Windows Forensics 101: Incident Response and Digital Forensics Fundamentals

When a security breach occurs, Windows systems are often at the center of the investigation. Understanding how to locate, extract, and analyze digital evidence is a critical skill for any aspiring cybersecurity professional. This course guides you through the foundational concepts of digital forensics and incident response (DFIR) on Windows platforms. You will transition from a beginner to a capable operator who can confidently identify suspicious activity, reconstruct user actions, and track malware execution paths. What you'll learn: - Understand foundational DFIR concepts, terminology, and the digital evidence lifecycle. - Analyze Windows Registry hives to uncover system configurations and historical user activity. - Investigate Windows Event Logs to track authentication attempts, service creations, and lateral movement. - Examine modern execution artifacts, including Prefetch files, Shimcache, and Amcache. - Identify suspicious PowerShell activity using advanced logging and command-line analysis. - Explore memory forensics basics and live response triage techniques on modern Windows systems. The course begins with core forensic principles and data preservation rules before walking you through step-by-step written analyses of critical system artifacts and log files. You will practice through structured, text-based scenarios that simulate real-world incident response investigations. Designed for beginner cybersecurity analysts, system administrators, and aspiring forensic examiners, this course requires no prior DFIR experience. Start reading today to build your foundational Windows forensics skillset and take the next step in your security career.