material I’m putting together will not only explain my logic behind the scripts’ functionality but will show how it can be easily extended by anyone to meet their own needs. Yes, I'll also release the scripts as well. Plus, if I can pull off a video or two it should be cool for people to see it in action.

What’s TR3Secure?

At some point over the next few months you may see me start referencing and sharing some work I completed for something called TR3Secure. I’ll be the sole author of any work I share (mostly scripts) but I wanted to briefly discuss what TR3Secure is since I’ll be tagging my work with it. A few co-workers and a colleague of mine are working on setting up a training group for us to collaborate and develop our information security skills together. We are trying to create an environment to bring together security testers, incident responders, and digital forensic practitioners. We envision doing different activities including conducting live simulations and this is where bringing together the three different skillsets will shine. The live simulations will be conducted with select people attacking a test network while a second group responds, triages the situation, and if necessary contains the attack. Afterwards, the examiners will collect and examine any evidence to document the attack artifacts. When it’s all said and done then everyone will share their experiences and knowledge about the atack and if necessary train other members on any actions they completed during the simulation.

We are still in the early stages setting the group up and once established it initially has to be a closed group. I’m only mentioning TR3Secure here because I’m going to write various scripts (Perl and Batch) to help with certain aspects of the live simulations. If my scripts work well especially for training then I’ll share it for others to use for self training purposes. The scripts will solely be my own work but I’m still tagging everything with TR3Secure since I’m working with some great individuals. The first item coming down the pipeline is a cool dual purpose volatile data collection script that doubles as a training and incident response tool.

In this edition of Links I think there is a little bit of something for everyone regardless if your interest is forensics, malware, InfoSec, security auditing or even good a rant ….

Digital Forensic Search Updates

The Digital Forensic Search index has been slowly growing since it was put together four months ago. Last Sunday’s update brought the sites in the index to: 103 DFIR blogs, 38 DFIR websites, 13 DFIR web pages, and 2 DFIR groups. The initial focus of DFS was to locate information related to specific artifacts as opposed to locating tools to parse those artifacts. My reasoning was because I didn’t want to weed through a lot of irrelevant search hits. Most tools’ websites only provided a high level overview of an artifact the tool parses instead of in-depth information. It made sense to leave out tool specific sites to reduce the amount of noise but things change.

A question I ask myself at times is what tool can parse artifact XFZ. I’m not alone asking the question because I see others asking the same thing. To make things easier in locating tools I’m now adding tool specific sites to the Digital Forensic Search. So far 15 websites and 7 web pages are indexed. I ran a few tests and the search results seem to be a good mixture of hits for information and tools. My testing was limited so if anyone sees too much noise then just shoot me an email telling me who the culprit is.

Let me know of any links missing from DFS

Windows Shortcut File Parser Update

My post Triaging My Way mentions a need I had for a command line tool to parse Windows Shortcut files. In my quest for a tool I modified the lslnk.pl perl script to produce the output I wanted. One of the modifications I made to the script was to examine all of the files in a folder and to only parse files with the lnk file extension. I was running lslnk-directory-parse.pl (modified script) against some shortcut files when the script would abruptly stop. The parsed information from the last file only contained the file system timestamps. Examination of the file showed that it was empty and this was what caused lslnk-directory-parse.pl to die. I made a slight modification to lslnk-directory-parse.pl so the script checks each files’ header to confirm it is indeed a Windows shortcut file. I uploaded the new scripts (lslnk-directory-parse.pl and lslnk-directory-parse2.pl) to the Yahoo Win4n6 group and added a version number (v1.1) in the comments.

There are always different ways to accomplish something. When faced with trying to parse all of the Window shortcut files in a folder I opted to modify an existing script to meet my needs. The Linux Sleuthing blog took a different approach in the post Windows Link Files / Using While Loops. The author uses a while loop with an existing script to parse all of the shortcut files in a folder. Their approach is definitely simpler and quicker than what I tried to do. I learned a lot from the approach I took since I had to understand what modifications to make to an existing script in order to get the output I wanted.

How to Mount a Split Image

Speaking of the Linux Sleuthing blog. They provided another useful tip in the post Mounting Split Raw Images. As the name of the post implies it is about how to mount a split image in a Linux environment. I can’t remember the last time I dealt with a split image since I no longer break up images. However, when I used to create split images I remember asking myself how to mount it in Linux. To others the question may be simple but I didn’t have a clue besides concatenating to make a single image. The Mounting Split Raw Images post shows that sharing information – no matter how simple it may appear – will benefit someone at some point in time.

$UsnJrnl Goodness

Bugbear over at Security Braindump put together a great post Dear Diary: AntiMalwareLab.exe File_Created. I recommend anyone who will be encountering a Windows Vista or 7 system to read the post even if malware is not typically encountered during examinations. The $UsnJrnl record is an NTFS file system artifact which is turned on by default in Vista and 7. Bugbear discusses what the $UsnJrnl record is and how to manually examine it before discussing tools to automate the examination.

What I really like about the post is the way he presented the information. He explains an artifact, how to parse the artifact, a tool to automate the parsing and then shares an experience of how the artifact factored into one of his cases. I think the last part is important since sharing his experience provides context to why the artifact is important. His experience involved files created/deleted on the system as a result of a malware infection. Providing context makes it easier to see the impact of $UsnJrnl on other types of investigations. For example, a reoccurring activity I need to determine on cases is what files were deleted from a system around a certain time. Data in the $UsnJrnl record may not only show when the files of interest were deleted but could highlight what other files were deleted around the same time.

Memory Forensic Image for Training

While I’m on the topic of malware I wanted to pass along a gem I found in my RSS feeds and seen others mention. The MNIN Security Blog published the Stuxnet's Footprint in Memory with Volatility 2.0 back in June but I didn’t read it until recently. The post demonstrates Volatility 2.0’s usage by examining a memory image of a system infected with Stuxnet. A cool thing about the write-up is the author makes available the memory image they used. This means the write-up and the memory image can be used as a guide to better understand how to use Volatility. Just download Volatility, download the memory image, read the post, and follow along by running the same commands against the memory image. Not bad for a free way to improve your Volatility skills.

Easier Way to Generate Reports from Vulnerability Scans

Different methods are used to identify known vulnerabilities on systems. Running various vulnerability scanners, web application scanners, and port scanners are all options. One of the more tedious but important steps in the process is to correlate all of the tools’ outputs to identify: what vulnerabilities are present, their severity, and their exposure on the network. Obtaining this kind of information from the scans was a manual process since there wasn’t a way to automate it. James Edge over at Information Systems Auditing is trying to address this issue in something he calls the RF Project (Reporting Framework Project). RF Project is able to take scans from Nessus, Eeye Retina, Nmap, HP WebInpect, AppScan AppDetective, Kismet, and GFI Languard so custom reports can be created. Want to know the potential vulnerabilities detected by Nessus, Retina, and Nmap against server XYZ? Upload the scans to the reporting framework and create a custom report showing the answer instead of manually going through each report to identify the vulnerabilities. I tested an earlier version of the framework when it only supported Nessus and Retina a few years ago. It’s great to see he continued with the project and added support for more scans.

Jame’s site has some useful stuff besides the RF project. He has a few hacking tutorials and some technical assessment plans for external enumeration, Windows operating system enumeration, and Windows passwords.

Good InfoSec Rant

I like a good rant ever once in awhile. Assuming the Breach’s I do it for the Lulz explains the reason the author works in security. It’s not about the money, job security, or prestige; he works in security because it’s a calling. The post was directed at the InfoSec field but I think the same thing applies to Digital Forensics. Take the following quote:

“Technology, and especially information security has always been more than a job to me. More than even a career. It's a calling. Don't tell my boss, but I'd do this even if they didn't pay me. It's what I do. I can't help it.”

I can’t speak for others but digital forensics is the most changing field I’ve ever worked in. Technology (hardware and software) is constantly changing in how it stores data and the tools I use to extract information are also evolving. Digital forensics can’t be treated as a normal 8 to 4 job with any chance of being successful. Five days a week and eight hours each day is not enough time for me to keep my knowledge and skills current about the latest technology, tool update, threat, or analysis technique. It’s not a job; it’s my passion. My passion enables me to immerse myself in DFIR so I can learn constantly and apply my skills in different ways outside of work for my employer.

I wouldn’t last if digital forensics was only a day job. Seriously, how could I put myself through some of the things we do if there is no passion? We read whitepapers dissecting artifacts and spend countless hours researching and testing to improve our skills. Doing either of these things would be brutal to someone who lacks passion for the topic. For example, I couldn’t hack it being a dentist because I lack the passion for dentistry. I wouldn’t have the will power to read a whitepaper explaining some gum disease or spend hours studying different diagnosis. Dentistry would just be an 8 to 4 day job that pays the bills until I could find something else. DFIR on the other hand is another story as I spend my evening blogging about it after spending the day working on a case.

Have you ever run a *insert search engine* search to locate information about an artifact only to find a listing of mostly irrelevant hits? A lot of time is wasted going through the irrelevant hits to locate the few websites with information that helps you better see how the artifacts fit into your forensic examination. Wouldn't it be better if the majority of the search hits were in the context of digital forensics or incident response, thereby making the hits more relevant to your forensic examination? Here is the formal introduction of the Digital Forensic Search engine.

The combination of the Yahoo Win4n6 group's discussion about David Kovar's post The Fragmentation of the digital forensics community, hooked-on-mnemonics blog post Malware Analysis Search, and writing my last post on searching RSS feeds inspired me to want to search for information a different way. A more effective way is to use a custom search engine that's configured to only search blogs, groups, forums, or any other sites related to digital forensics and incident response. Digital Forensic Search is a custom Google search and in a way I think it harnesses the collective knowledge and research of the people/organizations who share information back to the forensics community.

Digital Forensic Search results in more search hits which are in the realm of digital forensics and incident response. Depending on the artifact being researched, the search hits may result in information on the artifact, tools to extract data from the artifact, and how the artifact affected other practitioners' examinations. For example, perform a search for the keyword "link file" (include the quotes) in your favorite search engine. The first 10 hits in my search only included one digital forensics hit while the other hits were for information not beneficial to any type of forensic investigation. Run the same search in the Digital Forensic Search and it results in the majority of the hits being directly related to link files in the context of a digital forensic examination. Three of the hits on the first page were an article about the Evidentiary Value of Link Files on Forensic Focus, Richard Drinkwater's blog post Link Files in System Restore Points, and the article The Meaning of Link Files in Forensic Examinations on the Computer Forensics Miscellany website.

If anyone still isn't convinced in the value of a custom search then I recommend performing a couple of searches between *insert search engine* and Digital Forensic Search. A few potential topics to search on are: comdlg32, tool validation, evidence collection, timeline analysis, or volume shadow copies. The searches should show that Digital Forensic Search has more relevant hits related to digital forensic and incident response which results in it being one effective method to locate information.

This post is where I'm going to be maintaining the list of sites included in the Digital Forensic Search so any updates to the index will be reflected below. The repository tries to focus on sites containing information on digital forensics and incident response as opposed to tool specific sites. With this in mind, if you see any sites missing or URLs with too much noise (such as job postings) then post a comment or send me an email.

Digital Forensic Search can be found at the top of jIIr or directly at this link:

http://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=011905220571137173365:7eskxxzhjj8


DFRWS (Digital Forensics Research Conference)  http://www.dfrws.org/
Digital Forensics Magazine supporting the professional computer security industry  http://www.digitalforensicsmagazine.com/
Digital Forensics Solutions' Research http://www.digitalforensicssolutions.com/research.shtml
ENSIA CERT  http://www.enisa.europa.eu/act/cert/
E-Evidence Information Center - Home  http://www.e-evidence.info/
FIRST - Improving security together  http://www.first.org/
Forensic Focus  www.forensicfocus.com/
Forensic Magazine Issues  http://www.forensicmag.com/
Forensics Wiki  http://www.forensicswiki.org/
HolisticInfoSec toolsmith http://holisticinfosec.org/toolsmith
Inside the registry  http://www.insidetheregistry.com/regdatabase/
I-Sight's Investigations http://i-sight.com/investigation/
International Journal of Digital Evidence on Utica College  http://www.utica.edu/academic/institutes/ecii/ijde/
Into The Boxes  http://intotheboxes.wordpress.com/
IronGeek's InfoSec Articles http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/
Journal of Digital Forensics, Security and Law  http://www.jdfsl.org/
Lenny Zeltser  http://zeltser.com/
log2timeline  http://log2timeline.net/
mnin.org  http://www.mnin.org/
Mobile Forensics Central  http://www.mobileforensicscentral.com/
National Institute of Justice Publications  http://nij.gov/nij/pubs-sum/
National White Collar Crime Center  http://www.nw3c.org/
Network Forensics Puzzle Contest  http://forensicscontest.com/
NIST Computer Security Division Special Publications  http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/
Open Source Digital Forensics  http://www2.opensourceforensics.org/
SANs Computer Forensics  http://computer-forensics.sans.org/
SANS InfoSec Reading Room - Forensics  http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/forensics/
SANS InfoSec Reading Room - Incident Handling  http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/incident/
SANS InfoSec Reading Room - Malicious Code  http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/malicious/
SANS InfoSec Reading Room - Steganography  http://www.sans.org/reading_room/whitepapers/stenganography/
SANs Summit Archives  http://digital-forensics.sans.org/summit-archives
Small Scale Digital Device Forensics Journal  http://www.ssddfj.org/
SWGDE  http://www.swgde.org/
The Honeynet Project Challenges  https://www.honeynet.org/challenges/
Welcome AppleExaminer  http://www.appleexaminer.com/
Williballenthin.com  http://williballenthin.com

DFIR Webpages

AuSCERT Forming an Incident Response Team  http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=2252&cid=1938
Cybercrime.gov searching and seizing manual  http://www.cybercrime.gov/ssmanual/index.html
Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals  http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/92-102.ZS.html
Default Processes in Windows 2000  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263201
Digital Evidence: Standards and Principles  http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/forensic-science-communications/fsc/april2000/swgde.htm
Digitalcorpora Disk Images  http://digitalcorpora.org/corpora/disk-images/
FileSignatures Table  http://www.garykessler.net/library/file_sigs.html
Forensically interesting spots in the Windows 7, Vista and XP file system and registry (and anti-forensics)  http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/windows-forensics-registry-and-file-system-spots
Microsoft Windows XP - Default settings for services  http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sys_srv_default_settings.mspx?mfr=true
QQIS Whitepapers  http://qccis.com/resources/publications/
RFC 3227 - Guidelines for Evidence Collection and Archiving  http://www.rfc-archive.org/getrfc.php?rfc=3227
SEI Handbook for Incident Response Teams  http://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/abstracts/reports/03hb002.cfm
Windows 7 Default Services and Suggested Startup Mode  http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Windows-7-Default-Services-Suggested-Startup-Mode.html

DFIR Groups

Yahoo Win4n6 Group  http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/win4n6/
Yahoo Linux Forensics Group  http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/linux_forensics/ 
The Vol-users Archives  http://lists.volatilesystems.com/pipermail/vol-users/