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Forensic Toolkit
(FTK)

User Guide

| 1

AccessData Legal and Contact Information

Document date: November 2, 2017

Legal Information
©2017 AccessData Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, photocopied,
stored on a retrieval system, or transmitted without the express written consent of the publisher.
AccessData Group, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to the contents or use of this
documentation, and specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any
particular purpose. Further, AccessData Group, Inc. reserves the right to revise this publication and to make
changes to its content, at any time, without obligation to notify any person or entity of such revisions or changes.
Further, AccessData Group, Inc. makes no representations or warranties with respect to any software, and
specifically disclaims any express or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose.
Further, AccessData Group, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to any and all parts of AccessData
software, at any time, without any obligation to notify any person or entity of such changes.
You may not export or re-export this product in violation of any applicable laws or regulations including, without
limitation, U.S. export regulations or the laws of the country in which you reside.

AccessData Group, Inc.
588 West 400 South Suite 350
Lindon, UT 84042
USA

AccessData Trademarks and Copyright Information
The following are either registered trademarks or trademarks of AccessData Group, Inc. All other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
AccessData®

DNA®

PRTK®

AccessData Certified Examiner® (ACE®)

Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

Registry Viewer®

AD Summation®

Mobile Phone Examiner Plus®

Summation®

Discovery Cracker®

MPE+ Velocitor™

SilentRunner®

Distributed Network Attack®

Password Recovery Toolkit®

AccessData Legal and Contact Information

| 2

A trademark symbol (®, ™, etc.) denotes an AccessData Group, Inc. trademark. With few exceptions, and
unless otherwise notated, all third-party product names are spelled and capitalized the same way the owner
spells and capitalizes its product name. Third-party trademarks and copyrights are the property of the trademark
and copyright holders. AccessData claims no responsibility for the function or performance of third-party
products.
Third party acknowledgements:
FreeBSD

AFF®

and AFFLIB® Copyright® 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Simson L. Garfinkel and Basis Technology
Corp. All rights reserved.

Copyright

BSD License:
Copyright (c) 2009-2011, Andriy Syrov. All rights reserved. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms,
with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: Redistributions of
source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer;
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following
disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution; Neither the name of Andriy
Syrov nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS
AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE
LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR
SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED
AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF
ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
WordNet License:
This license is available as the file LICENSE in any downloaded version of WordNet.
WordNet 3.0 license: (Download)
WordNet Release 3.0 This software and database is being provided to you, the LICENSEE, by Princeton
University under the following license. By obtaining, using and/or copying this software and database, you agree
that you have read, understood, and will comply with these terms and conditions.: Permission to use, copy,
modify and distribute this software and database and its documentation for any purpose and without fee or
royalty is hereby granted, provided that you agree to comply with the following copyright notice and statements,
including the disclaimer, and that the same appear on ALL copies of the software, database and documentation,
including modifications that you make for internal use or for distribution. WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by
Princeton University. All rights reserved. THIS SOFTWARE AND DATABASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. BY
WAY OF EXAMPLE, BUT NOT LIMITATION, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT- ABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR THAT THE
USE OF THE LICENSED SOFTWARE, DATABASE OR DOCUMENTATION WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY THIRD
PARTY PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS, TRADEMARKS OR OTHER RIGHTS. The name of Princeton University or
Princeton may not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software and/or database.

AccessData Legal and Contact Information

| 3

Title to copyright in this software, database and any associated documentation shall at all times remain with
Princeton University and LICENSEE agrees to preserve same.
XMLmind XSL-FO Converter Professional Edition Developer License Agreement:
Distribution
Licensee may not distribute with the Application any component of the Software other than the binary class
library (xfc.jar) for the JavaTM version and the Dynamic Link Library file (xfc.dll) for the .NET version.
Licensee shall include the following copyright notice: "XMLmind XSL-FO Converter Copyright © 2002-2009
Pixware SARL", with every copy of the Application. This copyright notice may be placed together with Licensee's
own copyright notices, or in any reasonably visible location in the packaging or documentation of the Application.
Licensee may use, distribute, license and sell the Application without additional fees due to Licensor, subject to
all the conditions of this License Agreement.

Documentation Conventions
In AccessData documentation, a number of text variations are used to indicate meanings or actions. For
example, a greater-than symbol (>) is used to separate actions within a step. Where an entry must be typed in
using the keyboard, the variable data is set apart using [variable_data] format. Steps that require the user to
click on a button or icon are indicated by Bolded text. This Italic font indicates a label or non-interactive item in
the user interface.
A trademark symbol (®, ™, etc.) denotes an AccessData Group, Inc. trademark. Unless otherwise notated, all
third-party product names are spelled and capitalized the same way the owner spells and capitalizes its product
name. Third-party trademarks and copyrights are the property of the trademark and copyright holders.
AccessData claims no responsibility for the function or performance of third-party products.

Registration
The AccessData product registration is done at AccessData after a purchase is made, and before the product is
shipped. The licenses are bound to either a USB security device, or a Virtual CmStick, according to your
purchase.

Subscriptions
AccessData provides a one-year licensing subscription with all new product purchases. The subscription allows
you to access technical support, and to download and install the latest releases for your licensed products during
the active license period.
Following the initial licensing period, a subscription renewal is required annually for continued support and for
updating your products. You can renew your subscriptions through your AccessData Sales Representative.
Use License Manager to view your current registration information, to check for product updates and to
download the latest product versions, where they are available for download. You can also visit our web site,
www.accessdata.com anytime to find the latest releases of our products.
For more information, see Managing Licenses in your product manual or on the AccessData website.

AccessData Legal and Contact Information

| 4

AccessData Contact Information
Your AccessData Sales Representative is your main contact with AccessData. Also, listed below are the general
AccessData telephone number and mailing address, and telephone numbers for contacting individual
departments

Mailing Address and General Phone Numbers
You can contact AccessData in the following ways:

AccessData Mailing Address, Hours, and Department Phone Numbers
Corporate Headquarters:

AccessData Group, Inc.
588 West 400 South Suite 350
Lindon, UT 84042 USA
Voice: 801.377.5410; Fax: 801.377.5426

General Corporate Hours:

Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM (MST)
AccessData is closed on US Federal Holidays

State and Local
Law Enforcement Sales:

Voice: 800.574.5199, option 1; Fax: 801.765.4370
Email: Sales@AccessData.com

Federal Sales:

Voice: 800.574.5199, option 2; Fax: 801.765.4370
Email: Sales@AccessData.com

Corporate Sales:

Voice: 801.377.5410, option 3; Fax: 801.765.4370
Email: Sales@AccessData.com

Training:

Voice: 801.377.5410, option 6; Fax: 801.765.4370
Email: Training@AccessData.com

Accounting:

Voice: 801.377.5410, option 4

Technical Support
Technical support is available on all currently licensed AccessData solutions.
You can contact AccessData Customer and Technical Support in the following ways:
AccessData Support Portal
You can access the Chat, Knowledge Base, Discussion Boards, White Papers and more through the
AccessData Support Portal:
https://support.accessdata.com
E-Mail Support:
support@accessdata.com
Telephone:
Americas/Asia-Pacific:
800-658-5199 (North America)

AccessData Legal and Contact Information

| 5

Support Hours: Mon-Fri, 7:00 AM – 6:00 PM (MST), except corporate holidays.

NOTE: Emergency support is available on weekends:
Saturday and Sunday 8:00am – 6:00pm MST via support@accessdata.com

Documentation
Please email AccessData regarding any typos, inaccuracies, or other problems you find with the documentation:
documentation@accessdata.com

Professional Services
The AccessData Professional Services staff comes with a varied and extensive background in digital
investigations including law enforcement, counter-intelligence, and corporate security. Their collective
experience in working with both government and commercial entities, as well as in providing expert testimony,
enables them to provide a full range of computer forensic and eDiscovery services.
At this time, Professional Services provides support for sales, installation, training, and utilization of Summation,
FTK, FTK Pro, Enterprise, eDiscovery, Lab and the entire Resolution One platform. They can help you resolve
any questions or problems you may have regarding these solutions.

Contact Information for Professional Services
Contact AccessData Professional Services in the following ways:

AccessData Professional Services Contact Information
Contact Method

Number or Address

Phone

North America Toll Free: 800-489-5199, option 7
International: +1.801.377.5410, option 7

services@accessdata.com

AccessData Legal and Contact Information

| 6

Table of Contents

AccessData Legal and Contact Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Table of Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Part 1: Introducing Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Chapter 1: Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Overview of Investigating Digital Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
About Acquiring Digital Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Types of Digital Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Acquiring Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

About Examining Digital Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
About Managing Cases and Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
What You Can Do With the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
About Indexing and Hashing . . . . . .
About the Known File Filter Database
About Searching . . . . . . . . . . . .
About Bookmarking . . . . . . . . . . .
About Presenting Evidence . . . . . .

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Chapter 2: Getting Started with the User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Part 2: Administrating Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Chapter 3: Application Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Initializing the Database and Creating an Application Administrator Account . . . 36
Changing Your Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Recovering a Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Creating a Password Reset File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Resetting your Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38

Setting Database Preferences . . . . . . . .
Managing Database Sessions . . . . . . . .
Optimizing the Database for Large Cases .
Creating Databases for Individual Cases . .
Managing KFF Settings . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recovering and Deleting Processing Jobs .
Restoring an Image to a Disk . . . . . . . . .
Table of Contents

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Database Integration with other AccessData Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Web Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Adding New Users to a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
About Assigning Roles to Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
About Additional Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About Predefined Roles . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Assigning Initial Database-level Roles to Users .
Assigning Additional Case-level Roles to Users .

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Email Notifications for Case-Level Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Assigning Users Shared Label Visibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Setting Additional Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Choosing a Temporary File Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Providing a Network Security Device Location . . . . . . .
Setting Theme Preferences for the Visualization Add on .
Optimizing the Case Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Managing Global Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Managing Shared Custom Carvers
Managing Custom Identifiers . . .
Managing Columns . . . . . . . . .
Managing File Extension Maps . .
Managing Filters . . . . . . . . . .

Part 3: Case Management .

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Chapter 4: Introducing Case Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
About Case Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The User Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
About the Cases List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Menus of the Case Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Menus of the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Chapter 5: Creating and Configuring New Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Opening an Existing Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Opening a Case in iSubmit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Creating a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Configuring Detailed Options for a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
About Processing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring Default Processing Options for a Case .
Using Processing Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Customizing the Processing Profile Buttons . . . . .
Manually Customizing a set of Detailed Options . . .

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Evidence Processing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
Expanding Compound Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Table of Contents

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Using dtSearch Text Indexing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring Case Indexing Options . . . . . . . . . . . .
Data Carving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Running Optical Character Recognition (OCR) . . . . .
Using Explicit Image Detection . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Including Registry Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Send Email Alert on Job Completion . . . . . . . . . . .
Custom File Identification Options. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating Custom File Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options .
Refining Evidence by File Status/Type . . . . . . . . . .
Selecting Index Refinement (Advanced) Options . . . .
Selecting Lab/eDiscovery Options . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Adding Evidence to a New Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Working with Volume Shadow Copies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Converting a Case from Version 2.2 or Newer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Chapter 6: Managing Case Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Backing Up a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
About Performing a Backup and Restore on a Multi-Box Installation . . . . . . 113
Performing a Backup of a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Performing a Database-only Backup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Archiving a Case . . . . . . . . . .
Archiving and Detaching a Case
Attaching a Case . . . . . . . . . .
Restoring a Case . . . . . . . . .
Deleting a Case . . . . . . . . . .

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Storing Case Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Migrating Cases Between Database Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Chapter 7: Working with Evidence Image Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Verifying Drive Image Integrity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mounting an Image to a Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Benefits of Image Mounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Characteristics of a Logically Mounted Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Characteristics of a Physically Mounted Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mounting an Image as Read-Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mounting a Drive Image as Writable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unmounting an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Restoring an Image to a Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Performing Final Carve Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Table of Contents

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120

Recovering Processing Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Chapter 8: Working with Static Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Static Evidence Compared to Remote Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acquiring and Preserving Static Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with Evidence Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Selecting Evidence Processing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Selecting a Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Examining Data in Volume Shadow Copies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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About Restore Point Processing Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Managing Restore Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Viewing Restore Point Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Using Additional Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hashing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Data Carving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing the Status and Progress of Data Processing and Analysis .
Viewing Processed Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Editing the Processing Management Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing Evidence Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Evidence Tracking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Chapter 9: Working with Live Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
About Live Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Types of Live Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Adding Local Live Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Methods of Adding Remote Live Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Requirements for Adding Remote Live Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Adding Evidence with the Temporary Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Pushing the Temporary Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Manually Deploying the Temporary Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Adding Data with the Enterprise Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Methods of Deploying the Enterprise Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating Self-signed Certificates for Agent Deployment . . . . . . .
Configuring Communication Settings for the Enterprise Agent Push
Pushing the Enterprise Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Removing the Enterprise Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Connecting to an Enterprise Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding Remote Data with the Enterprise Agent . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acquiring Drive Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Acquiring RAM Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Importing Memory Dumps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Unmounting an Agent Drive or Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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154
154
155
156
157
157
157
160
161
162
162

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Chapter 10: Filtering Data to Locate Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
About Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Types of Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
What You Can Do with Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Understanding How Filters Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Viewing the Components of Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Viewing Details about Attributes that Filters use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Using Simple Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Using Global Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using Tab Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How Global Filters and Tab Filters can work Together
Using Filters with Category Containers . . . . . . . . .
Using Filters with Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing the Filters that you have Applied . . . . . . .

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167
167
168
168
168
169

Using Filtering with Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Adding a Search Filter to Live Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Adding a Search Filter to Index Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Using Compound Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Applying Compound Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Using Custom Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
About Nested Filters . .
Creating a Custom Filter
Copying Filters . . . . .
Editing a Custom Filter .

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172
172
173
173

Sharing, Importing, and Exporting Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Sharing Custom Filters Between Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Importing Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Exporting Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174

Types of Predefined Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Filtering Data Prior to Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Using the Persons of Interest Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Creating a List of Communication Participants. . . . .
Creating a Rule within People Finder . . . . . . . . . .
Searching for Data within People Finder . . . . . . . .
Creating a Communication Filter within People Finder
Fields Searched when using Persons of Interest . . .

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180
181
181
181
182

Chapter 11: Working with Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
What You Can Do With Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Applying a Label . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

183
183
184
184

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Managing Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Managing Label Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Chapter 12: Decrypting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
About Decrypting Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
About the Encrypted File Passwords List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Identifying the Encrypted Files in a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Using PRTK/DNA Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Decrypting Files Using the Automatic Decryption Processing Option . . . . . . 192
Decrypting Files Using Right-Click Auto Decryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193

Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
About Recovering Passwords using the PRTK/DNA Integrated Tool with Examiner
194

Recovering Passwords using the PRTK/DNA Integrated Tool . . . . . . . . . . 194

Decrypting Other Encryption Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Decrypting EFS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Decrypting Microsoft Office Digital Rights Management (DRM) Protected Files 197
Decrypting Dropbox DBX Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Decrypting Lotus Notes Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Decrypting S/MIME Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption Server) . . . . . . 200
Decrypting Bitlocker Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Decrypting Safeguard Utimaco Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Decrypting SafeBoot Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Decrypting Guardian Edge Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Decrypting an Image Encrypted With
PGP® WDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Viewing Decrypted Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Chapter 13: Exporting Data from the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Copying Information from the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting Files to a Native Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting Files to an AD1 Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting an Image to an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting File List Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting a Word List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting Recycle Bin Index Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting Hashes from a Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting KFF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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208
210
212
214
216
217
217
218
218

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Exporting All Hits in a Search to a CSV file. .
Exporting Emails to PST . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting the Properties Panel . . . . . . . . .
Exporting Geolocation Data to KML or KMZ .

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Chapter 14: About Cerberus Malware Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
About Cerberus Malware Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
About Cerberus Score Weighting . . .
About Cerberus Override Scores . . .
About Cerberus Threat Score Reports
Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Scores . . .
Cerberus Stage 1 File Information. . .

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224
224
225
227
229

About Cerberus Stage 2 Static Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
About Cerberus Stage 2 Report Data . . .
Cerberus Stage 2 Function Call Data . . .
File Access Call Categories . . . . . . . .
Networking Functionality Call Categories
Process Manipulation Call Categories . .
Security Access Call Categories . . . . .
Windows Registry Call Categories . . . .
Surveillance Call Categories . . . . . . . .
Uses Cryptography Call Categories . . . .
Low-level Access Call Categories . . . . .
Loads a driver Call Categories . . . . . .
Subverts API Call Categories . . . . . . .

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230
231
232
234
236
237
237
238
238
239
239
240

Chapter 15: Running Cerberus Malware Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Running Cerberus Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
About Reviewing Results of Cerberus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Cerberus Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Reviewing Results of Cerberus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Using Index Search with Cerberus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Exporting a Cerberus Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Chapter 16: Getting Started with KFF (Known File Filter) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Introducing KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
About the KFF Server and Geolocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

About KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Introduction to the KFF Architecture
Components of KFF Data . . . . . .
How KFF Works . . . . . . . . . . . .
About KFF Data Formats . . . . . . .

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250
251

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Installing the KFF Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
About Installing the KFF Server . . . . . . . . .
About KFF Server Versions . . . . . . . . . . .
Process for Installing KFF . . . . . . . . . . . .
Downloading the Latest KFF Installation Files .
Determining Where to Install the KFF Server .
Installing the KFF Server . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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252
252
253
253
254
256

Configuring the Location of the KFF Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Configuring the KFF Server Location on AD Lab and AD Enterprise . . . . . . 258
Configuring the KFF Server Location on Summation or eDiscovery . . . . . . . 259
Manually Configuring Remote Setting for Cassandra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Migrating Legacy KFF Data from Previous Versions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.6 - 6.2 to 6.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.5 and earlier . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Importing KFF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
About Importing KFF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Using the KFF Import Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Using the KFF Import Utility versions 6.3 and later . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Uninstalling KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Installing KFF Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
KFF Library Reference Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
About KFF Pre-Defined Hash Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

What has Changed in Version 6.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
What was Changed in Version 5.6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Chapter 17: Using the Known File Filter (KFF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Process for Using KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About the KFF Admin page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding Hashes to the KFF Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

282
282
283
285

Importing KFF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Manually Managing Hashes in a Hash Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Adding Hashes From Files in Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Using KFF Groups to Organize Hash Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
About KFF Groups . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a KFF Group . . . . . . . . .
Viewing the Contents of a KFF Group
Managing KFF Groups . . . . . . . . .

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289
290
290
290

Enabling a Case to Use KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
About Enabling and Configuring KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Enabling and Configuring KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Reviewing KFF Results in the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
About KFF Data Shown in the Item List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

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Using the KFF Information Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Using KFF Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Using the Overview Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

Re-Processing KFF Using Additional Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Exporting KFF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
About Exporting KFF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Exporting KFF Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297

Chapter 18: Using Project VIC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
About Project VIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
About PhotoDNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
About Project VIC and KFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298

Overview of Using Project VIC . . . . . . . .
Downloading Project VIC Hash Data . . . .
Installing and Configuring the KFF Server .
Importing Project VIC Data . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a Case and Enabling Project VIC .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
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Enabling and Configuring Project VIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Viewing Project VIC Results in the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Using the Overview Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Project VIC and PhotoDNA Information Columns
Using the Graphics Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Video Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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303
303
304
304

Bookmarking Files to Export to Project VIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Exporting Bookmarked Files to Project VIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Part 4: Reviewing Cases .

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Chapter 19: Using the Examiner Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
About the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Creating Screen Captures in the Examiner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Chapter 20: Exploring Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Explorer Tree Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
File List Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
About the File List . . . . . . . . . . . .
Customizing the Colors of the File List
Using the File List’s Columns . . . . .
Icons of the File List Tool Bar . . . . .
File List View Right-Click Menu . . . .

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312
313
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316

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The File Content Viewer Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
The Filter Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Using QuickPicks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Chapter 21: Examining Evidence in the Overview Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Using the Overview Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Evidence Groups Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File Items Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File Extension Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File Category Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
File Status Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cluster Topic Container . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Processing and Displaying Evidence Counts . . . . . . . . . .
Disabling the Calculation and Display of the Total Logical Size

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328
328
329
329
330
331
331
332

Chapter 22: Examining Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Using the Email Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Email Status Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Email Archives Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Email Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Examining Windows 10 Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Processing Windows 10 Email and Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Viewing Windows 10 Email and Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Exporting Windows 10 Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Chapter 23: Examining Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Using the Graphics Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
The Thumbnails Size Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Moving the Thumbnails Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Evaluating Explicit Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Filtering EID Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
EID Scoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Chapter 24: Examining Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
Generating Thumbnails for Video Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Generating Video Thumbnails from the Natural Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Creating Common Video Files . . . . . . .
Using the Video Tree Pane . . . . . . . . .
Using the Video Thumbnails Pane . . . . .
Playing a Video from a Video Thumbnail .
The Thumbnail Size Setting . . . . . . . . .
Moving the Thumbnails Pane . . . . . . . .

Table of Contents

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349

| 16

Chapter 25: Examining Miscellaneous Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Identifying Processing-Generated Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Relating Generated Files to Original Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing Windows Prefetch Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing Data in Windows XML Event Log (EVTX) Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

350
351
351
352
352

About Viewing EVTX Log Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Viewing IIS Log File Data . . . . . . .
Viewing Registry Timeline Data . . . .
Viewing Log2Timeline CSV File Data
Identifying Document Languages. . .
Examining Internet Artifact Data . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

About Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) Databases . . . . . . . . . .
About Expanding Google Chrome, Firefox, and IE 9 Data . . . . . . .
About Expanding Data from Internet Explorer (IE) Version 10 or Later
Expanding Internet Artifact Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing Internet Artifact Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.

364
365
366
368
369

Examining Mobile Phone Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370
About Expanding Mobile Phone Data . . . . . .
Viewing Mobile Phone Data . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with Cellebrite UFDR Images . . . . .
Working with iOS Backup . . . . . . . . . . . .
Working with Facebook Messenger (Android) .
Mobile Chat Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Viewing Data in Volume Shadow Copies . . . .
Viewing Microsoft Office and Adobe Metadata
About Windows 8 and 10 Keyword Searches .
Parsing Data Using Belkasoft . . . . . . . . . . .

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.
.
.
.

371
375
376
377
378
379

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

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.
.
Belkasoft Parsers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.
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.

385
386
386
386

Chapter 26: Bookmarking Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
About Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390
About Timeline Bookmarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Creating a Bookmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
About Empty Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392

Bookmarks Dialog Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
Bookmark Comments HTML Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395

Viewing Bookmark Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Creating a Timeline Bookmark Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Using the Bookmarks Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Bookmarking Selected Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
Bookmarking Video Thumbnails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 398
Adding a Video Thumbnail to a New or Existing Bookmark . . . . . . . . . . . 398

Adding to an Existing Bookmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
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| 17

Creating Email or Email Attachment Bookmarks . . . . . . . .
Adding Email and Email Attachments to Existing Bookmarks
Moving a Bookmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Copying a Bookmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deleting a Bookmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deleting Files from a Bookmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . 400
. . . . . . . . . . . 400
. . . . . . . . . . . 401
. . . . . . . . . . . 401
. . . . . . . . . . . 401
. . . . . . . . . . . 401

Chapter 27: Searching Evidence with Live Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conducting a Live Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Live Text Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Live Hex Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Live Pattern Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

402
402
403
405
406

Using Pattern Searches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Predefined Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Social Security Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
U.S. Phone Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
IP Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Creating Custom Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Chapter 28: Searching Evidence with Index Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Conducting an Index Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
Using Search Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Using Unicode Characters in Search Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

Expanding Search Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adjusting the Weighting Criteria for an Index Search Term .
Defining Search Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Exporting and Importing Index Search Terms . . . . . . . . .
Selecting Index Search Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing Index Search Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using dtSearch Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . 415
. . . . . . . . . . . . 416
. . . . . . . . . . . . 417
. . . . . . . . . . . . 417
. . . . . . . . . . . . 418
. . . . . . . . . . . . 419
. . . . . . . . . . . . 420

TR1 Regular Expressions For Text Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
TR1 Regular Expressions For Number Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424

Documenting Search Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
Using Copy Special to Document Search Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Bookmarking Search Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Chapter 29: Viewing System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
About Viewing System Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Populating the Data in the System Information Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Viewing System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430

Table of Contents

| 18

Exporting System Information Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Available System Information Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
Chapter 30: Examining Volatile Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the Volatile Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing Memory Dump Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

437
438
440
441

Viewing Hidden Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Viewing Input/Output Request Packet Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441
Viewing Virtual Address Descriptor (VAD) Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

Performing File Remediation from the Volatile Tab . . . . . .
Killing a Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wiping a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding Hashes to KFF Library from the Volatile Tab . . . . .
Adding Hashes to Fuzzy Hash Library from the Volatile Tab
Creating a Memory Dump File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . 443
. . . . . . . . . . . . 443
. . . . . . . . . . . . 444
. . . . . . . . . . . . 444
. . . . . . . . . . . . 445
. . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Chapter 31: Analyzing Document Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
Using Entity Extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
About Entity Extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
Enabling Entity Extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449
Viewing Entity Extraction Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 449

Using Document Content Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450
Filtering Documents by Document Content Analysis
Prerequisites for Cluster Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . .
How Document Content Analysis Works . . . . . . .
Filtering with Cluster Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Considerations of Cluster Topic . . . . . . . . . . . .

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.
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Performing Cluster Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Words Excluded from Cluster Analysis Processing . .

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.
.

450
451
451
451
451
452
453

Chapter 32: Using Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Launching Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About the Visualization page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About Visualization Time Line Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About the Base Time Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

454
454
455
456
457

457
Setting the Base Time Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459

Changing the View of Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Modifying the Bar Chart Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460
Changing the Theme of Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

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| 19

Visualizing File Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461
Configuring Visualization File Dates .
Visualizing File Extension Distribution
Visualizing File Category Distribution .
Using the File Data List . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.

461
462
463
464

Visualizing Email Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468
Narrowing the Scope with the Email Time Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 468
Viewing Mail Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
Using the Email Details List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

About the Detailed Visualization Time Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
Using the Detailed Visualization Time Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
Understanding How Data is Represented in the Detailed Time Line . . . . .
About Time Bands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Modifying the Time Line Using Time Bands and Zoom . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding How Grouping Works in the Detailed Visualization Time Line

.
.
.
.

475
476
478
478

Visualizing Internet Browser History Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
Visualizing Other Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
Chapter 33: Using Visualization Heatmap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Chapter 34: Using Visualization Social Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
About Social Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
Accessing Social Analyzer . . . . . . . . . .
Social Analyzer Options . . . . . . . . . . .
Analyzing Email Domains in Visualization .
Analyzing Individual Emails in Visualization

.
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.
.

485
486
487
487

Chapter 35: Using Visualization Geolocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
About Geolocation Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
About Viewing Geolocation Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 489
General Geolocation System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490

Processing Geolocation Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
Viewing Geolocation EXIF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 490
Using Geolocation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
The Geolocation Map Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492

Using the Geolocation Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
Filtering Items in the Geolocation Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495

Using Geolocation Columns in the Item List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496
Using Geolocation Column Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496

Using Geolocation Visualization with Forensics Products to View Security Data .
497

Prerequisites for Using Geolocation Visualization to View Security Data . . . . 497
Configuring the Geolocation Location Configuration File . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497

Table of Contents

| 20

Viewing Geolocation IP Locations Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
Using the Geolocation Network Information Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499

Chapter 36: Customizing the Examiner Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About Customizing the Examiner User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Tab Layout Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Moving View Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating Custom Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Managing Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Customizing File List Columns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating User-Defined Custom Columns for the File List view .
Deleting Custom Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Navigating the Available Column Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . .

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500
500
501
502
504
505

.
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505
506
508
508

Chapter 37: Working with Evidence Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a Case Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding Case Information to a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding Bookmarks to a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

510
511
512
513

Bookmark Export Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514

Adding Graphics Thumbnails and Files to a Report
Adding a Video to a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding a File Path List to a Report . . . . . . . . . . .
Adding a File Properties List to a Report . . . . . . .
Adding Registry Selections to a Report . . . . . . . .
Adding Screen Captures from Examiner . . . . . . .
Selecting the Report Output Options . . . . . . . . .
Creating a Load File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Customizing the Report Graphic . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521

.
.
Using Cascading Style Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . .
Viewing and Distributing a Report . . . . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.

522
524
525
525

Modifying a Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Exporting and Importing Report Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Writing a Report to CD or DVD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527

Part 6: Reference . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .528

Chapter 38: Installing the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
About the Elasticsearch Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Prerequisites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529

Installing the Elasticsearch Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
Installing the Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
Troubleshooting the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service . . . . . . . . 531
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Chapter 39: Installing the Windows Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Supported Hashing Algorithms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Manually Installing the Windows Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Specific Instructions for eDiscovery . . . . . . . .
Specific Instructions for AD Enterprise . . . . . .
Installing the Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring Execname and Servicename Values

.
.
.
.

532
533
534
536

Using Your Own Certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Controlling Consumption of the CPU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Important Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539
Chapter 40: Installing the Unix / Linux Agent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
Installing The Enterprise Agent on Unix/Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
Supported Platforms
Uninstallation . . . .
Configuration . . . .
Starting the Service .
Stopping the Service

.
.
.
.
.

540
541
541
541
542

Chapter 41: Installing the Mac Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Configuring the AccessData Agent installer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Bundling a Certificate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Configuring the Port. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Additional Configuration Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544

Installing the Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Uninstalling the Agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Chapter 42: Working with Windows Registry Evidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
Understanding the Windows Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
Windows 9x Registry Files . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Windows NT and Windows 2000 Registry Files .
Windows XP Registry Files . . . . . . . . . . . .
Possible Data Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Additional Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.

547
547
548
549
549

Windows XP Registry Quick Find Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
System Information . .
Networking . . . . . . .
User Data . . . . . . .
User Application Data

.
.
.
.

551
552
552
554

Chapter 43: Supported File Systems and Drive Image Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
File Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555

Table of Contents

| 22

Whole Disk Encrypted Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
Hard Disk Image Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
CD and DVD Image Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
Chapter 44: Recovering Deleted Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
FAT 12, 16, and 32
NTFS . . . . . . . . .
Ext2 . . . . . . . . . .
Ext3 . . . . . . . . . .
HFS . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559

Chapter 45: Managing Security Devices and Licenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Installing and Managing Security Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Installing LicenseManager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Starting LicenseManager . . . . . . . . . .
Using LicenseManager . . . . . . . . . . .
Updating Products . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sending a Dongle Packet File to Support

.
.
.
.

563
564
569
570

Virtual CodeMeter Activation Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setup for Online Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Setting up VCM for Offline Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Creating a Virtual CM-Stick with Server 2003/2008 Enterprise Editions
Additional Instructions for AD Lab WebUI and eDiscovery . . . . . . . .
Virtual CodeMeter FAQs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

571
571
571
572
572
573
574

Network License Server (NLS) Setup Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
Introduction . . . . . . . . .
Preparation Notes . . . . . .
Setup Overview . . . . . . .
Network Dongle Notes . . .
NLS Server System Notes .
NLS Client System Notes .

.
.
.
.
.
.

576
576
576
577
577
577

Chapter 46: Configuring a Multi-box Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
Configuration for a Multi-box Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
Configuration Overview. . . . . . . . .
Create a Service Account . . . . . . .
Share the Case Folder . . . . . . . . .
Configure Database Services . . . . .
Share the Backup Destination Folder .
Test the New Configuration . . . . . .

Table of Contents

.
.
.
.
.
.

579
579
580
581
581
581

| 23

Chapter 47: AccessData Distributed Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Distributed Processing Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Using PostgreSQL with Distributed Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Installing Distributed Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 585
Configuring Distributed Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587
Using Distributed Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
Checking the Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Table of Contents

| 24

Part 1

Introducing Forensic Toolkit®
(FTK®)

This part contains introductory information about AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)and contains the
following chapters:
Introducing
Getting

AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®) (page 26)

Started with the User Interface (page 32)

Introducing Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

| 25

Chapter 1

Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit®
(FTK®)

AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®) lets you do thorough computer forensic examinations. It includes
powerful file filtering and search functionality, and access to remote systems on your network.
AccessData forensic investigation software tools help law enforcement officials, corporate security, and IT
professionals access and evaluate the evidentiary value of files, folders, and computers.
This chapter includes the following topics
Overview

of Investigating Digital Evidence (page 26)

About

Acquiring Digital Evidence (page 27)

About

Examining Digital Evidence (page 28)

About

Managing Cases and Evidence (page 29)

What

You Can Do With the Examiner (page 30)

Overview of Investigating Digital Evidence
This section describes acquiring, preserving, analyzing, presenting, and managing digital evidence and cases.
Forensic digital investigations include the following process
Acquisition

Acquisition involves identifying relevant evidence, securing the evidence, and creating and storing a
forensic image of it.
About Acquiring Digital Evidence (page 27)
Analysis

Analysis involves creating a case and processing the evidence with tools to properly investigate the
evidence.
About Examining Digital Evidence (page 28)
Presentation

Presentation involves creating a case report that documents and synthesizes the investigation.
About Presenting Evidence (page 31)
Management

Management involves maintenance tasks such as backing up, archiving, detaching, attaching, restoring,
and deleting cases and evidence.
About Managing Cases and Evidence (page 29)

Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

Overview of Investigating Digital Evidence

| 26

About Acquiring Digital Evidence
The admissibility of digital evidence in a court of law, can be dependent on preserving the integrity of the source
data when it is acquired.
When digital evidence is acquired, forensic examiners create clones of the digital evidence to prevent any
possibility of the digital evidence being changed or modified in any way. This acquired duplication is called a
forensic image. If there is question to the authenticity of the evidence, the image can be compared to the original
source data to prove or to disprove its reliability.
To create a forensic image, the data must be acquired in such a way that ensures that no changes are made to
the original data or to the cloned data. The acquired data must be an exact “bit-by-bit” duplication of the source
data. You can use AccessData’s Imager tool to acquire exact duplicates of digital evidence.
Preserving the evidence is accomplished both in the method of acquisition and the storage of the acquired data.
Creating an exact replica of the original source is critical in forensic investigations. Keeping that replica safe from
any source of corruption or unauthorized access involves both physical and electronic security. Once a case is
created and the evidence is added to it, the case becomes just as critical. Acquired 001, E01, S01, and AD1
images can be encrypted using AD Encryption.

Types of Digital Evidence
Digital evidence is data such as documents and emails that can be transmitted and stored on electronic media,
such as computer hard drives, mobile phones, and USB devices.
The following are types of digital evidence
Static

evidence
The data that is imaged before it is added to a case is known as static evidence because it stays the
same. Images can be stored and remain available to the case at all times because the image is an exact
replica of evidence data in a file format.

Live

evidence
Live evidence can be data that is acquired from a machine while it is running. It is often saved to an
image as it is acquired. Sometimes, this is necessary in a field acquisition. Other times, it can be an
original drive or other electronic data source that is attached to the investigation computer. All
connections to the evidence should be made through a hardware write-blocking device. Live evidence
that is attached to the investigation computer must remain connected throughout the entire investigation.
It is best to create an image of any evidence source outside of your network, rather than risk having the
source removed during the course of the investigation.

Remote

evidence
Another type of live evidence is data acquired directly from machines that are connected to your
corporate network. This live evidence is referred to as remote evidence. The process of adding it to your
case for investigation is known as Remote Data Acquisition.

Acquiring Evidence
Some aspects of acquiring evidence are dependent on local or federal law. Be aware of those requirements
before you acquire the evidence. You can utilize static evidence as well as acquire and use live and remote
evidence from computers on your network.

Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

About Acquiring Digital Evidence

| 27

About Acquiring Static Evidence
For digital evidence to be valid, it must be preserved in its original form. The evidence image must be
forensically sound, in other words, identical in every way to the original. The data cannot be modified by the
acquisition method used.
The following tools can do such an acquisition
Hardware

Acquisition Tools
Duplicate, or clone, disk drives and allow read-only access to the hard drive. They do not necessarily use
a CPU, are self-contained, and are often hand-held.

Software

Acquisition Tools
Create a software duplication of the evidence called a disk image. Imager lets you choose the image file
format, the compression level, and the size of the data segments to use.

Imager is a software acquisition tool. It can quickly preview evidence. If the evidence warrants further
investigation, you can create a forensically sound disk image of the evidence drive or source. It makes a bit-bybit duplicate of the media, rendering a forensic disk image identical in every way to the original, including file
slack and allocated or free space.
You should use a write-blocking device when using software acquisition tools. Some operating systems, such as
Windows, make changes to the drive data as it reads the data to be imaged.
You can process static evidence, and acquire live data from local network machines for processing. You can also
view and preview evidence on remote drives, including CDs and DVDs.

About Acquiring Live Evidence
You can collect evidence from a live machine when you must. For criminal investigations, it is especially
important to be aware of the data compromises you will face in such a situation, however sometimes there is no
other choice. One such example is when the suspect drive is encrypted and you must acquire the image in-place
while the machine is running. Another example is when imaging a RAID array; it must be live to be properly
acquired.

About Acquiring Remote Evidence
You can acquire live evidence from your active networked computers, including information in RAM, and drive
data. In addition, using Remote Drive Management System (RDMS), you can mount any drive through a
mapping and browse its contents, then make a custom image of what you find. This type of evidence is known
as remote evidence because it is not stored on the examiner computer but is within your network.

About Examining Digital Evidence
Analyzing evidence is a process to locate and identify meaningful data to make it available to the appropriate
parties in an easy-to-understand medium.

Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

About Examining Digital Evidence

| 28

After you have completed installation and created a case, you can add evidence for analysis. Evidence can
include images of hard drives, floppy drives, CDs and DVDs, portable media such as USB drives, and/or live
(un-imaged) data from any common electronic source.
The data can be hashed and indexed. You can run searches in the index for specific words like names and email
addresses, or you can run live searches.
You can use the Known File Filter (KFF) library to categorize specific information during evidence analysis. The
KFF lets you automatically assign files a status of Alert, Ignore, or Disregard.

About Managing Cases and Evidence
As you work with cases, it is a best practice to back up the cases and the evidence. Back up of evidence files is
as easy as copying them to a secure location on a secure media. Back up of cases can be more complicated,
but is equally important in the event of a crash or other catastrophic data loss.
Back up of a case requires the same amount of drive space as the case itself. This is an important consideration
when planning your network resources for investigations.
Some of the case management features include: Archive, Archive and Detach, and Attach. These features give
you control over your cases.
See Managing Global Features (page 50).

Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

About Managing Cases and Evidence

| 29

What You Can Do With the Examiner
You can use tab views to locate data such as the following
The

Overview tab lets you narrow your search to look through specific document types, or to look for
items by status or file extension.

The

Graphics tab lets you quickly scan through thumbnails of the graphics in the case.

The

Email tab lets you view emails and attachments.

As you find items of interest, you can do the following
Create,
Use

assign, and view labels in a sorted file list view.

searches and filters to find relevant evidence.

Create

bookmarks to easily group the items by topic or keyword, find those items again, and make the
bookmarked items easy to add to reports.

Export

files as necessary for password cracking or decryption, then add the decrypted files back as
evidence.

Add

external, supplemental files to bookmarks that are not otherwise part of the case.

About Indexing and Hashing
During case creation and evidence import, you have the option to create an index of the data and to create hash
numbers of all the files contained in the data.
Indexing is the process of creating an index with a searchable list of the words or strings of characters in a case.
The index instantaneously provides results. However, it is sometimes necessary to use a live search to find
things not contained in the index.
Hashing a file or files refers to the process of using an algorithm to generate a unique value based on a file’s
contents. Hash values are used to verify file integrity and identify duplicate and known files. Known files can be
standard system files that can be ignored in the investigation or they can be files known to contain illicit or
dangerous materials. Ignore and alert statuses provide the investigator with valuable information at a glance.
Three hash functions are available: Message Digest 5 (MD5), Secure Hash Algorithms 1 (SHA-1), and Secure
Hash Algorithms 256 (SHA-256).
Typically, individual file hashes (each file is hashed as it is indexed and added to a case) compare the results
with a known database of hashes, such as the KFF. However, you can also hash multiple files or a disk image to
verify that the working copy is identical to the original.

About the Known File Filter Database
The Known File Filter (KFF) is an AccessData utility used to compare file hashes in a case against a database of
hashes from files known to be ignorable (such as known system and program files) or with alert status (such as
known contraband or illicit material), or those designated as disregard status (such as when a search warrant
does not allow inspection of certain files within the image that have been previously identified). The KFF allows
quick elimination or pinpointing of these files during an investigation.

Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

What You Can Do With the Examiner

| 30

Files which contain other files, such as ZIP, CAB, and email files with attachments are called container files.
When KFF identifies a container file as either ignorable or alert, the component files are not extracted. If
extraction is desired, the files must be manually extracted and added to the case.
See Using the Known File Filter (KFF) on page 282.

About Searching
You can conduct live searches or index searches of acquired images.
A live search is a bit-by-bit comparison of the entire evidence set with the search term and takes slightly more
time than an Index search. Live searches allow you to search non-alphanumeric characters and to perform
pattern searches, such as regular expressions and hex values.
See Searching Evidence with Live Search (page 402)
The Index search compares search terms to an index file containing discrete words or number strings found in
both the allocated and unallocated space in the case evidence. The investigator can choose to generate an
index file during preprocessing.
See Searching Evidence with Index Search (page 413)
AccessData products use dtSearch, one of the leading search tools available, in the index search engine.
dtSearch can quickly search gigabytes of text.

About Bookmarking
As important data is identified from the evidence in the case, bookmarking that data enables you to quickly find
and refer to it, add to it, and attach related files, even files that are not processed into the case. These files are
called “supplementary files.” Bookmarks can be included in reports at any stage of the investigation and
analysis.
See Bookmarking Evidence (page 390)

About Presenting Evidence
You can present digital evidence by creating a case report containing the evidence and investigation results in a
readable, accessible format.
Use the report wizard to create and modify reports. A report can include bookmarks (information selected during
the examination), customized graphic references, and selected file listings. Selected files, such as bookmarked
files and graphics, can be exported to make them available with the report. The report can be generated in
several file formats, including HTML and PDF and can be generated in multiple formats simultaneously.
See Working with Evidence Reports (page 510).

Introducing AccessData® Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

What You Can Do With the Examiner

| 31

Chapter 2

Getting Started with the User Interface

You can use two primary interfaces to work with cases and evidence:
Case

Manager

Examiner

The Case Manager
You can use the Case Manager to manage application settings that apply to multiple cases.
The following is an example of the Case Manager:

See Introducing Case Management on page 55.

The Examiner
You can use the Examiner to locate and interpret case data.
The following is an example of the Examiner:

The Examiner

Getting Started with the User Interface

| 32

For more information, see the following
See

Introducing Case Management (page 55)

See

Using the Examiner Interface (page 308)

Getting Started with the User Interface

| 33

Part 2

Administrating Forensic
Toolkit® (FTK®)

This part contains information about administrating and configuring Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®) and contains the
following chapters:
Application

Administration (page 35)

Administrating Forensic Toolkit® (FTK®)

| 34

Chapter 3

Application Administration

This chapter includes topics that discuss administration tasks that you can do within the Case Manager
interface.
See the following
See

Initializing the Database and Creating an Application Administrator Account on page 36.

See

Changing Your Password on page 37.

See

Recovering a Password on page 37.

See

Setting Database Preferences on page 39.

See

Managing Database Sessions on page 39.

See

Optimizing the Database for Large Cases on page 39.

See

Creating Databases for Individual Cases on page 40.

See

Managing KFF Settings on page 40.

See

Recovering and Deleting Processing Jobs on page 41.

See

Restoring an Image to a Disk on page 41.

See

Database Integration with other AccessData Products on page 42.

See

Adding New Users to a Database on page 43.

See

About Assigning Roles to Users on page 43.

See

Email Notifications for Case-Level Permissions on page 48.

See

Assigning Users Shared Label Visibility on page 48.

See

Setting Additional Preferences on page 49.

See

Managing Global Features on page 50.

Important: It is strongly recommended to configure antivirus to exclude the database (PostgreSQL, MS SQL) AD
temp, source images/loose files, and case folders for performance and data integrity.

Application Administration

| 35

Initializing the Database and Creating an Application
Administrator Account
The database and application must already be installed prior to this step.
The first time you launch the application, you specify the database to use. The application then creates the
database schema which is required before any case data can be loaded into the database. You will be prompted
to give the location of the database. This option allows a non-local database to be specified even if a local
database is present.
After initializing the database, you are prompted to create an Application Administrator account. This account
lets you create other user accounts and perform other administrative tasks.

To initialize the database and create an Application Administrator account
1.

Click the shortcut icon to open the application

If it does not detect a configured database connection for this version, you will be prompted to Add
Database.

In the RDBMS drop-down menu, select the brand of database that you are connecting to.

Specify the server hosting the database in the Host field.
If the database is on the same computer as FTK, you can leave this field empty.

(Optional) Give the database connection a nickname in the Display name field.

Specify the database name by doing one of the following:
If

you are using PostgreSQL or MS SQL Server, for the PostgreSQL dbname or mssql sa, you can
use the default values or enter your own value. If you enter your own value, make sure that you
record it so that you know the database name.

Do not change the Port number fields unless you have a custom database configuration.

If you are using MS SQL Server, you can check Use Integrated Security to use your Windows
authentication credentials.

Click OK.
If the connection attempt to the database was successful, the database will be initialized.

10. In the Please Authenticate dialog, log into the database using you database administrator account

credentials.
If

you used the default installation, enter the following credentials:
Username: postgres
Password: AD@Password

If

you used the advanced installation or installed a different database, enter your credentials.
A successful login initializes the database and opens the Case Manager window.

11. In the Add New User dialog, create an Application Administrator account for this version of the database

schema.
Enter

a name and password.

Record

this information in a secure place.

12. Click OK.

Application Administration

Initializing the Database and Creating an Application Administrator Account

| 36

Changing Your Password
Once logged into the system, you can change your password.

To change your password
1.

In Case Manager, click Database > Change Password.

In the Change Password dialog box, enter your current password.

Enter your new password in the New Password text box.

Verify your new password by entering it again in the Re-enter text box.

Click OK.

Recovering a Password
You can recover an Administrator database password using a Password Reset File. Only the Administrator
logged into the program can create the reset file and only the Administrator that created the reset file can use the
file to reset the password. Before recovering your Administrator password, you will create a Password Reset
File. Once you reset a password, the Password Reset File you used is no longer valid.
There are two main components to recover an Administrator’s password:
See

Creating a Password Reset File on page 37.

See

Resetting your Password on page 38.

Creating a Password Reset File
You can use one of the following methods to create a Password Reset file:
When

creating a user with the Application Administration role and assigning a new password

When

changing the password for a user with the Application Administration role

Accessing

the Create Password Reset File option in the Administer Users dialog.

When creating/changing a password
1.

After entering the new password, click OK.

A prompt appears that asks you to create a Password Reset File. Click Yes.

Navigate to a secure location and enter the name of the Password Reset File.

Important: Choose a location for the Password Reset File that only you know and to which others do not
have immediate access. Keep its location confidential.
4.

Click OK.

From the Administer Users dialog
1.

In Case Manager, click Database > Administer Users.

Highlight your User Name (that is, the User Name under which you are logged in).

Click Create Password Reset File.

Navigate to a secure location and enter the name of the Password Reset File.

Application Administration

Changing Your Password

| 37

Important: Choose a location for the Password Reset File that only you know and to which others do not
have immediate access. Keep its location confidential.
5.

Click OK.

Resetting your Password
To reset your password, enter the Password Reset File you created previously.
Note: Any Password Reset Files that have already been used to reset passwords are no longer valid and will
not work. Password Reset Files from other users or other databases also will not work. Only the
Password Reset File that you created previously with your User Name and Password will work.

To enter the Password Reset File
1.

When prompted for your password, enter your User Name.

Click OK.
The Reset Password button appears in the Please Authenticate dialog.

Click Reset Password.

Locate the Password Reset File, highlight it, and click OK.

Enter a new password, verify the new password, and click OK.

Application Administration

Recovering a Password

| 38

Setting Database Preferences
The Preferences dialog lets you specify where to store the temporary file, the location of a network license and
whether you want to optimize the database after you process evidence.

To set database preferences
1.

In the Case Manager, click Tools > Preferences. Type in or browse to the folder you want temporary
files to be written to.

Select a location for the temporary file folder.
The Temporary File Folder stores temporary files, including files extracted from ZIP and email archives.
The folder is also used as scratch space during text filtering and indexing. The Temporary File Folder is
used frequently and should be on a drive with plenty of free space, and should not be subject to drive
space allocation limits.

If your network uses AccessData Network License Service (NLS), you must provide the IP address and
port for accessing the License Server.

Specify if you want to optimize the case database.
This is set to optimize by default. Unmark the check box to turn off automatic optimization. This causes
the option to be available in Additional Analysis for those cases that were processed with Optimize
Database turned off initially. The Restore Optimization option in Additional Analysis does not appear if
Database Optimization is set in the New Case Wizard to be performed following processing, or if it has
been performed already on the current case from either place.

In the Preferences dialog, click OK.

Managing Database Sessions
You can use the Sessions Management dialog to manage and track database sessions from within the Case
Manager. You can also use the Manage DB Sessions dialog to terminate cases that are open and consuming
sessions, but are inactive. This lets open file handles close so that processing can be restarted.
To open the Manage DB Sessions dialog, in the Case Manager, click Database > Session Management.

Optimizing the Database for Large Cases
Note: This feature currently only supports installations using PostgreSQL.
The database can be configured to optimize the handling of large cases. Specifically it may decrease the
processing time for large cases. However, if you choose to optimize the database, it will require additional disk
resources on the database host computer.

To optimize the database for large cases
1.

In the Case Manager, click Database > Configure.

Click Optimized for large cases.

Click Apply.

Application Administration

Setting Database Preferences

| 39

Creating Databases for Individual Cases
Note: This feature only applies to MS SQL and PostgreSQL databases.
To improve performance, when you create new cases in FTK 6.0 or newer, a new database is created for each
new case.
In addition to improved performance, if you configured the database location to be in the case folder, the
database files are located under the case folder. This allows you to easily back up a case at the folder level as
the case data and the database for the case are all under one case folder.
For example, if you create a case called Investigation, select the In the case folder option for the database
location, and want to find the database files for that case, you could go to your FTK Cases folder (this is the file
you listed as the case folder directory), click on the Investigation folder (this is the individual case folder), and
open the DB folder, which contains all the database files for this case. If the In the case folder option is not
selected, the database will be found in the appropriate Case folder located within the main MS SQL or
PostgreSQL database files.
Important: Previous to FTK 6.0, all database files were stored within the main database and must be accessed
through either the MS SQL or PostgreSQL database folder.
This feature is enabled by default.

To disable the individual case database feature
In the Case Manager, click Database > Put each case in its own DB

This will deselect the option and cases will be stored within the main database.

Managing KFF Settings
The AccessData Known File Filter can be managed from the Case Manager > Manage menu. Click KFF to open
the KFF Admin dialog box.
This functionality is also found in the Examiner main window under Manage > KFF.
The functionality is the same regardless of how you launch KFF Admin.
See Using the Known File Filter (KFF) on page 282.

Application Administration

Creating Databases for Individual Cases

| 40

Recovering and Deleting Processing Jobs
Jobs that are started but unable to finish can be restarted or deleted.

To recover and delete processing jobs
1.

Click Tools > Recover Processing Jobs. If no jobs remain unfinished, an error message pops up.
Click Continue to see the Recover Processing Jobs dialog. It is be empty. Click Close. If there are jobs
in the list, you can choose whether to Restart or Delete those jobs.

Click Select All, Unselect All, or mark the check box for each job to be recovered.

Do one of the following:

Click

Restart. In the Recovery Type dialog, choose the recovery type that suits your needs.

Click

Delete. Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the job permanently.

Click Close.

Restoring an Image to a Disk
You can restore a disk image (001 (RAW/dd), E01, or S01) to a physical disk. The target disk must be the same
size or larger than the original, uncompressed disk.

To restore an image to a disk
1.

In the Case Manager or in the Examiner, click Tools > Restore Image to Disk. The Restore Image to
Disk dialog opens.

Browse to and select the source image (must be RAW-dd/001, E01, or S01).

Click the Destination drive drop-down to choose the drive to restore the image to.
If you have connected an additional target drive and it does not appear in the list, click Refresh to
update the list.

If the target (destination) drive is larger than the original, uncompressed data, and you don’t want the
image data to share the drive space with old data, mark the Zero-fill remainder of destination drive
check box.

If you need the operating system to see the target drive by drive letter, mark the Notify operating
system to rescan partition table when complete check box.

Click Restore Image.

Application Administration

Recovering and Deleting Processing Jobs

| 41

Database Integration with other AccessData Products
You can useFTK® 5.0 or higher with the following products:
eDiscovery

applications 5.x or higher

AccessData

Summation 5.x or higher

AccessData

CIRT 2.2 or higher

If you are using these products, you can share the same database. When you installFTK® , you can specify the
same database that you are using for the other product. This lets you open and perform tasks on projects from
those cases inFTK® . You can do the following tasks with projects:
Open

a case

Backup
Add

and restore a case

and remove evidence

Perform
Search
Export

Additional Analysis

and index data
data

Web Viewer
A single license of AccessData Summation is included with FTK 6.0 or higher. This tool allows you to conduct
case assessment earlier with real-time collaboration. Attorneys or other teams have instant access to case data
as it’s being identified in FTK while incident responders are in the field or performing on-site collections.
For more information on how to use this feature, please reference the Summation product documentation found
at summation.accessdata.com.

Multi-Case Search
Using the Summation Web Viewer, you can speed up the searching process by searching across multiple cases
instead of one case at a time.
For more information on how to use this feature, please reference the Summation product documentation found
at summation.accessdata.com.

Application Administration

Database Integration with other AccessData Products

| 42

Adding New Users to a Database
The Application Administrator can add new users to a database. The Add New User dialog lets you add users,
disable users, change a user’s password, set roles, and show disabled users.

To add a new user
1.

Click Database > Administer Users > Create User.

In the Add New User dialog, enter information for the following:

Field

Description

User Name

Enter the name that the user is known as in program logs and other system
information.

Full Name

Enter the full name of the user as it is to appear on case reports.

Password

Enter and verify a password for this user.

Email Address

Enter a valid email address; this will be used for any notifications.

Role

Assign rights to the selected user name using roles. The default roles are:





Application Administrator: Can perform all types of tasks, including adding and managing users.
Case/Project Administrator: Can perform all of the tasks an Application
Administrator can perform, with the exception of creating and managing
users.
Case Reviewer: Cannot create cases; can only process cases.

Click OK to apply the selected role to the new user.

Click OK to exit the Add New User dialog.

About Assigning Roles to Users
A user can have two levels of roles assigned to him or her. A user can have initial roles granted that apply
globally across all cases in a database, and a user can also have specific roles granted for a specific case.
Roles can be granted as follows
Roles

that apply to all cases in a database are granted from the Database > Administer Users dialog.

Roles

that apply to a specific case are granted from the Case > Assign Users dialog.

The permissions that are applied through roles are cumulative, meaning that if you apply more than one, the
greatest amount of rights and permissions become available.
When you assign roles that apply globally across the database, you cannot reduce the rights on a case-by-case
basis.
AccessData recommends that when you first create a user account, save the account and close the dialog
without setting a role. Then click Case > Assign Users to assign roles on a case-by-case basis. You can also
assign all new users the Case Reviewer role for the database and, then selectively add additional roles as
needed on a case-by-case basis.
There are pre-defined roles and you can create your own.

Application Administration

Adding New Users to a Database

| 43

Tips for Assigning Permissions to Users
It

is important to understand that when you create user accounts (Database > Administer Users) and
assign roles to users from that dialog, the roles you assign are global for this database; you cannot
reduce their rights on a case-by-case basis.

If

you decide to limit a user’s rights by assigning a different role, you must return to the Database >
Administer Users dialog, select a user and choose Set Roles. Unmark the current role and click OK
with no role assigned here, or choose a different role that limits access, then click OK to save the new
setting.

AccessData

recommends that you first create the user account, save the account and close the dialog
without setting a role. Then, click Case > Assign Users to assign roles on a case-by-case basis.

Or

you could assign all new users the global Case Reviewer role, then selectively add the Case/Project
Administrator or Application Administrator role as needed. The permissions that are applied through roles
are cumulative, meaning that if you apply more than one, the greatest amount of rights and permissions
become available.

About Additional Roles
You can use the Case Manager to assign specific roles to users on a case-by-case basis. You can do this by
using the Additional Roles feature.
For example, you may have a user who has a general role of Case Reviewer. However, you may want to give
that user additional rights to a specific case. You can assign that user an Additional Role for that specific case.
You could assign them a Project/Case Administrator role to grant some management rights, or you could assign
them the Application Administrator role to gran them all rights for the case.
It is important to note that the rights granted through an Additional Role only apply once the user has opened the
case in the Examiner. It does not grant them rights to the case using the Case or Management menus in the
Case Manager. For example, this user cannot backup the case. To grant them rights at the Case Manager level,
you would need assign them the regular Project/Case Administrator role, not as an Additional Role.

About Predefined Roles
The following roles are predefined and can easily be used:
Application

Administrator - has all rights

Project/Case

Administrator - has most rights to manage assigned cases and to create and manage new
cases. (This role can only manage cases that the user is assigned to or has created themselves.)

Case

Reviewer - has rights to view data in assigned cases.

You can manage the rights that any role has.
The following tables display the default rights that the roles have or don’t have.

Restrictions to the Case Reviewer Role
The case reviewer role does not have all of the permissions as the application administrator and the database
administrator.

Permissions Denied to Case Reviewer Users
Create, Add, or Delete cases

Use Imager

Administer Users

Use Registry Viewer

Data Carve

Use PRTK

Application Administration

About Assigning Roles to Users

| 44

Permissions Denied to Case Reviewer Users (Continued)
Manually Data Carve

Use Find on Disk

Assign Users to Cases

Use the Disk Viewer

Add Evidence

View File Sectors

Access Credant Decryption from the
Tools Menu

Define, Edit, Delete, Copy, Export, or Import Filters

Decrypt Files from the Tools Menu

Export Files or Folders

Mark or View Items Flagged as
“Ignorable” or “Privileged”

Access the Additional Analysis Menu

Manage the KFF

Backup or Restore Cases

Enter Session Management

Create Custom Data Views

Differences Between the Case Administrator and Application Administrator Roles in the
Examiner

Default Case Administrator and Application Administrator Role Comparison (In the Examiner)
Examiner
Menu

Feature

File

Evidence

Project/Case
Administrator

Application
Administrator

Export

Export to Image

Export Word List

Reports

Timeline Report

Job Summary Report

Export Event Audit Log

Add/Remove

Add Remote Data

Additional Analysis

Process Manually Carved Items

Filter

Manage Evidence Group

Import Memory Dump

Import Custom Column File

Import Custom Column Data

Delete Custom Column Data

Merge Case Index

New

Application Administration

About Assigning Roles to Users

| 45

Default Case Administrator and Application Administrator Role Comparison (In the Examiner)
Examiner
Menu

Tools

Project/Case
Administrator

Application
Administrator

Import

Tab Filter

Decrypt Files

Feature

Verify Image Integrity

Restore Image to Drive

Mount Image to Drive

Disk Viewer

Other Applications >
Imager, PRTK, Registry Viewer

Custom Data Views

Configure Agent Push

Push Agents

Manage Remote Acquisition

Unmount Agent Drive

Disconnect Agents

Recover Processing Jobs

Execute SQL

Manage

Select Audit Events

KFF

PhotoDNA

Labels > Manage Shared Labels
Carvers > Manage Carvers

x
x

Carvers > Manage Shared Carvers
Filters > Manage Filters

x
x

Filters > Manage Shared Filters
Columns > Manage Columns
Columns > Manage Shared Columns

Application Administration

x
x

About Assigning Roles to Users

| 46

Assigning Initial Database-level Roles to Users
You can use the case manager to assign roles to users. Although the default roles can all be selected
concurrently, AccessData recommends that only one of these be selected for any user to avoid granting either
redundant or excessive permissions.

To assign initial database-level roles to users
1.

In the Case Manager, click Database > Administer Users.

Do one of the following:
If

the user does not yet exist in the system click Create User to create the user.

If

the user does exist in the system, select the user's name and click Set Roles.

Click Set Roles to assign a role that limits or increases database and administrative access.

To assign a default role, mark the check box next to that role. The default roles are as follows:
Application

Administrator: Can perform all types of tasks, including adding and managing users.

Case/Project

Administrator: Can perform all of the tasks an Application Administrator can perform,
with the exception of creating and managing users.

Case

Reviewer: Cannot create cases; can only process cases.

Click OK to apply the selected role to the new user, save the settings, and return to the Add New User
dialog.

Assigning Additional Case-level Roles to Users
You can use the Case Manager to assign specific roles to users on a case-by-case basis. You can do this by
using the Additional Roles feature.

To assign additional case-level roles to users
1.

In the Case Manager, select the case for which you want to grant additional roles to a user.

Click Case > Assign Users.

In the Assigned Users pane, select the user that you want to grant additional roles to.

Click Additional Roles.

In the Additional Roles dialog, under Additional Roles for this Case, select the roles that you want to
grant.

Click OK.

Click Done.

Application Administration

About Assigning Roles to Users

| 47

Email Notifications for Case-Level Permissions
You can send email notifications to alert a user when they have been granted permissions to a case. This
feature will use the email entered into the user profile to send a message alert for each case they have been
allowed to access. You may also add a message to the standard email alert if desired. These notifications can be
sent to multiple email addresses at the same time.
Important: A functional email address must be associated with each user being added to the case or the
notification will not be sent.

To send a notification email when adding a user(s) to a case
1.

In the Case Manager, select the case for which you want to add and notify a user.

Click Case > Add Users/Groups and add users or groups, being sure to include a functional email
address for each user. For more information, see Adding New Users to a Database (page 43).

Check the box next to Notify users.

If you wish to include additional information other than the default notification that the user has been
added to the selected case, you may type your text into the Message box. This information will then
appear in the body of the email notification.

Click Done. This will automatically send an email to each user’s associated email address alerting them
of his or her addition to the case.

To set up email notification information
1.

In the Case Manager, select a database and log in.

Navigate to Manage > Email notification settings. The Manage Email Alert Settings dialog will open.

Fill in the Manage Email Alert Settings dialog with the appropriate information.

If you choose to send a Test Alert, enter the appropriate addresses into the Send Test Alert box and
press Send.

Click OK.

Note: Outgoing TCP traffic must be allowed on port 25.

Assigning Users Shared Label Visibility
Shared Labels give Application Administrators the added benefit of assigning visibility to only specific users on a
case-by-case basis.

To assign Label Visibility
1.

In Case Manager, click Case > Assign Users. The Assign Users for Case dialog opens, and a list of
users that have permissions in the currently selected case appears.

Highlight a User.

Click Label Visibility to open the Manage Label Visibility dialog.

Application Administration

Email Notifications for Case-Level Permissions

| 48

To show or hide Labels
1.

Select a user in the User List pane. The Shared Labels dialog opens. Initially all are set as Visible.

Move labels as needed, based on the following:
Select
To

a label you want that user not to see in any case, and click the > button.

move a hidden label into the Visible Labels pane, select it, and click the < button.

Setting Additional Preferences
Choosing a Temporary File Path
The Temporary File Folder stores temporary files, including files extracted from ZIP and email archives. The
folder is also used as scratch space during text filtering and indexing. The Temporary File Folder is used
frequently and should be on a drive with plenty of free space, and should not be subject to drive space allocation
limits.

To specify a location for the Temporary File Folder
1.

In the Case Manager, click Tools > Preferences. Type in or browse to the folder you want temporary
files to be written to.

Select the folder, then click OK.

In the Preferences dialog, verify the path is what you wanted.

In the Theme to use for Visualization section, you can also choose a color scheme to apply to the
visualization windows.

Click OK.

Providing a Network Security Device Location
If your network uses AccessData Network License Service (NLS), provide the IP address and port for accessing
the License Server.

Setting Theme Preferences for the Visualization Add on
To change the appearance of the Visualization window
1.

In the Case Manager, click Tools > Preferences.

In the Theme to use for Visualization section, select a color scheme to apply to the Visualization
windows.

Click OK.

Optimizing the Case Database
This is set to optimize by default. Unmark the check box to turn off automatic optimization. This causes the
option to be available in Additional Analysis for those cases that were processed with Optimize Database turned
off initially.

Application Administration

Setting Additional Preferences

| 49

Note: The Restore Optimization option in Additional Analysis will not appear if Database Optimization was set
in the New Case Wizard to be performed following processing, or if it has been performed already on the
current case from either place.

Managing Global Features
Several features that were previously available only in a case are now fully implemented for global application,
and are known as “Shared.” Since they are available globally, they are managed from the Case Manager
interface, under the Tools menu.
The Application Administrators manage all Shared features. It is a good practice to set these up to the extent you
are able, before you create your first case. Of course, new ones can be added at any time and copied to existing
cases. Shared features can be created within cases by both Application and Case Administrators, and Shared
(added to the global list).
Since each Shared feature has been documented to some extent in other chapters of the User Guide, only the
parts of the features that apply specifically to Application Administrators are explained here. Cross-references
are added to provide quick access to more complete information.

Managing Shared Custom Carvers
Carvers provide a comprehensive tool that allows you to customize the carving process to access hidden data
exactly the way you need it. You can create new, and edit or delete existing shared carvers. In addition, you can
import and export carvers, and copy carvers to cases that were previously processed without a particular custom
carver.
There are no default carvers listed in the Manage Shared Custom Carvers dialog. It contains only customdesigned carvers that are shared.
See also Custom Carvers (page 97)

To create a Shared Custom Carver
1.

In the Case Manager, click Manage > Carvers.

From the Manage Shared Custom Carvers dialog, click New.

Set the data carving options that you want to use.

Click Save when the new carver has been defined to meet your needs. You will see the new carver in
this list and when you mark the Carving option in the New Case Wizard.

In the Manage Shared Carvers dialog, click the appropriate button to:
Create
Edit

existing shared custom carvers

Delete

shared custom carvers

Import

shared custom carvers that have been exported from cases

Export

shared custom carvers

Copy

New shared custom carvers

shared custom carvers to a case

Click OK to close the Carving Options dialog.

Application Administration

Managing Global Features

| 50

Managing Custom Identifiers
Custom File Identifiers let you specify which file category or extension should be assigned to files with a certain
signature. While Custom Identifiers can be created and/or selected by a Case Administrator in the New Case
Wizard, Shared Custom Identifiers are created and managed from a separate menu.
See also Creating Custom File Identifiers (page 102).

To Create a Shared Custom Identifier
1.

In the Case Manager, click Manage > Custom Identifiers.
Initially, the Custom Identifiers List pane is empty, and the rest of the window is grayed-out.

Click Create New. The window activates.

Enter a name for the new Custom Identifier. The name you enter is added into the Custom Identifiers
List.

Enter a description to help define the identifier’s purpose.

Create the Custom Identifier by defining Operations and using the AND and OR buttons.

When you are done defining this Custom Identifier, click Apply.

You can also do the following
Click

Delete to delete an unwanted or outdated identifier.

Click

Export to save the selected identifier as a TXT file.

Click

Import to add an external identifier file.

Click

Close to close the Custom Identifiers dialog.

Application Administration

Managing Global Features

| 51

Managing Columns
Shared Columns use the same windows and dialogs that Local Columns use.

To create a Shared Column Template
1.

In Case Manager, click Manage > Columns.
The Manage Shared Column Settings dialog opens.

Highlight a default Column Template to use as a basis for a Custom Column Template.

Click New.

Enter a new name in the Column Template Name field.

Select the Columns to add from the Available Columns pane, and click Add >> to move them to the
Selected Columns pane.

Select from the Selected Columns pane and click Remove to clear an unwanted column from the
Selected Columns.

When you have the new column template defined, click OK.

See also Customizing File List Columns (page 505).

Managing File Extension Maps
Extension Maps can be used to define or change the category associated to any file with a certain file extension.
For example, files with BAG extension which would normally be categorized as “Unknown Type” can be
categorized as an AOL Bag File, or a files with a MOV extension that would normally be categorized as Apple
QuickTime video files can be changed to show up under a more appropriate category since they can sometimes
contain still images.

To create a Shared Custom Extension Mapping
1.

In the Case Manager, click Manage > File Extension Maps.

In the Custom Extension Mapping dialog, click Create New.

Enter a name for the new mapping.

Enter a description for easier identification.

In the Category pane, select a file type you want to map an extension to.

Click Add Extension.
The Add New Extension dialog box opens.

Enter the new extension to add.

Click OK.

You can also do the following:
Click

Delete to remove an unwanted or outdated mapping.

Click

Import to add an external Custom Extension Mapping file for Shared use.

Click

Export to save a Custom Extension Mapping file.

Click

Close to close the Custom Extension Mapping dialog.

See also Custom Case Extension Maps (page 103).

Application Administration

Managing Global Features

| 52

Managing Filters
Filters consist of a name, a description, and as many rules as you need. A filter rule consists of a property, an
operator, and one or two criteria. (You may have two criteria in a date range.)

To create a new Shared filter
1.

From Case Manager, click Manage > Filters.
The Manage Shared Filters dialog opens.

Do one of the following:
If

there is an existing filter in the Filters list that you want to use as a pattern, or template, highlight
that filter and click Copy.

If

there is no filter that will work as a pattern, Click New.

Enter a name and a short description of the new filter.

Select a property from the drop-down menu.

Select an operator from the Properties drop-down menu.

Select the applicable criteria from the Properties drop-down menu.

Each property has its own set of operators, and each operator has its own set of criteria. The possible
combinations are vast.

Select the Match Any operator to filter out data that satisfies any one of the filter rules or the Match All
operator to filter out data that satisfies all rules of the filter.
You can test the filter without having to save it first. Check the Live Preview box to test the filter as you
create it.

Application Administration

Managing Global Features

| 53

Part 3

Case Management

This part contains information about managing cases. It contains the following chapters:
Introducing
Creating

Case Management (page 55)

and Configuring New Cases (page 74)

Managing

Case Data (page 112)

Working

with Evidence Image Files (page 120)

Working

with Static Evidence (page 126)

Working

with Live Evidence (page 149)

Filtering

Data to Locate Evidence (page 163)

Working

with Labels (page 183)

Decrypting
Exporting
Getting

Files (page 187)

Data from the Examiner (page 208)

Started with KFF (Known File Filter) (page 247)

Using

the Known File Filter (KFF) (page 282)

About

Cerberus Malware Analysis (page 223)

Running

Cerberus Malware Analysis (page 241)

Case Management

| 54

Chapter 4

Introducing Case Management

This chapter includes the following topics
About
The

Case Management (page 55)

User Interfaces (page 55)

About

the Cases List (page 56)

Menus

of the Case Manager (page 57)

Menus

of the Examiner (page 63)

About Case Management
Case management includes creating new cases, as well as backing up, archiving, detaching, restoring,
attaching, deleting cases from the database, and managing case and evidence files.
Case management tasks are performed from the Case Manager.
Note: Multiple user names in a case are automatically assigned to Original User Names when a case is
Archived, or Archived and Detached, and then restored. They can also be reassigned if necessary.
See Creating a Case (page 76)
See Managing Case Data (page 112)

The User Interfaces
The Case Manager lets you add and manage cases, users, roles and permissions, and do other management
tasks. You can use the Case Manager to apply settings globally to all cases in the system.
Menus of the Case Manager (page 57)
You can use the Examiner to locate, bookmark, and report on evidence.
Menus of the Examiner (page 63)

Introducing Case Management

About Case Management

| 55

About the Cases List
The Cases List shows all of the cases that are available to the currently logged in user. The right pane displays
information about the cases. The information that is shown for Case File, Description File, and Description are
determined by the either the Application Administrator or the Case Administrator.

Case Manager Cases List

Introducing Case Management

About the Cases List

| 56

Menus of the Case Manager
Case Manager Menus

More Information

File

The File menu lets you exit the Case Manager.
See Options of the Case Manager File Menu (page 57)

Database

The Database menu lets you administer users and roles.
See Options of the Case Manager Database Menu (page 57)

Case

The Case menu lets you create, backup, and delete cases. You can also assign users
to roles.
See Options of the Case Manager Case Menu (page 58)

Tools

The Tools menu lets you configure the processing engine, recover interrupted jobs and
restore images to a disk.
See Options of the Case Manager Tools Menu (page 59)

Manage

The Manage menu lets you administrate shared objects such as columns, labels and
carvers.
See Options of the Case Manager Manage Menu (page 61)

Help

The Help menu lets you access the user guide as well as view version and copyright
information.
See Options of the Case Manager Help Menu (page 62)

Options of the Case Manager File Menu

Options of the Case Manager File Menu
Option

Description

Exit

Exits and closes the program.

Options of the Case Manager Database Menu
Case Manager Database Menu

Introducing Case Management

Menus of the Case Manager

| 57

Options of the Case Manager Database Menu
Option

Description

Opens the authentication dialog for users to log into the database. You can log out the
currently authenticated user without closing the program.

Put each case in
its own DB

Creates a new database for each new case. This is enabled by default.

Change password

Opens the Change Password dialog. The currently authenticated user can change their
own password by providing the current password, then typing and re-typing the new
password.
See Changing Your Password on page 37.

Administer Users

Lets you manage user accounts. The Application Administrator can change users’
roles.
See Adding New Users to a Database on page 43.

Session
Management

Opens the Manage Database Sessions dialog. Click Refresh to update the view of
current sessions. Click Terminate to end sessions that are no longer active.
See Managing Database Sessions on page 39.

Configure

Opens the Configure Database dialog.
See Optimizing the Database for Large Cases on page 39.

Options of the Case Manager Case Menu
Case Manager Case Menu

Introducing Case Management

Menus of the Case Manager

| 58

Options of the Case Manager Case Menu
Option

Description

New

Start a new case with the currently authenticated user as the Case Administrator. Case
Reviewers cannot create a new case.
See Creating a Case (page 76)

Open

Opens the highlighted case with its included evidence.

Assign Users

Allows the Application Administrator or the Case Administrator to adjust or control the
rights of other users to access a particular case. Also allows the Administrator to control
which users can see which of the Shared Labels that are available.
See What You Can Do With Labels (page 183)

Backup

Opens a dialog for specifying names and locations for backup of selected cases. You
can select multiple cases in the Case Manager to backup.
Options are:
Backup
Archive
 Archive and Detach
See Managing Case Data on page 112.



Restore

Opens a Windows Explorer instance for locating and restoring a selected, saved case.
Options are:
Restore an archived case
Attach an archived and detached case
See Managing Case Data on page 112.



Delete

Deletes the selected case. Pop-up appears to confirm deletion.
See Deleting a Case on page 119.

Copy Previous
Case

Copy a case from a previous version (4.2 or later) into the database.
The use of a UNC folder path is no longer required beginning with version 4.2 and
newer.
To use copy from previous case you don't backup the case in the previous version, you
simply use the “Copy Previous Case” feature. If you want to use Backup, you can
backup the case in a previous version, such as 4.2 then restore it to the new version.
Copy Previous Case doesn’t recognize backed-up cases.

Remove
Generated Index

This option lets you select a case and delete its index. If you remove a case’s index, you
cannot use index searches until you create a new index. To create a new index, in the
Examiner, click Evidence > Additional Analysis. Select dtSearch® Text Index and
click OK.

Refresh Case List

Right-click in the Case List area and select Refresh Case List, or click F5 to refresh the
case list with any new information.

Options of the Case Manager Tools Menu
Case Manager Tools Menu

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Options of the Case Manager Tools Menu
Option

Description

Processing Engine
Config

Opens the Processing Engine Configuration dialog. Configure Remote Processing
Engines here. Specify Computer Name/IP Address, and Port. Add New, Remove,
Enable or Disable configured Processing Engines.

Recover Processing
Jobs

Allows you to recover jobs that were interrupted during processing so the processing
can be completed.

Show Progress
Window

Opens the Progress window so you can check the Processing Status.

Restore Image to
Disk

Copies a disk image to a disk other than the original.

Credant Server
Settings

Lets you configure Credant server settings.

Preferences

Opens Preferences dialog.

See Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption Server) on
page 200.

See Setting Additional Preferences on page 49.

Options of the Case Manager Manage Menu
Case Manager Manage Menu

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Options of the Case Manager Manage Menu
Option

Description

Carvers

Manage Shared Custom Carvers. Custom Carvers created here can be copied to
cases.
See Managing Shared Custom Carvers on page 50.

Custom Identifiers

Manage Shared Custom Identifiers. Custom Identifiers created here are automatically
made available to all new cases, but cannot be copied directly to earlier cases. They
must be exported and then imported into such cases.
See Managing Custom Identifiers on page 51.

Columns

Manage Shared Column Settings. Custom Columns created here can be copied to
cases.
See Managing Columns on page 52.

File Extension
Maps

Manage Shared File Extension Mappings. File Extension Maps created here are
automatically made available to all new cases, but cannot be copied directly to earlier
cases. They must be exported and then imported into such cases.
See Managing File Extension Maps on page 52.

Filters

Manage Shared Filters. Custom Filters created here can be copied to cases.
See Managing Filters on page 53.

Labels

Manage Shared Labels. Custom Labels created here can be copied to cases.
See Working with Labels on page 183.

KFF

Lets you access advanced KFF management options such as creating groups and
sets.
See Using the Known File Filter (KFF) on page 282.

Evidence
Processing
Profiles

Lets you configure Evidence Processing Profiles.
See Using Processing Profiles on page 79.

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Options of the Case Manager Help Menu
Case Manager Help Menu

Options of the Case Manager Help Menu
Option

Description

User Guide

Opens the user guide in PDF format.

About

Provides version and build information, copyright and trademark information, and other
copyright and trade acknowledgements.

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Menus of the Examiner
When a case is created and assigned a user, the Examiner window opens with the following menus:

Examiner Menus
Menu

Description

File

See Options of the Examiner File Menu (page 63)

Edit

See Options of the Examiner Edit Menu (page 64)

View

See Options of the Examiner View Menu (page 65)

Evidence

See Options of the Examiner Evidence Menu (page 67)

Filter

See Options of the Examiner Filter Menu (page 68)

Tools

See Options of the Examiner Tools Menu (page 69)

Manage

See Options of the Examiner Manage Menu (page 72)

Help

See Options of the Examiner Help Menu (page 73)

Options of the Examiner File Menu
Examiner File Menu

Options of the Examiner File Menu
Option

Description

Export

Exports selected files and associated evidence to a designated folder.

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Options of the Examiner File Menu (Continued)
Option

Description

Export to Image

Exports one or more files as an AD1 image to a storage destination.
When exporting to AD1 the image's file path is added under a root directory. This
speeds the process of gathering data for the AD1, and for shortening the path to
AD1 content.

Export File List Info

Exports selected file information to files formatted as the Column List in CSV, TSV,
and TXT formats.

Export Word List

Exports the words from the cases index as a text file. You can use this word list to
create a dictionary in the AccessData PRTK and DNA products.
See Exporting a Word List (page 217)

Export System
Information

Exports system information when populated in the System Information tab. This
option is grayed out unless System Information has been added to the case.
See Viewing System Information on page 429.

Report

Opens the Report Options dialog for creating a case report.
See Creating a Case Report (page 511)

Timeline Report

Opens the Timeline Report dialog for creating a Timeline bookmark report.
See Creating a Timeline Bookmark Report on page 397.

Volatile Data Report

Opens a Volatile Data Report created from live data collected remotely and added
to this case. This option is grayed out unless Volatile Data has been added to the
case.

Job Summary Report

Opens an Evidence History report showing a job summary for all processing done
within the case.

Closes the Examiner and returns to the Case Manager window.

Exit

Closes both the Examiner and Case Manager windows.

Options of the Examiner Edit Menu
Examiner Edit Menu

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Options of the Examiner Edit Menu
Option

Description

Copy Special

Duplicates information about the object copied as well as the object itself, and
places the copy in the clipboard.
See Copying Information from the Examiner (page 208)

Options of the Examiner View Menu
Examiner View Menu

Options of the Examiner View Menu
Option

Description

Refresh

Reloads the current view with the latest information.

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Options of the Examiner View Menu (Continued)
Option

Description

Filter Bar

Inserts the filter toolbar into the current tab. These features are also available from
the Filter menu.

Time Zone Display

Opens the Time Zone Display dialog.

Thumbnail Size

Selects the size of the thumbnails displayed from the Graphics tab. Select from the
following:





Tab Layout

Large-default
Medium
Small
Tiny

Manages tab settings. The user can lock an existing setting, add and remove
settings, and save settings one tab at a time or all at once. The user can also
restore previous settings or reset them to the default settings.
These options are in the following list:








FIle List Columns

Specifies how to treat the current File List. Options are:





File Content Tabs
Switching

Save
Restore
Reset to Default
Remove
Save All Tab Layouts
Lock Panes
Add New Tab Layout

Save As Default
Save All as Default
Reset to Factory Default
Reset All To Factory Default

Specifies the behavior of file content when a different tab is selected. Options are:



Auto
Manual

Explore Tree

Displays the Explore Tree in the upper-left pane.

Graphics Tree

Displays the Graphics Tree in the upper-left pane.

Overview Tree

Displays the Overview Tree in the upper-left pane.

Email Tree

Displays the Email Tree in the upper-left pane.

Bookmark Tree

Displays the Bookmark Tree in the upper-left pane.

Index Searches

Displays the Index Search Results pane in the upper-left pane.

Live Searches

Displays the Live Search Results pane in the upper-left pane.

Bookmark Information

Adds the Bookmark Information pane into the current tab.

File List

Adds the File List pane into the current tab.

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Options of the Examiner View Menu (Continued)
Option

Description

File Content

Adds the File Content pane into the current tab.

Email Attachments

Displays the attachments to email objects found in the case. Available only in the
Email and Overview tabs.

Properties

Inserts the Object Properties pane into the current tab view.

Hex Value Interpreter

Displays a pane that provides an interpretation of Hex values selected from the
Hex View pane.

Thumbnails

Displays a pane containing thumbnails of all graphics found in the case.

Video View

Displays a pane containing thumbnails of all videos found in the case.

Progress Window

Opens the Progress dialog, from which you can monitor tasks and/or cancel them.

Options of the Examiner Evidence Menu
Examiner Evidence Menu

Options of the Examiner Evidence Menu
Option

Description

Add/Remove

Opens the Manage Evidence dialog, used to add and remove evidence. From
Manage Evidence, choose from the following:
Time Zone — Choose Time Zone for evidence item
Refinement Options — Select Evidence Refinement Options
Language Setting — Choose the language of the evidence item
Define and Manage Evidence Groups
Select Case KFF Options

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Options of the Examiner Evidence Menu (Continued)
Option

Description

Add Remote Data

Opens the Add Remote Data dialog from which you can remotely access volatile,
memory, and/or drive data and add it to the case. To Collect remote data from
another computer on the network, provide the following:
Remote IP Address
Remote Port
Select any or all of the following:
Physical Drives (Can be mapped using RDMS)
Logical Drives (Can be mapped using RDMS)
Memory Analysis
Click OK or Cancel.

Additional Analysis

Opens the Additional Analysis dialog with many of the same processing options
available when the evidence was added. Allows the user to reprocess using
available options not selected previously.
See Using Additional Analysis (page 138).

Process Manually
Carved Items

Initiates the processing of items that have been manually carved, using the
selected options.

Manage Evidence
Groups

Opens the dialog where you can create and manage Evidence Groups.

Import Memory Dump

Opens the Import Memory Dump File dialog which allows you to select memory
dumps from other case files or remote data acquisitions, and import them into the
current case. The memory dump file must have been previously created.
See Working with Live Evidence (page 149)

Import Custom
Column File

When a Custom Column Settings file has been created, import it into your case
using this tool.

Delete Custom
Column Data

If you have imported or created a Custom Column Settings file, use this tool to
delete the associated column and its data from the view.

Merge Case Index

The processing engine does this automatically and no longer needs user
interaction to select the merge.

Options of the Examiner Filter Menu
Examiner Filter Menu

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Options of the Examiner Filter Menu
Option

Description

New

Opens the Filter Definition dialog to define a temporary filter.

Duplicate

Duplicates a selected filter. A duplicated filter serves as a starting point for
customizing a new filter.

Delete

Deletes a selected filter.

Applies the selected filter globally in the application. The File List changes color to
indicate that the filter is applied.

Import

Opens the Windows file manager allowing the user to import a pre-existing filter.

Export

Opens the Windows File Manager allowing the user to save a filter.
The name of the filter cannot have any special or invalid characters or the export
will not work.

Tab Filter

Allows the selection of a filter to apply in the current tab.

Options of the Examiner Tools Menu
Examiner Tools Menu

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Options of the Examiner Tools Menu
Option

Description

Decrypt Files

Decrypts EFS and Office files using passwords you enter.
See Decrypting Files (page 187)

Credant Decryption

Opens the Credant Decryption dialog where you enter the decryption information.
See Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption Server)
(page 200)

Send to DNA/PRTK for
password recovery

Uses the integrated DNA/PRTK capabilities to decrypt several types of encrypted
files.
See Recovering Passwords using the PRTK/DNA Integrated Tool on page 194.

Verify Image Integrity

Generates hash values of the disk image file for comparison.
See Verifying Drive Image Integrity (page 120)

Restore Image to Disk

Restores a physical image to a disk. If the original drive was on a bootable
partition, the restored image may also be bootable. This feature is disabled for
Case Reviewers.

Mount Image to Drive

Allows the mounting of a physical or logical image for read-only viewing. Logically
mounting images allows them to be viewed as a drive-letter in Windows Explorer.
Mounted logical drives now show the user the correct file, even when a deleted file
with the same name exists in the same directory.
See Mounting an Image to a Drive (page 121)

Disk Viewer

Opens a hex viewer that allows you to see and search contents of evidence items.
Search Text for a term using Match Case, ANSI, Unicode, Regular Expression or
Search Up instead of down; Search Hex using Search Up. Specify a logical sector
or a cluster.

Other Applications

Opens other AccessData tools to complement the investigational analysis.

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Options of the Examiner Tools Menu (Continued)
Option

Description

Configure Agent Push

Opens configuration dialog for pushing the agent to remote machines for data
acquisition.

Push Agents

Push, or install, an Agent to a remote machine. You can Add, Remove, Import, or
Export a single machine or a list of machines here.

Manage Remote
Acquisition

Opens the Remote Acquisition dialog. Set the drive acquisition retry options here
to set compression levels, balance speed of transfers with the amount of
bandwidth usage, and set compression levels for remote data transfers.

Unmount Agent Drive

Unmount a remote drive that is mounted through RDMS.

Disconnect Agent

Disconnect a remote agent.

Recover Processing
Jobs

Restarts processing so jobs that were interrupted can be completed.

Visualization

Lets you launch the Visualization add on module for the data that you currently
have displayed in the File List Pane. Visualization is only available from the
Explore, Overview, and Email Tabs.
See Using Visualization on page 454.

Execute SQL

Executes a user-defined SQL script from within the interface.

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Options of the Examiner Manage Menu
Examiner Manager Menu

Options of the Examiner Manage Menu
Tool Type

Description

KFF

Manage Known File Filter (KFF) Library, sets, and groups.
See Using the Known File Filter (KFF) (page 282).

Labels

Manage Local and Shared Labels as well as Label Groups.
See What You Can Do With Labels (page 183).

Carvers

Manage Local and Shared Custom Carvers.
See Data Carving (page 95).

Filters

Manage Local and Shared Filters.
See Filtering Data to Locate Evidence (page 163).

Columns

Manage Local and Shared Columns.
See Customizing File List Columns (page 505).

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Options of the Examiner Help Menu

Options of the Examiner Help Menu
Option

Description

User Guide

Opens the user guide in PDF format.

Case Folder

Opens the folder that contains the case data.

About

Provides version and build information, copyright and trademark information, and other
copyright and trade acknowledgements.

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Chapter 5

Creating and Configuring New Cases

This chapter explains how to create a new case and configure the case options. If you have cases that were
created in version 2.2 or later, you can convert them to the latest version.
This chapter includes the following topics
Opening

an Existing Case (page 74)

Opening

a Case in iSubmit (page 75)

Creating

a Case (page 76)

Configuring
Evidence
Adding

Detailed Options for a Case (page 77)

Processing Options (page 85)

Evidence to a New Case (page 111)

Converting

a Case from Version 2.2 or Newer (page 111)

Opening an Existing Case
You can open a case that has previously been created and closed.

To open an existing case
1.

Open the Case Manager.

In the Case Manager, highlight and double-click a case to open it.

Note: If you attempt to open a case you have not been assigned to, you will receive a message saying, “You
have not been assigned to work on this case.” This is because you must be authenticated to open the
case.

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Opening a Case in iSubmit
Users have the ability to pull pertinent information from iSubmit and auto-create a case with that information,
allowing investigators to track a case from start to completion within the iSubmit program.
This feature requires an add-on license for iSubmit. Please see your sales representative for details.
A key will need to be created before you can connect to the iSubmit database.

To create an iSubmit key in the registry
Create the following REG_SZ key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Products\Forensic Toolkit\6.3]
“iSubmitLicense”=[The iSubmit license number you have obtained from iSubmit]
Note: The version of AccessData software must match the current version you are using. For example FTK 6.3
and 6.3.1 will both use 6.3.

To connect to an iSubmit database
1.

In the Case Manager, navigate to Case > iSubmit Forms.
The iSubmit Forms dialog will open, allowing you to search for an existing form by entering the Form
Type and Date Range.

Click Update Forms List and select the desired iSubmit form. Click Create.

Select the proper Form ID and click Create.
The New Case dialog will open and the new case will then be tracked within iSubmit.
The form number is shown in the Reference Field and is automatically populated from the iSubmit
database.

Note: You will need to put the iSubmit key in the registry for this to work.

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Creating a Case
Case information is stored in a database, and allows case administration as each new case is created.

To start a new case
1.

Open the Case Manager.

Click Case > New. The New Case Options dialog opens.

Enter a name for the case in the Case Name field.

(Optional) Enter any specific reference information in the Reference field.

(Optional) Enter a short description of the case in the Description field.

You can use the Description File option to attach a file to the case. For example you can use this field to
attach a work request document or a warrant to the case.

In the Case Folder Directory field specify where to store the case files. If you wish to specify a different
location for the case, click the Browse button.
Note: If the case folder directory is not shared, an error occurs during case creation.

(Optional) In the Database Directory field you can specify a location for where to store database
directory files. You can check the In the case folder option to save the database directory in the case
folder. If you do not specify these options, the database directory is saved to the default location of the
database.
Note: The location that you specify for Database Directory is relative to your database computer. If you
intend to specify a location that is on a different computer than your database, for example in a
multi-box scenario, then you must enter a network path.

Important: If using a UNC path for the case folder, and selecting the In the case folder option for the
database directory, and if the database process isn't running as a network user, it will not be able to
access the UNC path and will therefore fail to create the database files.
9.

Configure the default processing options for the case by either using a processing profile or using
custom settings.
See Configuring Detailed Options for a Case on page 77.

10. If you wish to open the case as soon as it is created, mark Open the case.
11. Click OK to create the new case.

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Configuring Detailed Options for a Case
When you configure Detailed Options for a case, there are options for doing the following:
Configuring

Default Processing Options for a Case (page 78)

Configuring

Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 104)

Selecting
Managing

Index Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 106)
Custom Identifiers (page 51)

About Processing Options
To help you in investigating the evidence in a case, the evidence data is processed. When evidence is
processed, data about the evidence is created and stored in the database. You can view the processed data in
the Examiner.
Evidence is processed at the following times:
When
After

adding evidence to a case

the initial processing, when performing an additional analysis

There are many different types of processing options. You can choose which processing options are relevant to
your case.
The following are some examples of how your data can be processed:
Generate

hash values for all of the files in the evidence.

Categorize

the types of files in your evidence, such as graphics, office documents, encrypted files, and so

on.
Expand

the contents of compound files, such as ZIP or TAR files.

Create

an index of the words that are in the evidence files for quick searches and retrieval.

Create

thumbnails for the graphics and videos in the evidence.

Decrypt

encrypted files.

Compare

files in your evidence against a list of known files that you may want to be alerted about (such
as contraband images) or files that you want to ignore (such as Windows system files).

You can select processing options at the following times:
When

you create a case (Detailed Options) -- these become the default options for the case.
See Evidence Processing Options (page 85)

When

you add evidence to an existing case (Refinement Options) -- you can either use or override the
case defaults.
See Configuring Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 104)

When

you perform an Additional Analysis on a case.
See Using Additional Analysis (page 138)

Each processing option that you enable increases the time that it take to process the evidence. Depending on
your situation, you may want to select more or fewer options.
For example, in one scenario, you may want to process the evidence as quickly as possible. In this case, you
can use a pre-defined “Field Mode” that deselects almost all processing options and therefore takes the shortest

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amount of time. After the initial processing, you can perform an Additional Analysis and enable additional
processing options.
In another scenario, you may want to take the time to categorize and index files during the initial processing, so
you can enable those options. This will take a significant amount of time for a large evidence set.
There is a Pause button available in the Data Processing Status window for situations where you need to
interrupt evidence processing. Once you are ready to continue, select the Resume option.

Configuring Default Processing Options for a Case
When you create a case, you define the default processing options that are used whenever evidence is added to
that case. By specifying default processing options for a case, you do not have to manually configure the
processing options each time you add new evidence. The case-level defaults can be overridden and customized
when you add new evidence or when you perform an additional analysis.
You configure the default processing options for a case in one of the following ways:
Using

Processing Profiles (page 79)

Customizing

the Processing Profile Buttons (page 83)

Note: One factor that may influence which processing options to select is your schedule. If you disable
indexing, it shortens case processing time. The case administrator can return at a later time and index the
case if needed. The fastest way to create a case and add evidence is to use Field Mode.

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Using Processing Profiles
About Processing Profiles
As an investigator, you may want to be able to save a set of processing options as a profile so that they can be
easily reused. Processing profiles are a saved list of processing options that are stored in the database.
Processing profiles are created at the global level and are available anytime you create a case.
For example, you may need to focus on certain types of data in a case, such as images and videos. In this
example, you can create a processing profile that enables the following processing options:
KFF
Expand
Flag

Compound Files

Bad Extensions

Create

Thumbnails for Graphics

Create

Thumbnails for Video

Generate
Explicit

Common Video File

Image Detection

PhotoDNA

Each time you create this kind of case, you can use a profile with these options set as default and you won't
need to manually specify them again.
Processing profiles are used at the case level. Specifically, when you create a case, you can select a processing
profile from a drop-down list as the default processing options for that case. Any time that you add evidence to
that case, the profile's setting will be the default "Refinement Options". This saves you time by not having to
reconfigure processing options each time you add evidence to the case. However, when you add evidence to a
case, you can modify the processing options for that evidence set. The profile is simply a set of default settings
for the case.
Processing profiles are stored in the database. It is important to note that the profile itself does not get saved
with the case but only the processing options that are in the profile.
There are five pre-defined, one-click processing profiles:
Forensic

processing (these were the Factory Defaults in version 4.x and earlier)

eDiscovery

processing

Summation

processing

Basic

assessment

Field

mode
See About Pre-configured Processing Profiles on page 80.

When you create a case, you can use one of the pre-configured profiles or create/select a custom profile. If you
create a custom profile, you can save it with a unique name so that you can re-use it in a different case.
See Creating a Custom Processing Profile (page 82)
Important: When you create a custom profile, the settings for Custom File Identification or Event Audit Log
options are not stored in the processing profile. The Send Email Alert and Decrypt Credant Files
settings on the Evidence Processing tab are also not stored in the processing profile.

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You can choose which profiles populate in the five one-click processing profile buttons for ease of use. The preconfigured profile options and your other custom profiles will still be available in the drop down menu.
You can also edit, delete, import, or export custom processing profiles.
See Managing Processing Profiles (page 83)
You can also set custom processing options for a case without saving them to a profile.
See Customizing the Processing Profile Buttons on page 83.

About Pre-configured Processing Profiles
There are five pre-defined, one-click processing profiles. You cannot edit, delete, or export these profiles.
However, you can use them as a template for a new custom profile.
The following are the pre-configured profiles.
Forensic
processing

This profile includes the following processing options:















MD5 Hash
SHA-1 Hash
SHA-256 Hash
Expand common compound files
This will expand many types of compound files.
See Expanding Compound Files (page 88)
File Signature Analysis
Flag Bad Extensions
dtSearch Test Index
Create Thumbnails for Graphics
Include Deleted Files
Include File Slack
Include Free Space
Include Message Headers
Create Email Threads

This list of processing options is the same as the Factory Defaults in version 4.x.
For a description of processing options, see Evidence Processing Options (page 85)

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eDiscovery
processing

The eDiscovery profile allows the processed evidence to be easily imported into AD eDiscovery.
These options include:















Summation
processing

The Summation profile allows the processed evidence to be easily imported into AD Summation.
These options include:



















Basic
assessment

Flag Duplicate Files
Expand Compound Files
File Signature Analysis
Flag Bad Extensions
dtSearch Text Index
Create Thumbnails for Graphics
Generate Common Video File
Document Content Analysis
Entity Extraction (Doc. Content)
Don’t Expand Embedded Graphics
Include Message Headers
Do not include document metadata in filtered text
Enable Advanced De-duplication Analysis
Propagate Email Attributes
Create Email Threads
Cluster Analysis
Include Extended Information in the Index
Enable ‘Standard Viewer’

This profile includes the following processing options:






Field mode

MD5 Hash
Flag Duplicate Files
Expand Compound Files
File Signature Analysis
dtSearch Text Index
Document Content Analysis
Don’t Expand Embedded Graphics
Include Message Headers
Do not include document metadata in filtered text
Enable Advanced De-duplication Analysis
Propagate Email Attributes
Create Email Threads
Cluster Analysis
Include Extended Information in the Index

Expand Compound Files
Include Deleted Files
Include File Slack
Include Free Space
Include Message Headers

FTK Field Mode disables the standard processing options when processing evidence. This speeds
up processing. You can then re-enable processing options through Additional Analysis.

See Using Additional Analysis (page 138)
The Job Processing screen always shows 0 for Queued when Field Mode is enabled, because
items move directly from Active Tasks to Completed.

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Creating a Custom Processing Profile
You can create a processing profile by selecting a set of processing options and then saving them as a profile.
You can create a processing profile at one of the following times:
Before
While

creating a case

configuring processing options for a new case

To create a custom processing profile
1.

From the Case Manager do one of the following:
To

1a.

Click Manage > Evidence Processing Profiles.

1b.

Click New Profile.
You can use the Profile dropdown to select an existing profile as a template.

To

create a profile before creating a case, do the following:

create a profile while creating a new case, do the following:

1a.

Click Case > New.

1b.

In the Processing profile field, select one of the built-in options and click Customize.

Do the following:
2a.

Click the Evidence Processing icon in the left pane, and select the processing options to be the
default options for the case. For more information, see Evidence Processing Options (page 85).

2b.

Click the Evidence Refinement (Advanced) icon to select the evidence refinement options to use
on this case. For more information, see Configuring Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options
(page 104).

2c.

Click the Index Refinement (Advanced) icon to select the index refinement options to use on this
case. For more information, see Selecting Index Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 106).

2d.

Click the Evidence Lab/eDiscovery icon to select the advanced options to use on this case. For
more information, see Selecting Lab/eDiscovery Options (page 108).

Important: When you create a custom profile, the settings for Custom File Identification or Event Audit Log
options are not stored in the processing profile. When you configure these options, the Save As...
profile button is grayed out to signify that they are not saved as part of a profile.
See Managing Custom Identifiers (page 51).
3.

When you are satisfied with your options, click Save As... or Save user Profile... to create the profile.

Enter a name for the profile.
To

create a new profile, enter a unique name.
You cannot use AD Standard, AD Field Mode, or Custom.

To

update an existing custom profile, enter the profile name.

(Optional) Enter a description of the profile.

Click Save.

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Managing Processing Profiles
You can do the following to manage processing profiles.
Edit

You can edit an existing custom profile. You cannot edit the five pre-configured profiles.
To edit a profile, you select an existing profile, make the desired changes, save the profile, and
confirm that you want to replace the existing profile.

Set as Default

You can set a processing profile as the global default. Whenever you create a new case, the
default profile is listed. If a profile not associated with a button has been set as the default,
none of the buttons will appear greyed out and the default profile name will appear in the
Profiles drop down.
The default profile is denoted by a green check mark.

Delete

You can delete an existing custom profile. You cannot delete the five pre-configured profiles.
If you delete a custom profile that has been selected as the default, the profile is deleted and
the Forensic processing profile becomes the default.

Lock/Unlock

You can lock a profile so that others cannot edit or delete it. Any pre-defined profiles cannot
be unlocked.

Export

You can export a custom profile so that you can archive it or use it on a different computer. The
exported settings are saved in xml format.

Import

You can import a profile that has been previously exported.

To manage processing profiles
1.

In the Case Manager, click Manage > Evidence Processing Profiles.

In the Manage Evidence Processing Profiles dialog, select a profile to manage.

Select an action to perform on the profile.

Click Close.

Customizing the Processing Profile Buttons
It is possible to customize the profiles that appear on the quick-start profile buttons in the New Case Options
dialog. This will allow you to access your most commonly used processing profiles with one click. You will need
to have already created your custom profiles before associating them with a button. For more information, see
Creating a Custom Processing Profile (page 82). These changes are global and will be seen by all users.
Note: These changes can only be made by an Application Administrator.

To customize the quick-start profile buttons
1.

In the Case Manager, select Manage > Evidence Processing Profiles.
In the Manage Evidence Processing Profiles dialog you will see a list of all the current profiles along
with a short description, if added; a locked indicator; and the button number assigned, if any. The green
check mark indicates the default profile.

Highlight a profile in the grid and click Set Button.
A window will appear allowing you to choose a number for that button. The numbers correspond to the
button location, 1 being all the way to the left and 5 being all the way to the right.

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Once you have selected a position, click Save.
The new option will now be shown on the selected button. The profile option formerly in that position will
no longer be associated with a button, but will still be shown in the Profile drop down list.

Manually Customizing a set of Detailed Options
You can configure default processing options for a case without saving it as a profile.

To manually customize the evidence processing options
1.

From the New Case Options dialog, click Custom.
1a.

Click the Evidence Processing icon in the left pane, and select the processing options to be the
default options for the case. For more information, see Evidence Processing Options (page 85).

1b.

Click the Evidence Refinement (Advanced) icon to select the evidence refinement options to use
on this case. For more information, see Configuring Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options
(page 104).

1c.

Click the Index Refinement (Advanced) icon to select the index refinement options to use on this
case. For more information, see Selecting Index Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 106).

1d.

Click Custom File Identification to configure Custom Identifiers. For more information, see
Managing Custom Identifiers (page 51).

Click OK.
In the Processing Profile field, it will display Custom to show that you did not save the options as a
profile.

When you are satisfied with your evidence refinement options, click OK to create the case and continue
to the Evidence Processing screen.

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Evidence Processing Options
The following table outlines the Evidence Processing options.

Evidence Processing Options
Process

Description

MD5 Hash

Creates a digital fingerprint using the Message Digest 5 algorithm, based on the
contents of the file. This fingerprint can be used to verify file integrity and to
identify duplicate files.

SHA-1 Hash

Creates a digital fingerprint using the Secure Hash Algorithm-1, based on the
contents of the file. This fingerprint can be used to verify file integrity and to
identify duplicate files.

SHA-256 Hash

Creates a digital fingerprint using the Secure Hash Algorithm-256, based on the
contents of the file. This fingerprint can be used to verify file integrity and to
identify duplicate files. SHA-256 is a hash function computed with 32-bit words,
giving it a longer digest than SHA-1.

Flag Duplicate Files

Identifies files that are found more than once in the evidence. This is done by
comparing file hashes.

KFF

PhotoDNA

Enables PhotoDNA which lets you compare images in your evidence against
known images in a library.
See About PhotoDNA on page 298.
PhotoDNA is an add-on feature. Contact your sales representative for more
information.

Expand Compound Files

Automatically opens and processes the contents of compound files such as ZIP,
email, and OLE files.
See Expanding Compound Files on page 88.
The option File Signature Analysis is not forced to be selected. This lets you
initially see the contents of compound files without necessarily having to process
them. Processing can be done later, if it is deemed necessary or beneficial to the
case by selecting File Signature Analysis.

Include Deleted Files

Checked by default. Un-check to exclude deleted files from the case.

File Signature Analysis

Analyzes files to indicate whether their headers or signatures match their
extensions. This option must be selected if you choose Registry Summary
Reports.

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Evidence Processing Options (Continued)
Process

Description

Flag Bad Extensions

Identifies files whose types do not match their extensions, based on the file
header information. This option forces the File Signature Analysis option to be
checked.

Entropy Test

Identifies files that are compressed or encrypted.
Compressed and encrypted files identified in the entropy test are not indexed.

dtSearch® Text Index

Stores the words from evidence in an index for quick retrieval. Additional space
requirement is approximately 25% of the space required for all evidence in the
case.
Click Indexing Options for extensive options for indexing the contents of the
case.
Generated text that is the result of a formula in a document or spreadsheet is
indexed, and can be filtered.

Create Thumbnails for
Graphics

Creates thumbnails for all graphics in a case.
Thumbnails are always created in JPG format, regardless of the original graphic
file type.
See Examining Graphics on page 337.

Create Thumbnails for
Videos

Creates thumbnails for all videos in a case.
You can also set the frequency for which video thumbnails are created, either by
a percent (1 thumbnail every “n”% of the video) or by interval (1 thumbnail every
“n” seconds.
See Examining Videos on page 344.

Generate Common
Video File

When you process the evidence in your case, you can choose to create a
common video type for videos in your case. These common video types are not
the actual video files from the evidence, but a copied conversion of the media
that is generated and saved as an MP4 file that can be previewed on the video
tab.
See Examining Videos on page 344.

HTML File Listing

Creates an HTML version of the File Listing in the case folder.

CSV File Listing

The File Listing Database is now created in CSV format instead of an MDB file
and can be added to Microsoft Access.

Data Carve

Carves data immediately after pre-processing. Click Carving Options, then
select the file types to carve. Uses file signatures to identify deleted files
contained in the evidence. All available file types are selected by default.
For more information on Data Carving, see Data Carving (page 95).

Meta Carve

Carves deleted directory entries and other metadata. The deleted directory
entries often lead to data and file fragments that can prove useful to the case,
that could not be found otherwise.

Optical Character
Recognition (OCR)

Scans graphics files for text and converts graphics-text into actual text. That text
can then be indexed, searched and treated as any other text in the case.
For more detailed information regarding OCR settings and options, see Running
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) (page 99).

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Evidence Processing Options (Continued)
Process

Description

Explicit Image Detection

Click EID Options to specify the EID threshold for suspected explicit material
found in the case.
See Evaluating Explicit Material on page 341.
EID is an add-on feature. Contact your sales representative for more information.

Registry Reports

Creates Registry Summary Reports (RSR) from case content automatically. Click
RSR Directory to specify the location of the RSR Templates. When creating a
report, click the RSR option in the Report Wizard to include the RSR reports
requested here. RSR requires that File Signature Analysis also be selected. If
you try to select RSR first, an error will pop up to remind you to mark File
Signature Analysis before selecting RSR.

Include Deleted Files

Enabled by default; to force exclusion of deleted files, unmark this check box.

Cerberus Analysis

Lets you run the add on module for Cerberus Malware Triage. You can click
Cerberus Options to access additional options.
For more information see About Cerberus Malware Analysis (page 223)

Send Email Alert on Job
Completion

Opens a text box that allows you to specify an email address where job
completion alerts will be sent.
Note: Outgoing TCP traffic must be allowed on port 25.
Important: These Emails are often filtered into Spam folders.

Decrypt Credant Files

See Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption Server) on
page 200.
If you select to decrypt Credant files, the File Signature Analysis option will
automatically be selected as well.

Process Internet
Browser History for
Visualization

Processes internet browser history files so that you can see them in the detailed
visualization timeline.

Perform Automatic
Decryption

Disabled by default. Attempts to decrypt files using a list of passwords that you
provide

See Visualizing Internet Browser History Data on page 480.

See About Decrypting Files on page 187.
Language Identification

Disabled by default. Analyzes the first two pages of every document to identify
the languages contained within. The user will be able to filter by a Language field
within review and determine who needs to review which documents based on the
language contained within the document.
See Identifying Document Languages on page 361.

Document Content
Analysis

Disabled by default. Analyzes the content and groups it according to topic in the
Overview tab. When selected, the DCA Options button is also activated and
opens the Document Content Analysis Options.
See Analyzing Document Content on page 446.

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Evidence Processing Options (Continued)
Process

Description

Entity Extraction
(Document Content)

Disabled by default. Identifies and extracts specific types of data in your
evidence. You can select to process one or all of the following types of entity
data:
Credit Card Numbers
Phone Numbers
 Social Security Numbers
In the Examiner, under the Document Content node in the Overview tab, you can
view the extracted data.



See Using Entity Extraction on page 446.
Generate System
Information

Extracts data and populates the System Information tab.
See Viewing System Information on page 429.

If you expand data, you will have files that are generated when the data was processed and was not part of the
original data. There are tools to help you identify generated data.
See Identifying Processing-Generated Data on page 351.
See Relating Generated Files to Original Files on page 351.

Expanding Compound Files
You can expand individual compound file types. This lets you see child files that are contained within a container
such as ZIP files. You can access this feature from the Case Manager’s new case wizard, or from the Add
Evidence or Additional Analysis dialogs.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.
Unless noted, the following file types are expanded by default.
If you expand data, you will have files that are generated when the data was processed and were not part of the
original data. There are tools to help you identify generated data.
See Identifying Processing-Generated Data on page 351.
See Relating Generated Files to Original Files on page 351.
You can expand the following compound files:
7-ZIP
Active Directory

Not expanded by default.

AOL Files

Not expanded by default.

Belkasoft All-in-One

Not expanded by default.
Belkasoft is an add-on feature. Contact your sales representative for
more information.

Blackberry IPD backup file

Not expanded by default.

BZIP2

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Cellebrite UFDR

Not expanded by default.
See Examining Mobile Phone Data on page 370.

Chrome Bookmarks

Not expanded by default. See About Expanding Google Chrome,
Firefox, and IE 9 Data on page 365.

Chrome Cache

Not expanded by default. See About Expanding Google Chrome,
Firefox, and IE 9 Data on page 365.

Chrome SQLite

Not expanded by default. See About Expanding Google Chrome,
Firefox, and IE 9 Data on page 365.

DBX
ESE DB

Expands ESE (Extensible Storage Engine) databases. See About
Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) Databases on page 364.

EMFSPOOL

Not expanded by default.

EVT

Not expanded by default.

EVTX

Not expanded by default. See Viewing Data in Windows XML Event Log
(EVTX) Files on page 352.

EXIF

Not expanded by default.

Facebook Messenger (Android)

Not expanded by default. See Working with Facebook Messenger
(Android) on page 378.

Firefox Cache

Not expanded by default. See About Expanding Google Chrome,
Firefox, and IE 9 Data on page 365.

Firefox JSON

Not expanded by default. See About Expanding Google Chrome,
Firefox, and IE 9 Data on page 365.

Firefox SQLite

Not expanded by default. See About Expanding Google Chrome,
Firefox, and IE 9 Data on page 365.

GZIP
IE Cookie Text

Not expanded by default. See About Expanding Data from Internet
Explorer (IE) Version 10 or Later on page 366.

IE Recovery

Not expanded by default. Expands IE Recovery data that was stored
when access to a Web site was lost.
See Expanding Internet Artifact Data on page 368.

IE WebCache

Not expanded by default. Expands the Web cache data for IE 10 and
later IE versions. See About Expanding Data from Internet Explorer (IE)
Version 10 or Later on page 366.

IIS Log

Not expanded by default. See Viewing IIS Log File Data on page 354.

Internet Explorer Files

Not expanded by default.
Expands Internet Explorer internet artifact data.
See Expanding Internet Artifact Data on page 368.

iOS Backup

Not expanded by default. See Working with iOS Backup on page 377.

Log2t CSV

Not expanded by default. This processing option will recognize CSV files
that are in the Log2timeline format and parses the data within the single
CSV into individual records within the case. The individual records from
the CSV will be interspersed with other data, giving you the ability to
perform more advanced timeline analysis across a very broad set of
data. In addition you can leverage the visualization engine to perform
more advanced timeline based visual analysis.
See Log2timeline CSV fields on page 360.

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Lotus Notes (NSF)

Not expanded by default.

MBOX
Mail.ru Chat

Parses Mail.RU Agent chat history files and email (mra.dbs).
See Expanding Internet Artifact Data on page 368.

Microsoft Exchange
MS Office, OLE and OPC documents Not expanded by default.
MSG
Outlook for Mac OLM

Not expanded by default.

PDF
Pidgin Chat Log

Not expanded by default.

PKCS7 and S/MIME Files
PST
RAR
Registry (full)

Not expanded by default.

Registry (timeline)

Not expanded by default. See Viewing Registry Timeline Data on
page 356.

RFC822 Internet Email
Skype SQLite

Not expanded by default. See Expanding Internet Artifact Data on
page 368.

SQLite Databases

Not expanded by default.

TAR
Unistore Database (Windows 10 Mail) Not expanded by default. See Processing Windows 10 Email and
Contacts on page 335.
WeChat (Android)

Not expanded by default.

WeChat (iOS)

Not expanded by default.

WhatsApp (Android)

Not expanded by default.

WhatsApp (iOS)

Not expanded by default.

Windows Thumbnails

Not expanded by default.

XRY

Not expanded by default.

ZIP, including ZIPX
Be aware of the following before you expand compound files:
If

you have labeled or hashed a family of files, then later choose to expand a compound file type that is
contained within that label or family, the newly expanded files do not inherit the labeling from the parent,
and the family hashes are not automatically regenerated.

Many

Lotus Notes emails, *.NSF, are being placed in the wrong folders in the Examiner.
This is a known issue wherein Lotus Notes routinely deletes the collection indexes. Lotus Notes client
has the ability to rebuild the collections from the formulas, but Examiner cannot. So if Lotus Notes data is
acquired shortly after the collections have been cleared, then the Examiner does not know where to put
the emails. These emails are all placed in a folder named "[other1]."
To work around: Open the NSF file in the Lotus Notes client, and then close (you may need to save), then
acquire the data and process it. The emails will all be in the right folder because the view collections are
recreated.

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Compound

file types such as AOL, Blackberry IPD Backup, EMFSpool, EXIF, MSG, PST, RAR, and ZIP
can be selected individually for expansion. This feature is available from the Case Manager new case
wizard, or from the Add Evidence or Additional Analysis dialogs.

the file types selected are expanded. For example, if you select ZIP, and a RAR file is found within
the ZIP file, the RAR is not expanded.

Only

To expand compound files
1.

Do one of the following:
For

new cases, in the New Case Options dialog click Detailed Options.

For

existing cases, in the Examiner, click Evidence > Additional Analysis.

Select Expand Compound Files.
The option File Signature Analysis is no longer forced to be checked when you select Expand
Compound Files. This lets you see the contents of compound files without necessarily having to
process them. You can choose to process them later, if it is deemed necessary or beneficial to the case.

Select Include Deleted Files if you also want to expand deleted compound files.

Click Expansion Options.

In the Compound File Expansions Options dialog do the following:
If

you do not want to expand office documents that do not have embedded items, select Only
expand office documents with embedded items.

Select

the types of compound files that you want expand.
Only the file types that you select are expanded. For example, if you select ZIP, and a RAR file is
contained within the ZIP file, then the RAR is not expanded.

Note: The option File Signature Analysis is not forced to be selected. This lets you initially see the
contents of compound files without necessarily having to process them. Processing can be done
later, if it is deemed necessary or beneficial to the case by selecting File Signature Analysis.
6.

In the Compound File Expansions Options dialog, click OK.

Click OK.

Using dtSearch Text Indexing
You can use the following indexing options to choose from when creating a new case.

Indexing a Case
All evidence should be indexed to aid in searches. Index evidence when it is added to the case by checking the
dtSearch Text Index box on the Evidence Processing Options dialog, or index after the fact by clicking and
specifying indexing options.
Scheduling is another factor in determining which process to select. Time restraints may not allow for all tasks to
be performed initially. For example, if you disable indexing, it shortens the time needed to process a case. You
can return at a later time and index the case if needed.

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dtSearch Indexing Space Requirements
To estimate the space required for a dtSearch Text index, plan on approximately 25% of the space needed for
each case’s evidence.

Configuring Case Indexing Options
Case Indexing gives you almost complete control over what goes in your case index. These options can be
applied globally from Case Manager.
Note: Search terms for pre-processing options support only ASCII characters.

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These options must be set prior to case creation.

To set Indexing Options as the global default
1.

In Case Manager, click Case > New > Detailed Options.

In the Evidence Processing window, mark the dtSearch Text Index check box.

Click Indexing Options to bring up the Indexing Options dialog box.

Set the options using the information in the following table:

dtSearch Indexing Options
Option

Description

Letters

Specifies the letters and numbers to index. Specifies Original, Lowercase,
Uppercase, and Unaccented. Choose Add or Remove to customize the list.
You may need to add characters to this list for specific index searches to function
properly. For example, you may want to do an index search for
‘name@domain.com’. By default, the @ symbol is treated as a space and is not
indexed.
See Spaces on page 94.
To have the @ symbol included in the index, you would need to do two things:
 Remove the @ from the Spaces list.
Add the @ to the Letters list.

Noise Words

A list of words to be considered “noise” and ignored during indexing. Choose Add
or Remove to customize the list.

Hyphens

Specifies which characters are to be treated as hyphens. You can add standard
keyboard characters, or control characters. You can remove items as well.

Hyphen Treatment

Specifies how hyphens are to be treated in the index. Options are:




Ignore
Hyphens will be treated as if they never existed. For example, the term “counter-culture” would be indexed as “counterculture.”
Hyphen
Hyphens will be treated literally. For example, the term “counter-culture”
would be indexed as “counter-culture.”
Space
Hyphens will be replaced by a non-breaking space. For example the term
“counter-culture” would be indexed as two separate entries in the index being
“counter” and “culture.”
All
Terms with hyphens will be indexed using all three hyphen treatments. For
example the term “counter-culture” will be indexed as “counterculture”, “counter-culture”, and as two separate entries in the index being “counter” and “culture.”

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dtSearch Indexing Options (Continued)
Option

Description

Spaces

Specifies which special characters should be treated as spaces. Remove
characters from this list to have them indexed as any other text. Choose Add or
Remove to customize the list.
You may need to remove characters from this list for specific index searches to
function properly. For example, you may want to do an index search for
‘name@domain.com’. By default, the @ symbol is treated as a space and is not
indexed.
To have the @ symbol included in the index, you would need to do two things:
 Remove the @ from the Spaces list.
Add the @ to the Letters list.

Ignore

Specifies which control characters or other characters to ignore. Choose Add or
Remove to customize the list.

Max Word Length

Allows you to set a maximum word length to be indexed.

Index Binary Files

Specify how binary files will be indexed. Options are:




Index all
Skip
Index all (Unicode)

Enable Date Recognition

Choose to enable or disable this option.

Presumed Date Format
For Ambiguous Dates

If date recognition is enabled, specify how ambiguous dates should be formatted
when encountered during indexing. Options are:




MM/DD/YY
DD/MM/YY
YY/MM/DD

Set Max Memory

Allows you to set a maximum size for the index.

Auto-Commit Interval
(MB)

Allows you to specify an Auto-Commit Interval while indexing the case. When the
index reaches the specified size, the indexed data is saved to the index. The size
resets, and indexing continues until it reaches the maximum size, and saves
again, and so forth.

Note: The Indexing Options dialog does not support some Turkish characters.
5.

When finished setting Indexing Options, click OK to close the dialog.

Complete the Detailed Options dialog.

Click OK to close the Detailed Options dialog.

Specify the path and filename for the Default Options settings file.

Click Save.

10. In the Case Manager, click Case > New.
11. Proceed with case creation as usual. There is no need to click Detailed Options again in creating the

case to select options, unless you wish to use different settings for this case.
In addition to performing searches within the case, you can also use the Index to export a word list to use as a
source file for custom dictionaries to improve the likelihood and speed of password recovery related to case files

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when using the Password Recovery Toolkit (PRTK). You can export the index by selecting File > Export Word
List. See also Searching Evidence with Index Search (page 413)

Data Carving
Data carving is the process of looking for data on media that was deleted or lost from the file system. Often this
is done by identifying file headers and/or footers, and then “carving out” the blocks between these two
boundaries.
AccessData provides several specific pre-defined carvers that you can select when adding evidence to a case.
In addition, Custom Carvers allow you to create specific carvers to meet your exact needs.
Data carving can be selected in the New Case Wizard as explained below, or from within the Examiner. In
addition, because Custom Carvers are now a Shared feature, they can be accessed through the Manage menu.
These are explained below.

Pre-defined Carvers
The following pre-defined carvers are available. Some carvers are enabled by default.

Pre-defined Carvers
Carver

Enabled by default?

AOL bag files

Yes

BMP files

Yes

EMF files

Yes

GIF files

Yes

HTML files

Yes

JPEG files

Yes

LNK files

Yes

OLE files (MS Office)

Yes

PDF files

Yes

PNG files

Yes

TIFF files

Yes

ZIP files

Yes

AIM Chat Logs

EML

Facebook Status Updates

Facebook Chat

Facebook Email Artifact

Facebook Mail Snippets

Facebook Fragment

Gmail Email Message

Gmail Parsed Email

Google Talk Chats

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Pre-defined Carvers (Continued)
Hotmail Email Artifact

Bebo Chat

Firefox Form History

Firefox Places

Firefox Session Store

Frostwire Props Files

GigaTribe Chat

IE8 Recovery URL

Limewire Props

Limewire/Frostwire Keyword Search

mIRC Chat Log

MySpace Chat

Twitter Status

Windows Messenger Plus w/chat logging

MSN/WLM Chat

Yahoo Diagnostic

Yahoo Webmail Chat

Yahoo Mail

Yahoo Group Chat Recvd

Yahoo Group Chat Sent

Yahoo Chat

Yahoo Chat UnAllocated

Yahoo Unencrypted Active

Selecting Data Carving Options
If you are unfamiliar, please review Creating a Case (page 76) and Configuring Detailed Options for a Case
(page 77) before beginning this section.
When you are in the New Case Wizard in Detailed Options > Evidence Processing, click Data Carve >
Carving Options to open the dialog shown below.
If you already have a case open with evidence added and processed, click the following:
Evidence

> Additional Analysis > Data Carve > Carving Options

Standard Data Carving gives you a limited choice of which file types to carve.
Choose which types of data to carve according to the information below.

To set Data Carving options
1.

Select Data Carve.

Click Carving Options.

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Select the types of files you want carved.
Click

Select All to select all file types to be carved.

Click

Clear All to unselect all file types.

Click

on individual file types to toggle either selected or unselected.

Note: It may help to be aware of the duplicate files and the number of times they appear in an evidence
set to determine intent.
4.

Depending on the file type highlighted, the Selected Carver Options may change. Define the optional
limiting factors to be applied to each file:
Define

the minimum byte file size for the selected type.

Define

the minimum pixel height for graphic files.

Define

the minimum pixel width for graphic files

Mark the box, Exclude KFF Ignorable files if needed.

If you want to define Custom Carvers, click Custom Carvers. (Custom Carvers are explained in the
next section.) When you are done with Custom Carvers, click Close.

In the Carving Options dialog, click OK.

Custom Carvers
The Custom Carvers dialog allows you to create your own data carvers in addition to the built-in carvers. Custom
Carvers can be created and shared from within a case, or from the Case Manager.
Application Administrators have the necessary permissions to access the Manage Shared Carvers dialog. Case
Administrators can manage the Custom Carvers in the cases they administer. Case Reviewers are not allowed
to manage Custom Carvers.
Shared Custom Carvers are automatically available globally; but can be copied to a case when needed. Carvers
created within a case are automatically available to the case, but can be shared and thus made available
globally.
To access Manage Custom Carvers dialogs, click Manage > Carvers > Manage Custom Carvers (or Manage
Shared Carvers if you are an Application Administrator).
The Manage Shared Custom Carvers and Manage Custom Carvers dialogs are very similar. The difference is
whether you can copy the carvers to a case or make the carvers shared.
The Custom Carvers dialog allows you to define carving options for specific file types or information beyond
what is built-in. Once defined, these carving options files can be Shared with the database as well as exported
and imported for use in other cases. The original, local copy, remains in the case where it was created, for local
management.

To create a Custom Data Carver
1.

Click New.

Complete the data fields for the Custom Carver you are creating. Options are as follows:
Name

Name of the Carver

Author

Name of the Creator

Description

Summarizes the intended use of the carver

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Minimum File Size (Optional)
in bytes
Maximum File Size (Optional) The default Custom Carver Maximum File Size is 2147483647 bytes.
in bytes
The carver Max File Size in bytes must be populated with any size larger than the
defined Minimum File Size in bytes (default is 0). A Maximum File Size equal to or
less than the minimum size, or , results in an error prompting for a valid
number to be entered.
File extension

Defining the extension of the carved file helps with categorization, sorting, and
filtering carved files along with other files in the case.

Key Signature(s)
and Other
Signature(s)

Enter the ASCII text interpretation of the file signature as seen in a hex viewer.
Many can be defined, but at least one key signature must be present in the file in
order to be carved.
Click the + icon to begin defining a new Key Signature or Other Signature.
Click the - icon to remove a defined Key Signature or Other Signature.

File Category

The File Category the carved item will belong to once it is carved. The specified
category must be a leaf node in the Overview tab.

Offset

Use decimal value.

Length

The length in bytes.

Little Endian

If not marked, indicates Big Endian.

Signature

Enter the ASCII text interpretation of the file signature as seen in a hex viewer.

Case Insensitive

Default is case sensitive. Mark to make the end File Tag Signature not case
sensitive.

When done defining the Custom Carver, click Close.
Note: When adding signatures to a carver, the Signature is case sensitive check box is used when
carving for signatures that can be both upper or lower case. For example, and
are both acceptable headers for HTML files, but each of these would have a different signature in
hex, so therefore they are case sensitive.
The

objects and files carved from default file types are automatically added to the case, and can be
searched, bookmarked, and organized along with the existing files.
However, custom carved data items are not added to the case until they are processed, and they
may not sort properly in the File List view. They are added to the bottom of the list, or at the top
for a Z-to-A search, regardless of the filename.

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Running Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) process lets you extract text that is contained in graphics files. The
text is then indexed so that it can be, searched, and bookmarked.
Running OCR against a file type creates a new child file item. The graphic files are processed normally, and
another file with the parsed text from the graphic is created. The new OCR file is named the same as the parent
graphic, [graphicname.ext], but with the extension OCR, for example, graphicname.ext.ocr.
You can view the graphic files in the File Content View when it is selected in the File List View. The Natural tab
shows the graphic in its original form. The Filtered tab shows the OCR text that was added to the index.
Before running OCR, be aware of the following:
OCR

is only a helpful tool for the investigator to locate images from index searches. OCR results should
not be considered evidence without further review.

OCR

can have inconsistent results. OCR engines by nature have error rates. This means that it is
possible to have results that differ between processing jobs on the same machine with the same piece of
evidence.

Some

large images can cause OCR to take a very long time to complete. Under some circumstances,
they may not generate any output.

Graphical

images that have no text or pictures with unaligned text can generate bad output.

OCR

is best on typewritten text that is cleanly scanned or similarly generated. All other picture files can
generate unreliable output that can vary from run to run.

To run Optical Character Recognition
1.

Do one of the following:
For

new cases, in the New Case Options dialog click Detailed Options.

For

existing cases, in the Examiner, click Evidence > Additional Analysis.

Select Optical Character Recognition. OCR requires File Signature Analysis and dtSearch Indexing
to be selected. When Optical Character Recognition is marked, the other two options are automatically
marked and grayed-out to prevent inadvertent mistakes, and ensure successful processing.

Click OCR Options.

In the OCR Options dialog, select from the following options:

Options

Description

File Types

Lets you specify which file types to include in the OCR process during case
processing. For PDF files, you can also control the maximum filtered text size
for which to run OCR against.

Filtering Options

Lets you specify a range in file size to include in the OCR process. You can
also specify whether or not to only run OCR against black and white, and
grayscale. The Restrict File Size option is selected by default. By default, OCR
file generation is restricted to files larger than 5K. If you do not want to limit the
size of OCR files, you must disable this option.

Engine

Lets you choose the OCR engine to use.

In the OCR Options dialog, click OK.

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In the Evidence Processing dialog, click OK.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Confidence Score
There is an option to show the confidence score for each file that has been processed with OCR. It is
recommended to use this feature to sort documents processed using OCR to determine which files may need to
be manually reviewed for the desired keywords.
The OCR Confidence Score value may be one of the following:

Options

Description

1-100%

The OCR confidence % score for a document that had a successful OCR
process; the higher the score, the higher the confidence.

No Score Available (2)

The OCR results are from a previous version.

Minimal Confidence (1)

The OCR extraction is not in a supported language or is not clear.

No Text Found (0)

The OCR process did not identify any text to extract.

OCR Skipped (-1)

The OCR process was skipped due to some condition.

OCR Extraction Error (-2)

The OCR process failed for that file.

Blank

The file does not need the OCR process; for example, a .DOC file or email.

Note: For data that is upgraded from a previous version, if a file has been previously processed with OCR, it will
show a value of 2. You can use the Additional Analysis tool, found in the Evidence menu, to re-OCR the
document and you will get the new OCR confidence score.

To use the OCR Confidence Score
1.

Process your data using the Optical Character Recognition option.
See Running Optical Character Recognition (OCR) on page 99.

Add the OCR Graphic column to the File List.
See Managing Columns on page 505.

Sort the File List using the OCR Graphic column
Use the scores shown in the File List to determine which items should be reviewed for keywords.

Using Explicit Image Detection
About Explicit Image Detection
Explicit Image Detection (EID) is an add-on feature. Contact your sales representative for more information. EID
reads all graphics in a case and assigns both the files and the folders they are contained within a score
according to what it interprets as being possibly illicit content. The score ranges are explained later in this
section.

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To add EID evidence to a case
1.

Click Evidence > Add/Remove.

In the Detailed Options > Evidence Processing dialog, ensure that File Signature Analysis is
marked.

Select Explicit Image Detection

Click EID Options.The three EID options are profiles that indicate the type of filtering that each one
does. You can choose between any combination of the following profiles depending on your needs:

Profile
Name

Level

Description

X-DFT

Default
(XS1)

This is the most generally accurate. It is always selected.

X-FST

Fast (XTB)

This is the fastest. It scores a folder by the number of files it contains that meet
the criteria for a high likelihood of explicit material.
It is built on a different technology than X-DFT and does not use “regular” DNAs.
It is designed for very high volumes, or real-time page scoring. Its purpose is to
quickly reduce, or filter, the volume of data to a meaningful set.

X-ZFN

Less False
Negatives

This is a profile similar to X-FST but with more features and with fewer false
negatives than X-DFT.

(XT2)

You can apply this filter after initial processing to all evidence, or to only the
folders that score highly using the X-FST option. Check-mark or highlight those
folders to isolate them for Additional Analysis.
In Additional Analysis, File Signature Analysis must be selected for EID options to
work correctly.

When the profile is selected, click OK to return to the Evidence Processing dialog and complete your
selections.

AccessData recommends that you run Fast (X-FST) for folder scoring, and then follow with Less False
Negatives (X-ZFN) on high-scoring folders to achieve the fastest, most accurate results.
After you select EID in Evidence Processing or Additional Analysis, and the processing is complete, you must
select or modify a filter to include the EID related columns in the File List View.

Including Registry Reports
The Registry Viewer supports Registry Summary Report (RSR) generation as part of case processing.

To generate Registry Summary Reports and make them available for the case report
1.

Ensure that File Signature Analysis is marked.

Mark Registry Reports.

Click RSR Directory.

Browse to the location where your RSR templates are stored.

Click OK.

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Send Email Alert on Job Completion
You can choose to send an email notification when a job completes. This encompasses both evidence being
added to or removed from a case.
This option is also available from Evidence > Additional Analysis. Select Send Email Alert on Job Completion,
click on the Email Alert Options button, and enter the email address of the recipient(s) in the Job Completion
Alert Address box, then click OK. To alert all case users, check the Email notification to all case users box.

To set up email notification information
1.

In the Case Manager, select a database and log in.

Navigate to Manage > Email notification settings. The Manage Email Alert Settings dialog will open.

Fill in the Manage Email Alert Settings dialog with the appropriate information.

If you choose to send a Test Alert, enter the appropriate addresses into the Send Test Alert box and
press Send.

Click OK.

Note: Outgoing TCP traffic must be allowed on port 25.

Custom File Identification Options
Custom File Identification provides the examiner a way to specify which file category or extension should be
assigned to files with a certain signature. These dialogs are used to manage custom identifiers and extension
maps specific to the case.
In Detailed Options, the Custom File Identification dialog lets you select the Custom Identifier file to apply to the
new case. This file is stored on the system in a user-specified location. The location can be browsed to, by
clicking Browse, or reset to the root drive folder by clicking Reset.

Creating Custom File Identifiers
Custom File Identifiers are used to assign categories to files that may or may not already be automatically
categorized in a way that is appropriate for the case. For example, a file that is discovered, but not categorized,
will be found under the “Unknown Types” category. You can prevent this categorization before the evidence is
processed by selecting a different category and sub-category.
Custom Identifiers provide a way for you to create and manage identifiers, and categorize the resulting files into
any part of the category tree on the Overview tab. You can select from an existing category, or create a new one
to fit your needs.
You can define identifiers using header information expected at a specific offset inside a file, as is now the case,
but in addition, you can categorize files based on extension.
Note: PDF files are now identified through the PDF file system and will no longer be identified through Custom
File Identification.

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To create a Custom Identifier file
1.

In the Case Manager, click Case > New > Detailed Options.

Click Custom File Identification.

Below the Custom Identifiers pane on the left of the Custom File Identification dialog, click New. The
Custom Identifier dialog opens.

Fill in the fields with the appropriate values. The following table describes the parameters for Custom
File Identifiers:

Parameter

Description

Name

The value of this field defines the name of the sub-category that will appear below the
selected Overview Tree category and the category column.

Description

Accompanies the Overview Container’s tree branch name.

Category

The general file category to which all files with a matching file
signature should be associated.

Description

Accompanies the Overview Container’s tree branch name.

Extensions:

Any file extension that should be associated to the selected Category.

Note: You must use at least one offset:value pair (hence the [...]+), and use zero or more OR-ed
offset:value pairs (the [...]*). All of the offset:value conditions in an OR-ed group are OR-ed
together, then all of those groups are AND-ed together.

Configuring Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options
The Evidence Refinement Options dialogs allow you to specify how the evidence is sorted and displayed. The
Evidence Refinement (Advanced) option allows you to exclude specific data from being added to the case when
found in an individual evidence item type.
Many factors can affect which processes to select. For example, if you have specific information otherwise
available, you may not need to perform a full text index. Or, if it is known that compression or encryption are not
used, an entropy test may not be needed.
Important: After data is excluded from an evidence item in a case, the same evidence cannot be added back
into the case to include the previously excluded evidence. If data that was previously excluded is
found necessary, the user must remove the related evidence item from the case, and then add the
evidence again, using options that will include the desired data.

To set case evidence refining options
1.

Click the Evidence Refinement (Advanced) icon in the left pane.
The Evidence Refinement (Advanced) menu is organized into two dialog tabs:
Refine

Evidence by File Status/Type

Refine

Evidence by File Date/Size

Click the corresponding tab to access each dialog.

Set the needed refinements for the current evidence item.

To reset the menu to the default settings, click Reset.

To accept the refinement options you have selected and specified, click OK.

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Refining Evidence by File Status/Type
Refining evidence by file status and type allows you to focus on specific files needed for a case.

Refine by File Status/Type Options
Options

Description

Include File Slack

Mark to include file slack space in which evidence may be found.

Include Free Space

Mark to include unallocated space in which evidence may be found.

Include KFF Ignorable
Files

(Recommended) Mark to include files flagged as ignorable in the KFF for
analysis.

Include OLE Streams and
Office 2007 package
contents

Mark to include Object Linked and Embedded (OLE) data streams, and Office
2007 (DOCX, and XLSX) file contents that are layered, linked, or embedded.

Deleted

Specifies the way to treat deleted files.
Options are:
Ignore Status
Include Only
 Exclude
Defaults to “Ignore Status.”



Encrypted

Specifies the way to treat encrypted files.
Options are:
Ignore Status
Include Only
 Exclude
Defaults to “Ignore Status.”



From Email

Specifies the way to treat email files.
Options are:
Ignore Status
Include Only
 Exclude
Defaults to “Ignore Status.”



File Types

Specifies which types of files to include and exclude.

Only add items to the case
that match both File Status
and File Type criteria

Applies selected criteria from both File Status and File Types tabs to the
refinement. Will not add items that do not meet all criteria from both pages.
If this option is not checked, and if you set a File Status, such as From Email >
Include Only, then only the File Status value will be used and the File Type will
be ignored.

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Refining Evidence by File Date/Size
Refine evidence further by making the addition of evidence items dependent on a date range or file size that you
specify. However, once in the case, filters can also be applied to accomplish this.

Refine by File Date/Size Options
Exclusion

Description

Refine Evidence
by File Date

To refine evidence by file date:

Refine Evidence
by File Size

Check Created, Last Modified, and/or Last Accessed.

In the two date fields for each date type selected, enter beginning and
ending date ranges.

To refine evidence by file size:
1.

Check At Least and/or At Most (these are optional settings).

In the corresponding size boxes, specify the applicable file size.

In the drop-down lists, to the right of each, select Bytes, KB, or MB.

Selecting Index Refinement (Advanced) Options
The Index Refinement (Advanced) feature allows you to specify types of data that you do not want to index. You
may choose to exclude data to save time and resources, or to increase searching efficiency.
Note: AccessData strongly recommends that you use the default index settings.

To refine an index
1.

Within the Detailed Options dialog of the New Case wizard, click Index Refinement (Advanced) in the
left pane.
The Index Refinement (Advanced) menu is organized into two dialog tabs:
Refine

Index by File Status/Type

Refine

Index by File Date/Size

Click the corresponding tab to access each dialog.

Define the refinements you want for the current evidence item.

Click Reset to reset the menu to the default settings.

Click OK when you are satisfied with the selections you have made.

Refining an Index by File Status/Type
Refining an index by file status and type allows the investigator to focus attention on specific files needed for a
case through a refined index defined in a dialog.

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At the bottom of the two Index Refinement tabs you can choose to mark the box for Only index items that
match both File Status AND File Types criteria, if that suits your needs.

Refine Index by File Status/Type Options
Options

Description

Include File Slack

Mark to include free space between the end of the file footer, and the end of a
sector, in which evidence may be found.

Include Free Space

Mark to include both allocated (partitioned) and unallocated (unpartitioned)
space in which evidence may be found.

Include KFF Ignorable
Files

Mark to include files flagged as ignorable in the KFF for analysis.

Include Message Headers

Marked by default. Includes the headers of messages in filtered text. Unmark
this option to exclude message headers from filtered text.

Do not include document
metadata in filtered text

Not marked by default. This option lets you turn off the collection of internal
metadata properties for the indexed filtered text. The fields for these metadata
properties are still populated to allow for field level review, but the you will no
longer see information such as Author, Title, Keywords, Comments, etc in the
Filtered text panel of the review screen. If you use an export utility such as ECA
or eDiscovery and include the filtered text file with the export, you will also not
see this metadata in the exported file.

Include OLE Streams

Includes Object Linked or Embedded (OLE) data streams that are part of files
that meet the other criteria.

Deleted

Specifies the way to treat deleted files. Options are:




Encrypted

Specifies the way to treat encrypted files. Options are:




From Email

Ignore status
Include only
Exclude

Specifies the way to treat email files. Options are:




Ignore status
Include only
Exclude

Include OLE Streams

Includes Object Linked or Embedded (OLE) files found within the evidence.

File Types

Specifies types of files to include and exclude.

Only add items to the Index
that match both File Status
and File Type criteria

Applies selected criteria from both File Status and File Types tabs to the
refinement. Will not add items that do not meet all criteria from both pages.

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Refining an Index by File Date/Size
Refine index items dependent on a date range or file size you specify.

Refine Index by File Date/Size Options
Exclusion

Description

Refine Index by File Date

To refine index content by file date:

Refine Index by File Size

Select Created, Last Modified, or Last Accessed.

In the date fields, enter beginning and ending dates within which to
include files.

To refine evidence by file size:
1.

Click in either or both of the size selection boxes.

In the two size fields for each selection, enter minimum and maximum
file sizes to include.

In the drop-down lists, select whether the specified minimum and
maximum file sizes refer to Bytes, KB, or MB.

Selecting Lab/eDiscovery Options
This option is available for those with AD Lab and Summation licenses.
AD Lab and eDiscovery have additional options available for advanced de-duplication analysis.
De-duplication is separated by email items and non-email items. Within each group, the available options can be
applied by case or by Custodian.
Note: This option is not enabled by default when using the eDiscovery Default processing profile.
The following table provides more information regarding each option and its description.

AD Lab/eDiscovery Detailed Options
Option

Description

Enable Advanced De-duplication Analysis
Email Items

De-duplication Scope

Choose whether you want this de-duplication process to be applied at the Case
level, or at the Custodian level.



Case Level
People (Custodian) Level

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AD Lab/eDiscovery Detailed Options (Continued)
Option

Description
De-duplication Options

For each item type you check, AD Lab eliminates duplicates from the case as it
processes through the collected evidence. Uncheck an item type to keep all
duplicate instances in your case.
Available item types











Non-email Items

Email To
Email From
Email CC
Email BCC
Email Subject
Email Submit Time
Email Delivery Time
Email Attachment Time
Email Attachment Count
Email Hash
Body Only
Body and Attachments

De-duplication Scope

Choose whether you want this de-duplication process to be applied to the entire
case or at the custodian level.



Case Level
People (Custodian) Level

De-duplication Option

There is only one option available for non-email items; either you are going to deduplicate just the actual files, or if unmarked, you will de-duplicate actual files only,
or all files, including children, zipped, OLE, and carved files.


Actual Files Only

Propagate Email
Attributes

When an email has attachments or OLE items, marking this option causes the
email’s attributes to be copied and applied to all “child” files of the email “parent.”

Cluster Analysis

Invokes the extended analysis of documents to determine related, near duplicates,
and email threads.
See Viewing Data in Volume Shadow Copies on page 385.
Configure the details by clicking NDA Options.

Cluster Analysis
Options

This lets you specify the options for Cluster Analysis.
You can specify which document types to process:
Documents
Presentations
 Spreadsheets
 Email
You can also specify the similarity threshold, which determines the level of similarity
required for documents to be considered related or near duplicates.



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AD Lab/eDiscovery Detailed Options (Continued)
Option

Description

Include Extended
Information in the
Index

If you create a case in FTK and are going to review it in Summation or eDiscovery,
select this option to make the index data fully compatible with Summation/
eDiscovery.

Enable ‘Standard
Viewer’

If you create a case in FTK and are going to review it in Summation or eDiscovery,
select this option to automatically create a set of SWF files for all document files
found during processing. These SWF files will be used as the default file rather
than the original file when annotating and redacting within the case and will be
created during processing for any file 1 MB or larger. Smaller files will be created
on-the-fly when selected in Review.
When opened in the Standard Viewer in eDiscovery or Summation, the converted
SWF file is displayed by default, rather than the original file. This enables users to
work on a file without first having to manually create a SWF file.
Note: This option is disabled by default, and when enabled, slows processing
speeds.

Create Email Threads

Sorts and groups emails by conversation threads.

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Adding Evidence to a New Case
If you marked Open the Case before clicking OK in the New Case Options dialog, when case creation is
complete, the Examiner opens. Evidence items added here will be processed using the options you selected in
pre-processing, unless you click Refinement Options to make changes to the original settings.

Working with Volume Shadow Copies
You can examine data that is contained in NTFS Volume Shadow Copies.
See Examining Data in Volume Shadow Copies on page 134.

Converting a Case from Version 2.2 or Newer
If you have cases that were created in version 2.2 or later, you can convert them to the latest version. Refer to
the following guidelines for migrating 2.x cases.
Important: Consider the following information:
Any

case created with a version prior to 2.2 must be re-processed completely in the latest version.

AccessData

recommends reprocessing active cases instead of attempting to convert them, to
maximize the features and capabilities of the new release.

AccessData

recommends that no new evidence be added to any case that has been converted from
an earlier version. This is because newer versions of processing gathers more information than was
done in versions prior to 2.x.
Therefore, if evidence is added to a converted 2.2 case, the new evidence will have all the info
gathered by the newest version; however, the data from the converted 2.2 case will not have this
additional information. This may cause confusion and bring forensic integrity into question in a
court of law.

For more information, see the webinar that explains Case Portability in detail. This webinar can be found under
the Core Forensic Analysis portion of the webpage: http://www.accessdata.com/Webinars.
The AccessData website works best using Microsoft Windows Explorer. You will be required to create a
username and password if you have not done so in the past. If you have used this website previously, you will
need to verify your email address. The website normally remembers the rest of the information you enter.
For instructions on converting cases, see the Migrating Cases document located at
http://www.accessdata.com/support/product-downloads/ftk-download-page

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Chapter 6

Managing Case Data

This chapter includes the following topics
Backing

Up a Case (page 113)

Archiving

and Detaching a Case (page 116)

Attaching

a Case (page 117)

Restoring

a Case (page 118)

Migrating

Cases Between Database Types (page 119)

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Backing Up a Case
About Performing a Backup and Restore on a Multi-Box Installation
If you have installed the Examiner and the database on separate boxes, or if you have case folders on a different
box than the applicaiton, there are special considerations you must take into account. For instructions on how to
back up and restore in this environment, see Configuring a Multi-box Setup in the User Guide.

Performing a Backup of a Case
At certain milestones of an investigation, you should back up your case to mitigate the risk of an irreversible
processing mistake or perhaps case corruption.
Case backup can also be used when migrating or moving cases from one database type to another. For
example, if you have created cases using 4.1 in an Oracle database and you want to upgrade to 5.0.x and
migrate the case(s) to a PostgreSQL database. Another example is if you have created cases using 5.0.x in an
Oracle database and you want to move the case(s) to the same version that is running a PostgreSQL database.
When you back up a case, the case information and database files (but not evidence) are copied to the selected
destination folder. AccessData recommends that you store copies of your drive images and other evidence
separate from the backed-up case.
Important: Case Administrators back up cases and must maintain and protect the library of backups against
unauthorized restoration, because the user who restores an archive becomes that case’s
administrator.
Note: Backup files are not compressed. A backed-up case requires the same amount of space as that case’s
database table space and the case folder together.
Starting in 4.2, all backups are performed using the database independent format rather than a native format.
The database independent format facilitates migrating and moving cases to a different database application or
version. You can perform a backup using a native format using the dbcontrol utility. For more information, contact
AccessData Technical Support.
Important: Do not perform a backup of a case while any data in that case is being processed.

To back up a case
1.

In the Case Manager window, select the case to back up. You can use Shift + Click, or Ctrl + Click to
select multiple cases to backup.

Do one of the following:
Click

Case > Backup > Backup.

Right-click

on the case in the Cases list, and click Backup.

In the field labeled Backup folder, enter a destination path for the backup files.

Important: Choose a folder that does not already exist. The backup will be saved as a folder, and when
restoring a backup, point to this folder (not the files it contains) in order to restore the case.
4.

If you are using 4.1 to backup a case in order to migrate it to 4.2, make sure that you select
Use database independent format.
In 4.2, all backups are performed using the database independent format.

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(Optional) Back up the Summation or Resolution1 application database.
If you have a licence for Summation or Resolution1, when you back up a case, you can also select to
backup the Summation or Resolution1 application database by doing the following:
5a.

Click App DB...

5b.

Specify the App DB properties and credentials.

Click OK.
Note: The following information may be useful:
Each

case you back up should have its own backup folder to ensure all data is kept together and
cannot be overwritten by another case backup. In addition, AccessData recommends that backups
be stored on a separate drive or system from the case, to reduce space consumption and to reduce
the risk of total loss in the case of catastrophic failure (drive crash, etc.).

The

absolute path of the case folder is recorded. When restoring a case, the default path is the
original path. You can choose the default path, or enter a different path for the case restore.

Performing a Database-only Backup
There is a new -backuponly switch that you can use with DBControl.exe that will only backup the database
portion of the case, but does not backup the case folder.

To perform a database-only backup
1.

Open a Command Prompt in Windows.

Go to the following path:
C:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\version\bin

Enter the following:
dbcontrol.exe pgdb=adg port= -backuponly caseid= backuppath=

Note: You will need to have the port number, case ID, and backup path before you begin the database-only
backup process.

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Archiving a Case
When work on a case is completed and immediate access to it is no longer necessary, that case can be
archived.
The Archive and Detach function copies that case’s database table space file to the case folder, then deletes it
from the database. This prevents two people from making changes to the same case at the same time,
preserving the integrity of the case, and the work that has been done on it. Look for filename DB fn. Archive
keeps up to four backups, DB f0, DB f1, DB f2, and DB f3.

To archive a case
1.

In the Case Manager, select the case to archive.

Click Case > Backup > Archive.

A prompt asks if you want to use an intermediate folder.
The processing status dialog appears, showing the progress of the archive. When the archive
completes, close the dialog.

To view the resulting list of backup files
1.

Open the cases folder.
Note: The cases folder is no longer placed in a default path; instead it is user-defined.

Find and open the sub-folder for the archived case.

Find and open the sub-folder for the archive (DB fn).

You may view the file names as well as Date modified, Type, and Size.

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Archiving and Detaching a Case
When work on a case is not complete, but it must be accessible from a different computer, archive and detach
that case.
The Archive and Detach function copies that case’s database table space file to the case folder, then deletes it
from the database. This prevents two people from making changes to the same case at the same time,
preserving the integrity of the case, and the work that has been done on it.

To archive and detach a case
1.

In the Case Manager, click Case > Backup > Archive and Detach.
The case is archived.

You will see a notice informing you that the specified case will be removed from the database. Click OK
to continue, or Cancel to abandon the removal and close the message box.

A prompt asks if you want to use an intermediate folder.
The processing status dialog appears, showing the progress of the archive. When the archive
completes, close the dialog.

To view the resulting list of files
1.

Open the folder for the archived and detached cases.

Find and open the sub-folder for the archived case.
Note: The cases folder is no longer placed in a default path; instead it is user-defined.

Find and open the sub-folder for the archive (DB fn).

You may view the file names as well as Date Modified, Type, and Size.

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Attaching a Case
Attaching a case is different from restoring a case. You would restore a case from a backup to its original location
in the event of corruption or other data loss. You would attach a case to the same or a different machine/
database than the one where it was archived and detached from.
The Attach feature copies that case’s database table space file into the database on the local machine.
Note: The database must be compatible and must contain the AccessData schema.

To attach a detached case
1.

Click Case > Restore > Attach.

Important: Do NOT use “Restore” to re-attach a case that was detached with “Archive.” Instead, use
“Attach.” Otherwise, your case folder may be deleted.
2.

Browse to and select the case folder to be attached.

(Optional) Select Specify the location of the DB files and browse to the path to store the database
files for this case.
3a.

Select In the case folder to place the database files in subfolder of the case folder.

Click OK.

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Restoring a Case
When your case was backed up, it was saved as a folder. The folder selected for the backup is the folder you
must select when restoring the backup.
Note: Do not use the Restore... function to attach an archive (instead use Attach...).

To restore a case
1.

Open the Case Manager window.

Do either of these:
Click

Case > Restore > Restore.

Right-click

on the Case Manager case list, and click Restore > Restore.

Browse to and select the backup folder to be restored.

(Optional) Select Specify the location of the DB files and browse to the path to store the database
files for this case.
4a.

Select In the case folder to place the database files in subfolderof the case folder.

You are prompted if you would like to specify a different location for the case folder. The processing
status dialog appears, showing the progress of the archive. When the archive completes, close the
dialog.

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Deleting a Case
To delete a case from the database
1.

In the Case Manager window, highlight the name of the case to be deleted from the database.

Do either of these:
Click

Case > Delete.

Right-click

on the name of the case to deleted, and click Delete

Click Yes to confirm deletion.

W A R N I N G: This procedure also deletes the case folder. It is recommended that you make sure you have a

backup of your case before you delete the case or else the case is not recoverable.

Storing Case Files
Storing case files and evidence on the same drive substantially taxes the processors’ throughput. The system
slows as it saves and reads huge files. For desktop systems in laboratories, you can increase the processing
speed by saving evidence files to a separate server. For more information, see the separate installation guide.
If taking the case off-site, you can choose to compromise some processor speed for the convenience of having
your evidence and case on the same drive, such as a laptop.

Migrating Cases Between Database Types
You can migrate or move cases from one database to another. For more information, see the Quick Install Guide
and the Upgrading Cases guide.

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Chapter 7

Working with Evidence Image Files

This chapter contains the following topics
Verifying

Drive Image Integrity (page 120)

Mounting

an Image to a Drive (page 121)

Benefits

of Image Mounting (page 121)

Characteristics

of a Logically Mounted Image (page 122)

Characteristics

of a Physically Mounted Image (page 122)

Mounting

an Image as Read-Only (page 122)

Mounting

a Drive Image as Writable (page 123)

Unmounting
Restoring

an Image (page 124)

an Image to a Disk (page 124)

Performing

Final Carve Processing (page 124)

Recovering

Processing Jobs (page 125)

Verifying Drive Image Integrity
A drive image can be altered or corrupted due to bad media, bad connectivity during image creation, or by
deliberate tampering. This feature works with file types that store the hash within the drive image itself, such as
EnCase (E01) and SMART (S01) images.
To verify an evidence image’s integrity, a hash of the current file is generated and allows you to compare that to
the hash of the originally acquired drive image.

To verify that a drive image has not changed
1.

Select Tools > Verify Image Integrity.
In case the image file does not contain a stored hash, one can be calculated. The Verify Image Integrity
dialog provides the following information:

Column

Description

Image Name

Displays the filename of the evidence image to be verified.

Path

Displays the path to the location of the evidence image file.

Command

Click Verify or Calculate to begin hashing the evidence image
file.

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Click either Calculate, or Verify according to what displays in the Command column, to begin hashing
the evidence file.

The Progress dialog appears and displays the status of the verification. If the image file has a stored hash, when
the verification is complete, the dialog shows and compares both hashes. Completing these processes may take
some time, depending on the size of the evidence, the processor type, and the amount of available RAM.

Mounting an Image to a Drive
Image Mounting allows forensic images to be mounted as a drive or physical device, for read-only viewing. This
action opens the image as a drive and allows you to browse the content in Windows and other applications.
Supported types are RAW/dd images, E01, S01, AD1, and L01.
Full disk images RAW/dd, E01, and S01 can be mounted Physically. Partitions contained within full disk images,
as well as Custom Content Images of AD1 and L01 formats can be mounted Logically. The differences are
explained in this section.
Note: Encrypted images cannot be mounted as either a drive or physical device.

Benefits of Image Mounting
The ability to mount an image with AccessData forensic products provides the following benefits:
Mount

a full disk image with its partitions all at once; the disk is assigned a Physical Drive name and the
partitions are automatically assigned a drive letter beginning with either the first available, or any
available drive letter of your choice.

A

full disk image mounted physically, and assigned a Physical Drive name that can be read using Imager
or with any Windows application that performs Physical Name Querying.

Mount

images of multiple drives and/or partitions. The mounted images remain mounted until unmounted
or until Imager is closed.

Mounted

images can be easily unmounted in any order, individually, or all at once.

A

logically mounted image may be viewed in Windows Explorer as though it were a drive attached to the
computer, providing the following benefits:
File

types with Windows associations can be viewed in their native or associated application, when
that application is installed locally.

Anti-virus

applications can be run on the mounted image.

Because

the logically mounted image is seen as a drive in Windows Explorer, it can be shared, and
viewed from remote computers when Remote Access has been configured correctly.

Files

can be copied from the mounted image to another location.

Mount

NTFS / FAT partitions contained within images as writable block devices. This feature caches
sections of a read-only image to a temporary location allowing the user to “write” to the image without
compromising the integrity of the original image.
Once mounted via the write cache mount method, the data can then be leveraged by any 3rd party tools
which require write access.

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Characteristics of a Logically Mounted Image
AD1 and L01 are both custom content images, and contain full file structure, but do not contain any drive
geometry or other physical drive data. Thus, these images do not have the option of being mounted Physically.
Note: When Logically mounting an image, the drive or partition size displays incorrectly in the Windows Start >
Computer view. However, when you open the “drive” from there, the folders and files contained within the
mounted image do display correctly.

Characteristics of a Physically Mounted Image
When you mount an image physically, while it cannot be viewed by Windows Explorer, it can be viewed outside
of Imager using any Windows application that performs Physical Name Querying.
E01, S01, and RAW/dd images are drive images that have the disk, partition, and file structure as well as drive
data. A physical disk image can be mounted Physically; the disk image partitions can be mounted Logically.

Mounting an Image as Read-Only
To mount an image
1.

If you already have the desired image added as evidence in the case, select that item, then do Step 2 to
auto-populate the Source box with the image file to be mounted, as shown in Step 3.
If you do not already have the desired image added as evidence, begin with Step 2.

Do one of the following:
Right-click
Select

and choose Mount Image to Drive.

the image from the Evidence tree. Right-click and choose Mount Image to Drive.

Click

Tools > Mount Image to Drive, then browse to the image on your local drive or on a network
drive you have access to.

Enter the path and filename, or click Browse to populate the Source box with the path and filename of
the image to be mounted.
After selecting an image, the Mount Type will default to the supported mapping based on the image type
selected. Click the drop-down to display other available mount types. After selecting an image, the Map
Type will default to the supported mapping based on the image type selected. Click the drop-down to
display other available map types.

Select the Mount Type to use for mounting.
Available Mount Types are Physical & Logical, Physical Only, and Logical Only.
If the Mount Type selected includes Logical, you can select the Drive Letter to assign as the mount
point.

Click the Drive Letter drop-down to see all drive letters that are available for assignment to the mounted
image.

Click the Mount Method drop-down to select Block Device / Read Only or
File System / Read Only.

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Note: If you are mounting an HFS image of a Mac drive, you must choose
File System / Read Only to view contents of the drive. Otherwise, it will appear empty, and may
prompt you to format the drive.
7.

Click Mount.
All the related mount information will be displayed in the Mapped Image List.
To mount another image, repeat the process. You can continue to mount images as needed, until you
run out of evidence to add, or mount points to use. Mounted images remain available until unmounted,
or until the program is closed.

Click Close to return to the main window.

Mounting a Drive Image as Writable
When mounting an image as writable, you must be working with a physical image, and the mount type you select
must be Physical & Logical. This is the only option that provides the Block Device /Writable Mount Method.

To mount a drive image as writable
1.

In the Examiner, click Tools > Mount Image to Drive.

Select a full disk image such as 001/Raw dd, E01, or S01 file type.

In the Mount Type drop-down, select Physical & Logical.

In the Drive Letter drop-down, select Next Available (default), or select a different drive letter.
Note: Check your existing mappings. If you map to a drive letter that is already in use, the original will
prevail and you will not be able to see the mapped image contents.

In the Mount Method drop-down, select Block Device / Writable.

In the Write Cache Folder text box, type or click Browse to navigate to the folder where you want the
Write Cache files to be created and saved.

Click Mount.
You will see the mapped images in the Mapped Image List.

To view or add to the writable mapped drive image
1.

On your Windows desktop, click Start > Computer (or My Computer).

Find the mapped drive letter in your Hard Disk Drives list. It should be listed by the name of the Image
that was mounted, then the drive letter.

Double-click on it as you would any other drive.

As a test, right-click and choose New > Folder.

Enter a name for the folder and press Enter.

The folder you created is displayed in the Folder view.

Mapped images remain mapped until unmapped, or until the application is shut down.

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Unmounting an Image
To unmount a mounted image
1.

Click File > Image Mounting. The Map Image to Drive dialog opens.

Highlight the images to unmount, click Unmount. To unmount multiple mappings, click the first, then
Shift-click the last to select a block of contiguous mappings. Click a file, then Ctrl-click individual files to
select multiple non-contiguous mappings.)

Click Done to close the Map Image to Drive dialog.

Restoring an Image to a Disk
A physical image such as 001 (RAW/dd), E01, or S01, can be restored to a drive of equal or greater size to the
original, un-compressed drive.

To restore an image to a disk
1.

Connect a target drive to your computer.

In the Examiner, click Tools > Restore Image to Disk.

Click Browse to locate and select the source image. It must be a full-disk image such as 001 (Raw/dd),
E01, or S01.
The source image must be a disk image. A custom content image such as AD1 will not work for this
feature.

Click the Destination Drive drop-down, select the target drive you connected in Step 1. If you do not see
that drive in the list, click Refresh.

Mark the Zero-fill remainder of destination drive check box if the drive is larger than the original uncompressed drive.

Mark the Notify operating system to rescan partition table when complete check box to allow the
new drive to be seen by the OS. If you plan to connect the drive in a different computer there is no need
to do this step.
When you are finished selecting options, click Restore Image to continue.

Performing Final Carve Processing
When you have selections saved as carved files from any file in the Hex viewer, performing Final Carve
Processing carves the files, saves them, adds them to the case, and even creates or assigns them to bookmarks
you specified when the data was selected.
Final Carve Processing jobs can be monitored in the Progress Window as Additional Analysis Jobs.

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Recovering Processing Jobs
Jobs that are started but unable to finish for whatever reason can be deleted or restarted. Click Tools > Recover
Processing Jobs. If no jobs remain unfinished, the Recover Processing Jobs dialog box is empty. Click Close.
If there are jobs in the list, you can choose whether to Restart or Delete those jobs.

To recover incomplete processing jobs
1.

Click Select All, Unselect All, or mark the check box for each job to be recovered.

Click Restart.

In the Recovery Type dialog, choose the recovery type that suits your needs:
Continue
Restart

processing from where the job ended.

the job from the beginning.

Click Close.

To verify the progress of a restarted or continued job, click Tools > Show Progress Window.

To remove incomplete processing jobs
1.

Click Select All, Unselect All, or mark the check box for each job to discard.

Click Delete.

Click Yes to confirm that you want to delete the job permanently.

Click Close.

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Chapter 8

Working with Static Evidence

This chapter includes the following topics
Static

Evidence Compared to Remote Evidence (page 126)

Acquiring
Adding

and Preserving Static Evidence (page 127)

Evidence (page 127)

Working

with Evidence Groups (page 131)

Selecting

Evidence Processing Options (page 132)

Selecting

a Language (page 133)

Examining
Using
Data

Data in Volume Shadow Copies (page 134)

Additional Analysis (page 138)

Carving (page 143)

Hashing

(page 143)

Viewing

the Status and Progress of Data Processing and Analysis (page 145)

Viewing

Processed Items (page 146)

Editing

the Processing Management Queue (page 146)

Viewing

Evidence Information (page 147)

Static Evidence Compared to Remote Evidence
Static evidence describes evidence that has been captured to an image before being added to the case.
Live evidence describes any data that is not saved to an image prior to being added to a case. Such evidence is
always subject to change, and presents risk of data loss or corruption during examination. For example, a
suspect’s computer, whether because a password is not known, or to avoid the suspect’s knowing that he or she
is under suspicion, may be imaged live if the computer has not yet been or will not be confiscated.
Remote evidence describes data that is acquired from remote live computers in the network after the case has
been created.
This chapter covers working with static evidence. For more information regarding acquisition and utilization of
remote evidence, see Working with Live Evidence (page 149).

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Acquiring and Preserving Static Evidence
For digital evidence to be valid, it must be preserved in its original form. The evidence image must be
forensically sound, in other words, identical in every way to the original.
See also About Acquiring Digital Evidence (page 27)

Adding Evidence
When case creation is complete, the Manage Evidence dialog appears. Evidence items added here will be
processed using the options you selected in pre-processing. Please note the following information as you add
evidence to your case:
You

can now drag and drop evidence files from a Windows Explorer view into the Manage Evidence
dialog.

You

can repeat this process as many times as you need to, for the number of evidence items and types
you want to add.

DMG

(Mac) images are sometimes displayed as “Unrecognized File System.” This happens only when
the files are not “Read/Write” enabled.
If the DMG is a full disk image or an image that is created with the read/write option, then it is identified
properly. Otherwise the contents will not be recognized properly.

After

processing, the Evidence Processing selected options can be found in the case log. You can also
view them by clicking Evidence > Add/Remove. Double-click on any of the evidence items to open the
Refinement Options dialog.

Popular

mobile phone formats (found in many MPE images) such as M4A, MP4, AMR, and 3GP can be
recognized. These file types will play inside the Media tab as long as the proper codecs are installed that
would also allow those files to play in Windows Media Player.

To add static evidence (an exact image, or “snapshot” of electronic data found on a hard disk or other data
storage device) to an existing case, select Evidence > Add/Remove from the menu bar and continue.
Note: Use Universal Naming Convention (UNC) syntax in your evidence path for best results.
Click Refinement Options to override settings that were previously selected for evidence added to this case. If
you do not click Refinement Options here, the options that were specified when you created the case will be
used.
Configuring Default Processing Options for a Case (page 78)

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After evidence has been added, you can perform many processing tasks that were not performed initially.
Additional evidence files and images can be added and processed later, if needed.

Manage Evidence Options
Option

Description

Add

Opens the Select Evidence Type dialog. Click to select the evidence type, and a Windows
Explorer instance will open, allowing you to navigate to and select the evidence you
choose.

Remove

Displays a caution box and asks if you are sure you want to remove the selected
evidence item from the case. Removing evidence items that are referenced in bookmarks
and reports will remove references to that evidence and they will no longer be available.
Click Yes to remove the evidence, or click No to cancel the operation.

Display Name

The filename of the evidence being added.

State

The State of the evidence item:
“ ” (empty) Indicates that processing is complete.
“+” Indicates the item is to be added to the case
 “–” Indicates the item is to be removed from the case.
 “*” Indicates the item is processing.
 “!” Indicates there was a failure in processing the item.
If you click Cancel from the Add Evidence dialog, the state is ignored and the requested
processing will not take place.



Note: If the State field is blank and you think the item is still processing, from any tab
view, click View > Progress Window to verify.
Path

The full pathname of the evidence file.
Note: Use universal naming convention (UNC) syntax in your evidence path for best
results.

ID/Name

The optional ID/Name of the evidence being added.

Description

The options description of the evidence being added. This can be the source of the data,
or other description that may prove helpful later.

Evidence Group

Click the drop-down to assign this evidence item to an Evidence Group. For more
information regarding Evidence Groups, see Working with Evidence Groups (page 131).

Time Zone

The time zone of the original evidence. Select a time zone from the drop-down list.

Merge Case
Index

Merges fragmented index segments to improve performance of index-related commands,
such as Index Searching.
Note: The application automatically merges the case index when system resources allow
whether or not Merge Case Index is selected. Selecting this option forces the merge to
execute regardless of system resources.

Language
Setting

Select the code page for the language to view the case in. The Language Selection dialog
contains a drop-down list of available code pages. Select a code page and click OK.

Case KFF
Options

Opens the KFF Admin box for managing KFF libraries, groups, and sets for this case.

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Manage Evidence Options (Continued)
Option

Description

Refinement
Options

Displays the Refinement Options for Evidence Processing. This dialog has limited options
compared to the Refinement Options selectable prior to case creation.
Select the options to apply to the evidence being added, then click OK to close the dialog.
Configuring Default Processing Options for a Case (page 78)

When you are satisfied with the evidence options selected, click OK.
Note: To remove evidence from the list either before processing, or after it has been added to the case, select
the evidence item in the list, then click Remove.

Note: When you export data from a case as an image, and then add that image as evidence in either the same
case or a different case, the name of the image is renamed using a generic term. This prevents a user
generated image name from being indexed with evidence.

To add new evidence to the case
1.

Do one of the following:
Drag

and drop the evidence file into the Manage Evidence > Evidence Name list field.

Click

Add to choose the type of evidence items to add into a new case.

Important: Consider the following:
Evidence

taken from any physical source that is removable, whether it is a “live” drive or an image,
will become inaccessible to the case if the drive letters change or the evidence-bearing source is
moved. Instead, create a disk image of this drive, save it either locally, or to the drive you specified
during installation, then add the disk image to the case. Otherwise, be sure the drive will be available
whenever working on the case.

To

add physical or logical drives as evidence on any 64-bit Windows system you must run the
application as an Administrator. Otherwise, an empty drive list displays. If you encounter this
problem on a 64-bit system, log out, then run again as Administrator.

While

it is possible to add a CUE file as a valid image type, when adding a CUE file as “All images in
a directory”, although adding the BIN and the CUE are actually the same thing the user gets double
of everything.
Workaround: Remove duplicates before processing.

Mark the type of evidence to add, and then click OK.

Click the Browse button at the end of the Path field to browse to the evidence folder. Select the
evidence item from the stored location.

Click OK.
Note: Folders and files not already contained in an image when added to the case will be imaged in the
AD1 format and stored in the case folder. If you select AD1 as the image type, you can add these
without creating an image from the data.

Fill in the ID/Name field with any specific ID or Name data applied to this evidence for this case.

Use the Description field to enter an optional description of the evidence being added.

Select the Evidence Group that this evidence item belongs to. Click Manage to create and manage
evidence groups.

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Select the Time Zone of the evidence where it was seized from the drop-down list in the Time Zone
field. This is required to save the added evidence.
After selecting an Evidence Type, and browsing to and selecting the evidence item, the selected
evidence displays under Display Name. The Status column shows a plus (+) symbol to indicate that the
file is being added to the case.

To pause evidence processing
In the Data Processing Status window, select the Pause button.

An entry will appear in the Messages box stating that the processing has been paused and listing the
date and time it was paused.

To resume evidence processing
In the Data Processing Status window, select the Resume button.

An entry will appear in the Messages box stating that the processing has resumed and listing the date
and time it resumed.

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Working with Evidence Groups
Evidence Groups let you create and modify groups of evidence. You can share groups of evidence with other
cases, or make them specific to a single case.

To create an evidence group
1.

In Examiner, click Evidence > Add/Remove.

With an evidence item selected in the Display Name box, click Manage to the right of Evidence Group.

In the Manage Evidence Group dialog, click Create New to create a new Evidence Group.

Provide a name for the new evidence group, and mark the Share With Other Cases box to make this
group available to other cases you may be working on.

Click Create to create and save this new group.

Click Close.

To modify an evidence group
1.

In Examiner, click Evidence > Add/Remove.

With an evidence item selected in the Display Name box, click Manage to the right of Evidence Group.

To modify a group, highlight it in the list, and click Modify.

Make the changes to the group, then click Update.

Click Close.

To delete an evidence group
1.

In Examiner, click Evidence > Add/Remove.

With an evidence item selected in the Display Name box, click Manage to the right of Evidence Group.

To delete a group, highlight it in the list, and click Delete.

Click Close.

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Selecting Evidence Processing Options
The Evidence Processing options allow selection of processing tasks to perform on the current evidence. Select
only those tasks that are relevant to the evidence being added to the case.
See Configuring Default Processing Options for a Case on page 78.
After processing, the Evidence Processing options selected for this case can be found in the case log. You can
also view them by clicking Evidence > Add/Remove. Double-click on any of the evidence items to open the
Refinement Options dialog.
Some pre-processing options require others to be selected. For example:
Data

Carving depends on Expand

KFF

depends on MD5 hashing

Flag

Duplicates depends on MD5 hashing

Indexing
Flag

depends on Identification

bad extension depends on File Signature Analysis.

Different processing options can be selected and unselected depending on the specific requirements of the
case.
At the bottom of every Refinement Options selection screen are the following options:
OK:

accepts current settings without saving for future use.

Cancel:

cancels the entire Detailed Options dialog without saving settings or changes, and returns to the
New Case Options dialog.

If you choose not to index in the Processing Options page, but later find a need to index the case, click
Evidence > Additional Analysis. Choose All Items, and check dtSearch* Index.

To set Evidence Refinement Options for this case
1.

Click Refinement Options to open the Refinement Options dialog. Refinement Options are much the
same as Detailed Options.
The sections available are:
Evidence

Processing: For more information on Evidence Processing options, see Selecting Evidence
Processing Options (page 132).

Evidence

Refinement (Advanced): For more information on Evidence Refinement (Advanced)
options, see Configuring Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 104).

Index

Refinement (Advanced): For more information on Index Refinement (Advanced), see Selecting
Index Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 106).

Click OK to accept the settings and to exit the Manage Evidence dialog.

Select the KFF Options button to display the KFF Admin dialog.
Note: The AD Alert and the AD Ignore Groups are selected by default.

Click Done to accept settings and return to the Manage Evidence dialog.

Click Language Settings to select the code page for the language to be used for viewing the evidence.
More detail is given in the following section.

Click OK to add and process the evidence.

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Selecting a Language
If you are working with a case including evidence in another language, or you are working with a different
language Operating System, click Language Settings from the Manage Evidence dialog.
The Language Setting dialog appears, allowing you to select a code page from a drop-down list. When the
setting is made, click OK.

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Examining Data in Volume Shadow Copies
You can examine data that is contained in NTFS Volume Shadow Copies. In NTFS partitions, the Volume
Shadow Copy Service (VSS) maintains a copy of every 16 KB block that is changed. These blocks are packaged
up at predetermined times (which differ depending on the operating system being run) as a Volume Shadow
Copy (VSC) or restore point. These restore points can contain data that has been renamed or deleted. They can
also contain hidden malware, especially persistent code.
Encrypted drives are supported.
You can mount and process restore points as a separate evidence items within a case. When restore points are
processed, a unique file system image for each restore point is created under the source NTFS partition.

You can view the files in the different file system images to analyze the difference between each restore point
and the files that are unique to each one. This helps you see how a system has changed over a period of time.
You can identify and parse files within the restore points and can search for evidence or malware hidden there.
You configure the processing of restore points when you add new evidence to a case. You can do this for a new
case or an existing case. If the evidence that you are adding contains an NTFS partition with Volume Shadow
Copy restore points, a Select Restore Points option is available. You can view all of the available restore points
and select the ones that you want to process.
When viewing the restore point data, you can use the following VSC-related columns the provides details about
the data.

VSC-related Columns
VSC-Delta Restore Point End

Date of second restore point of a delta file

VSC-Delta Restore Point Start

Date of first restore point of a delta file

VSC-Delta State

The state of a delta file as compared in two restore points

VSC-Renamed From

The name this file was renamed from

VSC-Renamed To

The name this file was renamed to

VSC- Restore Point Date

Date of restore point this file came from

See Managing Columns on page 505.

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About Restore Point Processing Options
When you select restore points to process, you select the following options:
Which
The

restore points to include

restore point expansion options (Delta/Full)

Restore Points Selection
If an NTFS partition has restore points, you can select which restore points to to expand as file system images.
Each restore point that you select is represented by a unique file system. You can select the Current files as well
as any previous restore points.

Important: You can select to process one or more restore point. If you do not select a restore point, you cannot
add it later within the same evidence item. You must re-add the NTFS partition as a new evidence
item and then select the desired restore points.

Restore Point Expansion Options
You choose from the following expansion options.
Full

All restore points are added as full file systems. The benefit of this option is that you can
view all of the files in all of the restore points. However, you will potentially have duplicate
files, making the data set large. It can also make it more difficult to find the files that have
been deleted or modified.
If "Full" restore option is selected, you are warned if more than one restore point is checked.
You can add the evidence item again if you don’t choose to add it as a restore point image
originally. You can then choose restore points.

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Delta - Oldest to
latest

Instead of creating a full partition for each restore point, one full partition is created for the
oldest restore point selected while all newer restore points are created as deltas. The
advantage of this option is that you do not have duplicate files and the contents of the other
restore points are smaller, making it is easier to find the files or folders that have been
deleted or modified.

Delta - Latest to
Oldest

The latest restore point selected is created as a full image while all older restore points are
created as deltas.

Managing Restore Points
To process restore point file systems
1.

In either a new or an existing case, add new evidence, and select evidence that has an NTFS partition.

On the Manage Evidence page, click Choose Restore Points.
If the button is active, then the evidence has an NTFS partition.
If the button is grayed out, the evidence does not have an NTFS partition.
When you click the button, if the NTFS partition does not have any restore points, a message is
displayed.

Select the restore points that you want to process as file systems.
See About Restore Point Processing Options on page 135.

Select the expansion option.

Click OK.

Viewing Restore Point Data
After the evidence with the restore points has been processed, you can view the data. You can view the created
file systems for the restore points that you selected.
You can also add columns to the File List to display

To view restore point file systems
1.

In the Examiner, click the Explore tab.

Select the evidence item and the the NTFS partition.

You can view a file system image for each restore point.

You can view the content of each restore point to compare folders and files.

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You can use VSC-related columns to view detailed data.
See VSC-related Columns on page 134.

You can also use searches, filters, and so on to find and analyze the files in the share points.

Note: If you selected “Latest to Oldest”, the tree will show Current first, but then the deltas are sorted by the
oldest to the newest. If you selected “Oldest to Latest” the folders are sorted in the correct order.

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Using Additional Analysis
After evidence has been added to a case and processed, you may wish to perform other analysis tasks. To
further analyze selected evidence, click Evidence > Additional Analysis.
Most of the tasks available during the initial evidence processing remain available with Additional Analysis.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.
Specific items can also be targeted. Multiple processing tasks can be performed at the same time.
Make your selections based on the information in the table below. Click OK when you are ready to continue.

Additional Analysis Options
Field Item

Description

Hashing / Job Options Tab
File Hashes

These options create file hashes for the evidence. The Options are:
MD5 Hash:

This hash option creates a digital fingerprint based on the
contents of the file. This fingerprint can be used to verify file
integrity and to identify duplicate files.

SHA-1 Hash:

This hash option creates a digital fingerprint based on the
contents of the file. This fingerprint can be used to verify file
integrity and to identify duplicate files.

SHA-256:

This hash option creates a digital fingerprint based on the
contents of the file. This fingerprint can be used to verify file
integrity and to identify duplicate files.

Flag Duplicates:

Mark to flag duplicate files. This applies to all files in the case,
regardless of the Target Items selected.

Note: A blank hash field appears for unallocated space files, the same as if the files had not
been hashed at all. To notate in the hash field the reason for it being blank would slow the
processing of the evidence into the case.
KFF

Enables the Known File Filter (KFF) that lets you identify either known insignificant files that
you can ignore or known illicit or dangerous files that you want to be alerted to.
When you enable KFF, you must select a KFF Template to use. You can select an existing
KFF Template from the drop-down menu or click ... to create a new one.
See Using the Known File Filter (KFF) on page 282.
You can select to Recheck previously processed items when searching for new information,
or when a KFF group is added or changed.
Mark Recheck previously processed items if changes have been made to the KFF since the
last check.

Target Items

Select the items on which to perform the additional analysis. Highlighted, and Checked items
will be unavailable if no items in the case are highlighted or checked. The following list shows
the available options:
Highlighted Items:

Working with Static Evidence

Performs the additional analysis on the items highlighted in the
File List pane when you select Additional
Analysis.

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Additional Analysis Options (Continued)
Field Item

PhotoDNA

Description
Checked Items:

Performs the additional analysis on the checked evidence items
in the File List pane when you select Additional Analysis.

Currently Listed Items:

Performs the additional analysis on all the evidence items
currently listed in the File List pane when you select Additional
Analysis.

All Items:

Performs the additional analysis on all evidence items in the
case.

Enables PhotoDNA which lets you compare images in your evidence against known images in
a library.
See About PhotoDNA on page 298.

Refinement

Include OLE Streams: Includes Object Linked or Embedded (OLE) items that are part of files
that meet the other criteria.

Job Options

Send Email Alert on Job Completion: Opens a text box for the entry of an email address
destination for a notification email when these jobs complete.
Note: Outgoing TCP traffic must be allowed on port 25.
Important! These Emails are often filtered into Spam folders.

Indexing / Tools tab
Indexed
Search

Decryption

dtSearch® Index

Choose dtSearch® Index to create a dtSearch index that
enables instantaneous index searches. Marking dtSearch Index
activates the Entropy Test check box.

Entropy Test

Select Entropy Test to exclude compressed or encrypted items
from the indexing process.

Decrypt Credant Files:

See Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption
Server) on page 200.
If you select to decrypt Credant files, the File Signature Analysis
option will automatically be selected as well.

Perform Automatic
Decryption:

Attempts to decrypt files using a list of passwords that you
provide
See Decrypting Files Using Right-Click Auto Decryption on
page 193.

Other Tools:
Optical Character
Recognition:

Parses text from graphics images and adds them to the Index.
Creates an additional file with the OCR extension. Click OCR
Options to select specific graphics files to run the OCR process
on, or to set limiting factors such as size, or grayscale.
For more detailed information regarding OCR settings and
options, see Running Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
(page 99).

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Additional Analysis Options (Continued)
Field Item

Description
Explicit Image Detection:

Enables EID Options button. The EID license is purchased
separately. This item will be disabled unless the license is
detected on your CmStick. Click EID Options to select the
processes to run. Choose default, speed, or accuracy settings.
See Evaluating Explicit Material on page 341.

Registry Reports:

Enables Registry Summary Reports (RSRs) to be used directly
from Registry Viewer if it is installed. Click RSR Directory to
specify the location of any RSR templates you have saved or
downloaded from the AccessData web site.

Cerberus Analysis

Performs a malware analysis on executable binaries.
See About Cerberus Malware Analysis on page 223.
See Running Cerberus Malware Analysis on page 241.

Cerberus Analysis:

Lets you run the add on module for Cerberus Malware Triage.
You can click Cerberus Options to access additional options.
For more information see About Cerberus Malware Analysis
(page 223)

Language Identification

Analyzes the first two pages of every document to identify the
languages contained within. The user will be able to filter by a
Language field within review and determine who needs to
review which documents based on the language contained
within the document.
See Identifying Document Languages on page 361.

Document Content
Analysis

Analyzes the content and groups it according to topic in the
Overview tab. When selected, the DCA Options button is also
activated and opens the Document Content Analysis Options.
See Using Document Content Analysis on page 450.

Entity Extraction
(Document Content)

Identifies and extracts specific types of data in your evidence.
You can select to process one or all of the following types of
entity data:
Credit Card Numbers
 Phone Numbers
 Social Security Numbers
In the Examiner, under the Document Content node in the
Overview tab, you can view the extracted data.


See Using Entity Extraction on page 446.
Cluster Analysis

(AD Lab and Summation license only)
Invokes the extended analysis of documents to determine
related, near duplicates, and email threads.
See Performing Cluster Analysis on page 452.
Configure the details by clicking Analysis Options.

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Additional Analysis Options (Continued)
Field Item

Description
Cluster Analysis Options

(AD Lab and Summation license only)
This lets you specify the options for Cluster Analysis.
You can specify which document types to process:
Documents
Presentations
 Spreadsheets
 Email
You can also specify the similarity threshold, which determines
the level of similarity required for documents to be considered
related or near duplicates.



Generate System
Information

Extracts data and populates the System Information tab.
See Viewing System Information on page 429.

Miscellaneous tab
File Type
Identification

File Signature Analysis: Analyzes files to indicate whether their headers or signatures match
their extensions.
Before version 5.1, when performing additional analysis, if you selected certain processing
options, such as Flag Bad Extensions, dtSearch Text Index, Data Carve, OCR, Explicit Image
Detection, or Decrypt Credant Files, the File Signature Analysis option was automatically
selected and the option was disabled so that you could not un-select it. Stating in version 5.1,
if you select one of those options, the File Signature Analysis option is still automatically
selected, but the option is not disabled and you can manually un-select it. Disable this option
with care.
This does not apply to the initial processing options.

Carving

Carves data immediately after pre-processing. Click Carving Options, then select the file
types to carve. Uses file signatures to identify deleted files contained in the evidence. All
available file types are selected by default.
For more information on Data Carving, see Data Carving (page 95).
Selecting this will also enable the Expand Compound Files option.

Miscellany
Expand Compound Files
(Email, OLE, ZIP, etc.):

Expands and indexes files that contain other files.
Include Deleted Files. Checked by default. Uncheck to exclude
deleted files from the case.
See Expanding Compound Files on page 88.

Create Thumbnails for
Graphics:

Generates thumbnails for graphic files found in the evidence.
Thumbnails are always .JPG format, regardless of the original
graphic format.
See Examining Graphics on page 337.

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Additional Analysis Options (Continued)
Field Item

Description
Create Thumbnails for
Videos

Creates thumbnails for all videos in a case.
You can also set the frequency for which video thumbnails are
created, either by a percent (1 thumbnail every “n”% of the
video) or by interval (1 thumbnail every “n” seconds.
See Examining Videos on page 344.

Generate Common Video
File

When you process the evidence in your case, you can choose to
create a common video type for videos in your case. These
common video types are not the actual video files from the
evidence, but a copied conversion of the media that is
generated and saved as an MP4 file that can be previewed on
the video tab.
See Examining Videos on page 344.

Flag Bad Extensions:

Flags files that have extensions that do not match the file
headers.

HTML File Listing:

Generate a list of files contained in the case, in HTML format.

CSV File Listing:

Generate a list of files contained in the case, in CSV format. This
list can be used in any CSV supported spreadsheet application.

Don’t Expand Embedded
Graphics.

This option lets you not process embedded graphics from email
items. The default behavior has not changed. This option only
applies if you select it in the processing options.

Process Internet Browser
History for Visualization

Processes internet browser history files so that you can see
them in the detailed visualization timeline.
See Visualizing Browser History Data on page 294.

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Hashing
When the MD5 Hash option is chosen for evidence processing, the MD5 hash value for every file item
discovered within the evidence is computed. The same is true for SHA-1 Hash and SHA-256 options. In general,
a hash value can be used (in most situations) to uniquely identify a digital file - much like a finger print can
uniquely identify the person to whom it belongs.
Several specific purposes are served by enabling hashing during processing. First and foremost, when the MD5
Hash and/or SHA-1 Hash options are chosen along with the KFF option, each file item’s MD5 (and/or SHA-1)
value can be found within the KFF Library. The KFF Library does not contain any SHA-256 values. All of the file
items within the evidence that have been encountered and reliably cataloged by other investigators or US
Federal Government archivists can be identified. This feature lets you find the “known” files within the evidence,
which brings some intriguing advantages to the investigator.
These are described in Using the Known File Filter (KFF) (page 282).

Data Carving
Data carving is the process of locating files and objects that have been deleted or that are embedded in other
files.
You can recover and add embedded items and deleted files that contain information that may be helpful in
forensic investigations.
The data carving feature allows the recovery of previously deleted files located in unallocated space. Users can
also carve directory entries to find information about data or metadata.
Note: You can create custom carvers. In addition, you can manually carve for any file type for which you have
the correct header/footer/file length information, then save that file and add it to the case. In addition, you
can carve any data from any file, and save the selected data as a separate file and add it to the case.
See also Custom Carvers (page 97).
To recover embedded or deleted files, the case evidence is searched for specific file headers. Using the data
from a file header for a recognized file type the length of that file is determined, or the file footer is found, and
“carves” the associated data, then saves it as a distinct file. A child object is created with a name reflecting the
type of object carved and its offset into the parent object’s data stream. Embedded or deleted items can be found
as long as the file header still exists.
Data carving can be done when adding evidence to a case, or by clicking Evidence > Additional Analysis >
Data Carve from within a case.

Recognized File Types for Data Carving


AOL Bag Files



LNK Files



BMP Files



OLE Archive Files (Office Documents)



EMF Files



PDF Files



EML Files



PNG Files



GIF Files



TIFF Files

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Recognized File Types for Data Carving (Continued)


HTML Files



JPEG Files



Zip Files

You can set additional options to refine the data carving process for the selected file types.

Data Carving Files When Processing a New Case
Data Carving can be done during initial case creation by setting preprocessing options, or later, as an Additional
Analysis task.

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Viewing the Status and Progress of Data Processing and
Analysis
The Data Processing Status screen lets you view the status of any processing, analysis, or searching that is
being done on evidence in a case. This screen is also called the Progress Window.

To view the status and progress of data processing and analysis
1.

In the Examiner, click View > Progress Window to open the Data Processing Status screen.
Processing is categorized according to the following job types:
Add

Evidence

Additional
Live

Analysis

Other

Click on a job type in the left pane, to view aggregate progress statistics for all of the items in a job type.

Click the expand icon to the left of a job type and then select an individual job or task to view the status
of jobs and tasks.
Details about each task in a job are displayed in the right hand pane under Messages.
You can also view the following status information about job processing:

Information

Description

Overall

The percentage complete as each task progresses.

Discovered

The number of items that have been discovered.

Processed

The number of items that have been processed. If you compare
the numbers in the Data Processing Status screen with the
numbers shown in Overview tab > Case Overview > File
Category, for example, you may notice that the numbers are not
the same. If there is a difference, the numbers in the case are
accurate; the numbers in the Data Processing screen on the
progress bar items are not.

Indexed

The number of items that have been indexed.

Process State

The current status of a job’s processing. When the job is
complete, this field displays Finished, and the Message box in the
right pane also displays Job Finished.

Name

The file name of the evidence item that is processing in a task.

Path

The path to where the evidence item is stored.

Process Manager

The Process Manager computer is listed by its name or by its IP
Address. If your Evidence Processing Engine runs on the same
computer as the Examiner and the database, then “localhost” is
the default Process Manager. If you are using Distributed
Processing, the Process Manager or the Remote Processing
computer is listed.

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You can select from the following options:
Job

Folder lets you open the location where the JobInformation.log for this job is stored. You can
view detailed information about the processing tasks and any errors or failures in the
JobInformation.log file.

Remove

when finished lets you remove a task or job from the job list when it has completed
processing.

Pause

lets you pause the current evidence processing task and adds an entry in the Messages box
listing the date and time it was paused.

Resume

lets you resume the current processing task after having paused it and adds an entry in the
Messages box listing the date and time processing was resumed. This option only appears after the
Pause option has been enabled.

Cancel

lets you stop the current task from running.

Click Close to close the display but not cancel any current tasks.

Viewing Processed Items
It is not necessary to wait for the program to finish processing the case to begin viewing data. The metadata—
the information about the evidence—can be viewed in several modes before the evidence image has completed
processing.
Important: Do not attempt to do any search prior to processing completion. You can view processed items from
the tabbed views, but searching during indexing may corrupt the index and render the case useless.

Editing the Processing Management Queue
It is possible to adjust the processing queue in order to move high priority evidence items to the top of the list.
This can be done by the Application Administrator.

To edit the evidence processing queue
1.

Add evidence items to the processing queue as normal. For more information, see Adding Evidence
(page 127).

Once the items are in line for processing, navigate to Evidence > Manage Processing.

In the Manage Evidence Processing window, select the desired evidence items and click either the
Move Up or Move Down buttons, depending on how you’d like to arrange the items in the processing
queue.
Note: Processing will have already begun by the time you change the processing priorities and your
desired item may not be first on the list. It will be the first priority once the item(s) currently
processing complete.

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Viewing Evidence Information
Evidence Tracking
Evidence information for all evidence items created using Imager, MPE+, or Cellebrite are available for export.
This allows for proper tracking of evidence.

To view Imager or MPE+ processed evidence information
1.

In the Manage Evidence dialog, click on the desired evidence item in the list on the left to highlight it.

Click the View Evidence Info button.
A text file will open displaying the following information for the selected evidence item.

TABLE 8-1 Evidence Tracking Data
General Information
Name of the evidence item
Case information
Product and version of the software used to acquire the evidence image
Case number
Evidence number
Unique description
Examiner who processed the case
Any notes entered when the case was acquired
Physical Evidentiary Item
(Source) Information
Device Information

Source type

Drive Geometry

Bytes per sector
Sector count

Image

Image type
Source data size
Sector count

Computed Hashes

MD5 checksum
SHA1 checksum

Image Information

Acquisition started
Acquisition finished

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General Information
Segment list
Image Verification Results Verification started
Verification finished
MD5 checksum
SHA1 checksum

To view Cellebrite-processed evidence information
1.

Select the Cellebrite image (UFDR) from the Evidence Items panel on the Explore Tab.

In the File List, select the file named Extraction Summary.

The evidence tracking information for the selected file will appear in the File Content pane, in Cool
HTML. It is also contained in the report.xml file, found in the File List, which can be exported.

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Chapter 9

Working with Live Evidence

You can acquire live evidence from local and remote network computers. Adding and using both local and
remote live evidence is covered in this chapter.
See also About Acquiring Digital Evidence (page 27) for details on the ways that evidence can be acquired, and
precautions to take before acquiring evidence.
This chapter includes the following topics
About

Live Evidence (page 149)

Adding

Local Live Evidence (page 150)

Methods

of Adding Remote Live Evidence (page 151)

Requirements

for Adding Remote Live Evidence (page 151)

Adding

Evidence with the Temporary Agent (page 152)

Adding

Data with the Enterprise Agent (page 154)

About Live Evidence
Data that you gather and process from an active data source is called live evidence. You can gather this data
from either local or remote sources.

Types of Remote Data to Acquire
Data Types found in
RAM









Process Info
DLL Info
Sockets
Driver List
Open Handles
Processors
System Descriptor
Tables
Devices

Memory Data



RAM
Memory Search

Drive Data




Physical Drives
Logical Drives
Mounted Devices

Some live evidence like processes and services information may fluctuate and change frequently. This evidence
is called volatile data. Volatile data is different than memory data and does not contain the same information as a

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Memory Data (RAM) acquisition. A RAM acquisition downloads all the RAM data into a memory dump, and then
it is read and processed when you add it to a case.
Drive data includes physical drives and devices, logical drives and devices, and mounted devices on a remote
computer.
Administrative rights and permissions are required on the remote computer to collect remote live evidence. See
Requirements for Adding Remote Live Evidence on page 151.

Types of Live Evidence
Live evidence is data that you gather and process from an active data source. It is important to understand any
implications of acquiring data live. See About Acquiring Digital Evidence on page 27.
You can acquire and investigate the following types of live evidence:
Local

live evidence.
An example of local live evidence is an original drive or other electronic data source that is attached to
the investigation computer. It can also be data acquired from a device on a remote computer while the
device is mounted to the system as Read/Write.
See Adding Local Live Evidence on page 150.

Remote

live evidence.
You can acquire data directly from computers on your network. This data is called remote live evidence.
The process of adding the data into a case is called remote data acquisition.

Adding Local Live Evidence
You can add live evidence and then create a static image of that data. You can also add the data without creating
an image, but realize that as the files are read, the operating system makes changes to the file statuses, the
Read date and time stamps, and the Accessed time and date stamps. You can add the entire contents of a folder
or a single file from a device that is attached to the Examiner machine.

To add live evidence to a case
1.

In Examiner, click Evidence > Add/Remove.

In the Manage Evidence dialog box, click Add.

Do one of the following:
Click

Contents of a Directory, then click OK. Browse to and select the directory. Read the warning. To
continue click Yes.

Click

Individual Files, then click OK. Browse to the location, select one or more files. You can use
Shift-Click or use Ctrl-Click to select multiple files. Read the warning. To continue click Yes.

Click

Physical Drive, then click OK. Read the warning. To continue, click Yes. Select a drive. The
drives are listed in UNC format and are pre-pended with the string: PHYSICALDRIVE. Click OK.

Click

Logical Drive, then click OK. Read the warning. To continue, click Yes. Select a drive. The
drives are listed by drive letter. Click OK.

A job is created and the Data Processing Status window opens. Live Evidence Jobs are displayed
under Other Jobs.

Click Close.

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Methods of Adding Remote Live Evidence
There are two agent applications that you can install on networked computers to add remote live evidence.
The following agents are included:
Temporary

Agent.
The Temporary Agent is an application for short-term use on client computers to access and acquire
specific remote live evidence. It is set to expire after a period of inactivity and then it automatically
uninstalls itself.

Enterprise

Agent.
The Enterprise Agent is a persistent agent application for client computers that lets you remotely perform
administrative tasks such as memory searches, memory dumps, memory analysis, remote device
mounting and device acquisition.

Requirements for Adding Remote Live Evidence
To use Add Remote Data the following requirements must be met:
Your

user account must have the Application Administrator or the Case Administrator role. Case
Reviewers cannot access the Add Remote Evidence dialog.

Your

Windows user account must have local administrator rights on the computer from which you want to
acquire the data.

An

Agent must be installed on the target remote computer.

Note: On Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 systems, the application must be run

as an administrator in order to push agents to remote computers. To run as administrator, you can
right-click on the desktop icon and click, run as administrator.
Simple File Sharing must be disabled on Windows XP targets. The default setting is enabled.
Important: The following are not supported on client computers running Windows 8 and 10:
Memory

Analysis

Memory

Acquisition

Import

Memory Dump

Volatile

Memory

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Adding Evidence with the Temporary Agent
The Temporary Agent can acquire forensic images of the physical and logical drives, acquire non-proprietary
images of memory, and forensically mount physical devices or logical volumes to the Examiner computer. You
can remotely mount up to three devices simultaneously.
When you deploy the Temporary Agent, it automatically creates and uses a temporary certificate for secure
communications. This certificate automatically expires and is only valid for a limited scope.

Pushing the Temporary Agent
You can push the Temporary Agent to a remote computer to acquire data. The temporary agent remains active
until it has not had any activity for a short period of time. After the period of time is over, the Temporary Agent
automatically uninstalls itself. You can also manually disconnect the agent from the Tools menu in Examiner.
Certain requirements must be met in order to deploy the temporary agent. See Requirements for Adding Remote
Live Evidence on page 151.

To push the Temporary Agent
1.

In the Examiner, click Evidence > Add Remote Data.

Enter either the IP Address or the DNS hostname of the target computer.

Make sure that a Remote Port is designated to use. The default port is 3999.

Choose Install a Temporary Agent.

Click OK.
Note: In Windows, if the user has defined a TEMP\TMP path different from the system default

TEMP\TMP path, the agent will push successfully to the machine, but will not run properly.
To workaround, make sure that the TEMP / TMP environment variables are set to:

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp
6.

Enter the credentials of a user who is a member of the local administrators group on the target
computer.
Note: The authentication domain is required for both domain accounts and local accounts. If using a
local account, enter the IP address or the DNS hostname of a local administrator account.

Click Add to add the set of credentials to the list.

Click OK.

In the Remote Data dialog, select from the following options to acquire and click OK.
Image

Drives: Lets you create an image of a drive or device on the remote system. You can store the
image on the remote computer or on the Examiner computer. You can also automatically add the
image into a case.

Acquire

RAM: Lets you acquire the data currently held in memory on the target machine. You can also
capture and automatically import a memory dump, or save the memory dump to a location. See also
Importing Memory Dumps (page 162).

Mount

Device: lets you mount a remote drive or device and view it in Windows Explorer as if it were
attached to your drive. It can be a CD or DVD, a USB storage device, or a drive or partition. See also
Unmounting an Agent Drive or Device (page 162).

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Note: The Preview Information Only option is not available for the Temporary Agent.
The job begins and the Data Processing Status window opens. Acquire Remote Data jobs are displayed under
Other Jobs. Click Close to close the Data Processing Status window.

Manually Deploying the Temporary Agent
You can manually install the agent and the required certificate key.

Requirements for Manually Deploying the Temporary Agent
Either

a self-signed certificate, or a CA-signed certificate to run the manual deployment from a thumb

drive.
Administrator
Network

privileges on the target computer.

connectivity to the target computer.

To manually deploy the Temporary Agent
1.

Copy the appropriate Agent.EXE (32-bit, or 64-bit) from

C:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\\bin\Agent\x32 (or x64)
to a thumb drive or a shared network resource that is available to both the host and the target machines.
2.

Copy the public key certificate file to the same thumb drive or a shared network resource. If you used
the Examiner to create a certificate, the file is stored by default at:

C:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\\bin\
3.

Create a new folder on the target machine.

Copy the CRT and agent files from the thumb drive or shared resource to the new folder.

Open a command line and navigate to the path of the Agent2 folder.

Run one of the following command lines, depending on if the agent is 32-bit or 64-bit.

ftkagent.EXE -cert [certname.crt] -port [portnumber]
ftkagentx64.EXE -cert [certname.crt] -port [portnumber]
7.

Depending on which agent file you deployed, you will see either FTKAgent.EXE or FTKAgentx64.EXE
in the Task Manager. Do not close the command line, or the agent uninstalls.

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Adding Data with the Enterprise Agent
The Enterprise Agent lets you acquire data from remote systems in your network. You can map to a remote drive
and preview the contents before adding it to the case.

Methods of Deploying the Enterprise Agent
You can use the following methods to deploy the Enterprise Agent to remote computers:
Push

agent: You can use Examiner to deploy the Enterprise Agent from the server to remote computers.

Manual

installation: You can manually install the agent executable and the required public certificate key
on the target machine.

Network

deployment: The Enterprise Agent can be also deployed with other means. For example with
Active Directory, or with third-party software management utilities.

Creating Self-signed Certificates for Agent Deployment
Communication between the Enterprise Agents and the Examiner computer are transmitted on a Secure Socket
Layer (SSL) encrypted channel. The SSL certificates can be either self-signed within the Examiner, or signed by
a Certificate Authority (CA).
You must have three types of communications certificates to use the Enterprise Agent. These include a private
key, a corresponding public key, and trusted certificate that AccessData provides when you install.
Once you have the certificates, you must configure the communications settings before you can push the agent
to remote computers.
For more information see Configuring Communication Settings for the Enterprise Agent Push (page 155)
You can use the Examiner to create self-signed certificates.

Creating Self-Signed Certificates with Certman
Certman is a utility, bundled with several AccessData products, that can be used to generate self-signed
certificates. These certificates can be used with the Enterprise Agent and other AccessData products. The steps
below will demonstrate how to use Certman.
Prerequisites:
Copies

of certman.exe, libeay32.dll, and boost_thread-vc100-mt-1_49.dll, all in the same folder (typically
found in [Drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\[version]\bin\certman.exe)

To Create Self-Signed Certificates with Certman
1.

Open a Command Prompt (as Administrator)

Navigate to the folder containing certman.exe

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Run the following command to generate a self-signed public/private key pair:
certman.exe -e -n
Where is the name of the local PC where Certman is being run (including domain, if
applicable), and is what you'd like to name the certificate.
Certman will generate a P12 key package, KEY private key, and CRT public certificate in the same
folder as certman.exe
Example:
If my PC were named “ADPC”, on the “adlocal.com” domain, and I wanted my certificates to be
named “MyCert”, I'd run the following command:
certman.exe -e -n ADPC.adlocal.com MyCert
This would produce a key package named MyCert.p12, a private key named MyCert.key, and a
public certificate named MyCert.crt.

Note: The resulting P12 key package will be unencrypted, allowing it to be imported into IIS (without a
password).

Configuring Communication Settings for the Enterprise Agent Push
You must set up the Enterprise Agent communications settings before you can push the agent to target
computers.
To use the Enterprise Agent, you must provide certificates for a public and private key.
For more information see Creating Self-signed Certificates for Agent Deployment (page 154).

To configure communications settings for the Enterprise Agent push
1.

In the Examiner, click Tools > Configure Agent Push.

In the Configure Agent Push dialog, configure the following options:

Option

Description

Path to UNC share

The network path to the share formatted as a UNC. Do not include
the server name portion of the path.
For example, if the path is \\TARGETSYSTEM\SHARE\, then enter
\SHARE\.
It is recommended to use a path that is ubiquitous across all target
systems. For example, the ADMIN$ share.

Local path to shared folder

The same directory specified in the Path to UNC Share field, but
written in a local folder syntax. The agent requires a local path in
order to execute its tasks.

Path to trusted modules
certificate

This is an AccessData supplied certificate that is automatically
added when you install. You should not normally need to modify
this location.

Path to agent modules

This is the location on the Examiner computer where the agent
modules files are stored. You should not normally need to modify
this location.

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Option

Description

Path to public key

The public key that is to be used by the agent. The public key can
be either a CERT or a P7B.
A P7B file is a container of certificates with a chain of public keys
up to the Certificate Authority.

Path to private key

This is the location of the private key certificate. For example this
can be PXCS12, PFX, PEM, P12, PEM.ADP12, or P12.ADP12.
ADP12 is an AccessData protected and encrypted P12 certificate.
The Examiner automatically creates and uses ADP12 private keys
when you supply it with a PEM or P12 private key.

Agent port

By default the agent is configured to listen on port 3999. You can
use this field to configure the agent to use a different port.

Click OK.

Pushing the Enterprise Agent
You can push the Enterprise Agent from the server to remote computers.
Before you can do this task, you must first configure your Enterprise Agent settings.
See Configuring Communication Settings for the Enterprise Agent Push on page 155.

To push the Enterprise Agent
1.

In the Examiner, click Tools > Push Agents.

Do one of the following:
In

the Machines to install field, enter an IP address, or a DNS hostname for target computer and click
Add.

Click

Import to add a list computers from a file.

Choose from the following options:

Option

Description

Uninstall Agent

Lets you uninstall the agent from a computer that already has it

installed. See also Removing the Enterprise Agent (page 157)
Use custom agent name

Lets you rename the agent process. For example you can use the
field to rename the process to something more descriptive, or less
descriptive.
You can change the following names:
Service name
Executable name

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Option

Description

Update the agent if it is
present

Checks if an existing agent is already installed and upgrades it to the
most current version on your server.

Allow manual uninstall

Lets the user on the target computer remove the agent from the
Windows Add or Remove programs window.

Click OK.

Removing the Enterprise Agent
You can use Examiner to remotely uninstall the Enterprise Agent from target computers.

To remove the Enterprise Agent
1.

In the Examiner, click Tools > Push Agents.

Do one of the following:
In

the Machines to install field, enter an IP address, or a DNS hostname of the target computer and
click Add.

Click

Import to add a list computers from a file.

Select Uninstall Agent.

Click OK.

Connecting to an Enterprise Agent
To connect to the Enterprise Agent
1.

In the Examiner, Click Evidence > Add Remote Data.

Enter the IP Address of hostname or target machine where Agent is deployed.

Enter the port to connect to the agent. By default the agent uses port 3999.

Select Use Existing Agent.

Click OK.

Browse to the Agent folder and choose the certificate file and click OK.

Choose from the list of options the ones to use during this session.

Adding Remote Data with the Enterprise Agent
To add remote data, in the Examiner, click Evidence > Add Remote Data. Once the remote data is added to the
case, you can view it in the Volatile tab.
The Enterprise Agent can add the following types of remote data:
Volatile

Data

Memory
Drive

Data

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Mounted

Device Data

You can make these selections each time you do an acquisition, or you can set defaults that are applied
automatically. Default preferences still let you change your final selections before you submit the job.
You can dump processes and DLLs into a file. You can acquire and add RAM data immediately, or save it to a
memory dump file to import later. Page files and swap files are also supported.

To add remote data with the Enterprise Agent
1.

Connect to an Enterprise Agent. See Connecting to an Enterprise Agent on page 157.

In the Add Remote Data dialog, in the Selection Information pane, choose from the following remote
data options to acquire:

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Note: It is recommended to do RAM acquisitions separately from Volatile Data acquisitions. A volatile
acquisition pulls may override the RAM acquisition settings, and prevent the proper acquisition of
data such as the system descriptor tables.

Option

Description

Include Volatile Data

Lets you select to include from the following volatile data types:












Include Memory Data

Lets you select from the following memory information:




Include Drive Data

Process Info - Shows details of all processes. For example the process name,
time, and hash.
Service Info - Returns details about which services are available according to
the operating system. For example this includes the status such as stopped
and running, and the startup type such as manual and automatic.
DLL Info - Returns details about load-time specific DLLs for a process. This
does not return run-time DLLs.
Driver Info - Returns the drivers on the target computer.
User Info - Returns details about the users that have a local account on the
computer. This option also returns the shares that each user has mounted at
the time of log-on.
Open Handles - Returns the open handles of a specific process. For example:
registry, files, sockets, and other items that can be associated by a handle.
Network Sockets - Returns the open sockets for a process.
Network Devices - Returns devices from the target such as NICs, Gateways,
and routing.
Registry Info - Lets you discover if specific keys are present. This opens the
Acquire Registry Keys dialog where you can select from predefined options or
create your own customer path to retrieve.

RAM – lets you either run a memory analysis, or capture a memory dump. A
memory analysis instructs the agent to analyze live memory and returns a volatile snapshot of it. A memory dump lets you capture the live memory into a
file. You can specify a path to store the file or to automatically add and analyze
the dump in your case.
Memory Search – Lets you search for items in memory such as specific processes, DLLs, text, or even Hexadecimal values.

Lets you capture or preview either a logical or physical view of the drive. Some
drive configurations require viewing them from a logical perspective or from a
physical perspective. For example, drives configured in software RAID array
versus drives configured in a hardware RAID array.
You can either create an image of the drive or a preview of the drive. The Image
option creates a forensic image of the drives. You can automatically add it or you
can store it in a location.
The preview option adds the metadata of the drive as an evidence item. You can
use this to quickly view the file system within the interface to determine if more
action is required.
Physical Drive Info – This option includes the drives as they are determined by
the BIOS.
 Logical Drive Info - This option includes the drive information as it is determined by the operating System.
See also Acquiring Drive Data (page 160)


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Option

Description

Mount a Device

Lets you mount a disk or device onto the Examiner computer that represents the
targeted disk of the remote computer.

In the Acquisition Options pane, choose from the following options:

Option

Description

Include hidden
processes

When you select a process view, this option compares it with a memory analysis
view. You can use this option to see differences between what the operating
system reports running compared to what is reported as running in memory.

Include Injected DLLs

This option returns data to help you determine whether or not a DLL has been
substituted during the run-time of a process.

In the Resource Usage pane, select the resource usage option that you want to use. For certain
operations like memory capture and drive imaging, this setting restricts the amount of CPU usage on
the target computer. For example, you can use this option to lower the CPU usage and avoid
performance impacts to the target computer.

(Optional) Click Preferences to create a set of options to be automatically selected when you open the
Add Remote Data dialog.

Click OK.
Note: Depending on the options that you select in the Selection Information pane, you may need to
provide additional details. For example, Registry Info has a dialog that opens to define specific
keys to check for.

The Data Processing Status screen opens and the Other Jobs group is open, showing progress on
each of the tasks you have requested.
You can close the Data Processing Status window at any time. Click View > Progress Window to
check job processing status. When the status indicates that all data has been collected, click the
Evidence tab to view acquired physical and logical drives or drive images. Click the Volatile tab in the
Enterprise Examiner UI to view the Volatile information.
For more information, see Using the Overview Tab (page 328) and see Using the Volatile Tab
(page 438).

Acquiring Drive Data
When examining drive data, you can choose to acquire information for previewing only, or you can acquire a
complete disk image. A separate job is created for each selected data source associated with the machine, but
does not include memory. These jobs can be monitored in the View > Progress Window > Data Processing
Status > Other Jobs list.

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To include drive data in an acquisition
This task is accomplished as part of a procedure for adding remote data.
For more information, See Adding Remote Data with the Enterprise Agent on page 157.
1.

Drive Data requires you to make drive selections. In the Select Drives pane, expand the drive list for that
Agent machine and select a drive to view that drive’s information in the Details pane.
Click OK.

In the Drive Data group box, select the type of drive data to be examined.
Preview Information Only: Provides a list of the files in the drives, not the actual files themselves.

2a.

Select Include Slack to detect fragments of files that have not been completely overwritten and/or
Recover Deleted Files to recover deleted files that have not been overwritten.

2b.

Complete Disc Image: Creates an image of the drives. This process may take a long time and
can impact the CPU usage of the remote computer.

2c.

Specify the Disk Image Path information relative to This (local) machine or Remote source
machine.

2d.

Enter or browse to locate the File Path for the disk image.

2e.

If you chose Remote source machine, enter a user name and password for a location where you
have permissions to write the image.

2f.

Mark Add image to case when complete to begin investigating the data as soon as the
acquisition is complete. The evidence processor uses the default analysis options.

Click OK to start the acquisition.

Acquiring RAM Data
1.

In the Add Remote Data > Browse and Select Nodes pane, select the Agent to acquire RAM data from.

In the Selection Information pane, click Include Memory Data if you want to acquire the RAM data and
perform a memory search at the same time. If not, choose the option that suits your needs.

Make other selections for Acquisition Options, Update Agent, and Resource Usage, then click OK.

Do one of the following:

Choose

either Memory Analysis to add the RAM data directly to the case you are working on.

Choose

Memory dump to save the dump file to a destination folder and name of your choosing.

Click OK.
If you chose Memory Analysis, the Data Processing Status dialog opens to display the memory
acquisition jobs you requested. If you chose Memory dump, the Memory Dump dialog opens and you
can continue to specify the options for the memory dump file.
5a.

Specify a Memory Dump Location. This can be a destination local to your Examiner machine, or
on the remote Agent machine, but must be a location where you have full access permissions.

5b.

Choose a file type for the memory dump file. Options are RAW and AD1.

5c.

Select the box labeled Add memory analysis to case if you wish to do so.

5d.

Select the box labeled Get memory page file to make the memory page file available to the case.

5e.

Click OK to save settings and continue.
The processing requests are added, the memory is acquired, and the search is performed as three
separate jobs in the Data Processing Status window.

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Importing Memory Dumps
The Import Memory Dump feature allows you to import memory dump files from this or other case files in to the
current case.
Note: If importing a memory dump from a 64-bit target machine with more than 4 GB of RAM, it is strongly
recommended that you use a 64-bit Examiner. The analysis may fail on a 32-bit Examiner.

To import a memory dump
1.

In the Examiner, click Evidence > Import Memory Dump.

Select the system from the dropdown list. If the system is not listed, select the item
from the list, and enter a hostname or an IP Address.

Click the Browse button to locate the memory dump file you want to add to your case and click Open.

Click OK to add the memory dump to your case.

The memory dump data appears in the Volatile tab in the Examiner window under the Agent name and
acquisitions date and time. Each acquisition is displayed separately under its data and time stamp,
grouped by Agent, Acquisition Time, or Operation Type.
See also Using the Volatile Tab (page 438).

Unmounting an Agent Drive or Device
To Unmount a drive or device
1.

Click Tools > Unmount Agent Drive.

In the Unmount Agent Drive dialog, do one of the following:

Select

a drive to unmount.

Select

All Agents to unmount all drives from all agents at the same time.

Click OK.

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Chapter 10

Filtering Data to Locate Evidence

About Filtering
Filters let you leverage item attributes to locate specific data very quickly. They reduce the amount of time that
you must examine data because they can narrow a large data set down to a very specific focus.
The Examiner includes a Filter toolbar, and a Filter Manager utility to help you work with filters. When you apply
a filter it limits the files that are displayed in the Examiner match the criteria of the filter.
See also Types of Filters (page 164)
See also What You Can Do with Filters (page 164)

Examiner’s Filter Dropdown Menu

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Types of Filters
The Examiner includes several different types of filters to help you to locate and to exclude specific data.

Types of Filters
Filter Type

Description

Predefined
Filters

Predefined filters are filters that AccessData has created. For example, there is a
predefined filter called Graphic Files that limits the displayed data to graphics files only.
You cannot delete or modify a predefined filter, however you can copy them to use as
templates when you create your own custom filters.
See also Types of Predefined Filters (page 175)

Global Filters

Global filters apply across the entire Examiner interface. For example, if you globally
apply the filter Checked Files, only checked files are displayed, regardless of the tab,
pane, or window that you are viewing.
See also Using Global Filters (page 167)

Tab Filters

Tab filters apply only to a specific tab. For example if you apply the Checked Files filter as
a tab filter specific to the Overview tab, when you switch to the Explore tab files that are
not checked are still displayed.
See also Using Tab Filters (page 167)

Custom Filters

Custom filters are filters that you create. For example if an AccessData predefined does
not meet your exact needs, you can use the Filter Manager utility to create your own
custom filter.
See also Creating a Custom Filter (page 172)

Nested Filters

A nested filter is a filter that contains filters within it. Nested filters let you leverage
several filters together to accomplish a specific goal. Nested filters prevent you from
having to create a complicated custom filter each time you need to use multiple filters
together. For example, a simple nested filter could include both Graphic Files and KFF
Alert Files as filters.
See also About Nested Filters (page 172)

Compound
Filters

Compound filters are created in the Filter Manager utility. In the Filter Manager you can
add many filters together. You choose to include and exclude a files that meet criteria.
Compound filters let you apply boolean logic to your compound filter.
See also Using Compound Filters (page 171)

Search Filters

Search filters are added to a live search or an index search. They limit a search to only
display results that match the criteria contained within the search. You can use static
search filters in conjunction with global filters to very quickly apply two levels of filtering to
your search results.
See also Using Filtering with Searches (page 170)

What You Can Do with Filters
You can use filters to quickly locate specific item types. You can also use filters to exclude data that you do not
want displayed. For example, if you only want to see encrypted items, you can apply a filter to show you those. If

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you do not want to see files that were created after a certain date, you can also use a filter to exclude those files
from being displayed.
See also About Filtering (page 163)

What You Can Do with Filters
Task

Description

Apply filters globally

Using Global Filters (page 167)

Apply filters to specific tabs

Using Tab Filters (page 167)

Apply filters in categories

Using Filters with Category Containers (page 168)

Add filters to live searches

Adding a Search Filter to Live Searches (page 170)

Add filters to index searches

Adding a Search Filter to Index Searches (page 170)

Use filters when you create reports

Using Filters with Reports (page 168)

Create, copy, and customize your own
filters

Creating a Custom Filter (page 172)

Share filters between cases

Sharing Custom Filters Between Cases (page 174)

Export filters

Exporting Filters (page 174)

Import filters

Importing Filters (page 174)

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Understanding How Filters Work
Filters are composed of various components that are stored in your database.

Filter Component
Component

Description

Name

Filter names help you to locate a filter that you want to use.

Description

Filter descriptions help you to understand what a filter is designed to accomplish.

Rule

Filter rules instruct filters of the goal that you want to accomplish. Filters can have a single
rule or filters can also have multiple rules. Filter rules are the logic that help you make your
filters accomplish a specific task.
Filter rules are comprised of the following components:
Property

Filter properties are the attributes that are associated with a data record. An
example of a property is File Type.

Operator

Filter operators are the decision that you want to run against a property. Each
property has specific operators that are applicable to it. An example of an
operator that applies to the property “File Type” is the operator “Is Not”

Criteria

Filter criteria let you define the conditions of the operator. Each operator has
specific criteria that are applicable to it. An example of criteria that applies to
the property Is Not is the criteria Word Template 2010.

Note: When working with time-based filters, the case time zone is used for date and times offsets.

Viewing the Components of Filters
You can use the Filter Manager to see how any filter is constructed.

To view the definitions of a filter
1.

In the Examiner, click Filter Manager.

In the Filter Manager, under the Filters list, select a filter.

Click Define. In the Filter Definition dialog, you can see the Name, Description, and any of the Rules
that the filter uses.

Viewing Details about Attributes that Filters use
Each filter uses rules that leverage various attributes that are stored in the database. If you are unsure of what a
particular filter attribute is, you can you can view descriptions about each of these attributes. To view these
descriptions you must use the Column Settings utility.

To view details about attributes that are used by filters
1.

In the Examiner, in the File List pane, click the column settings icon.

In the Manage Column Settings dialog, click New.

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In the Column Settings dialog, under Available Columns, expand All Features.

Locate and select the attribute that you want to view details about.

Click Add >>.

In the Selected Column pane, the Name, Short Name, and Description are provided for the attribute.

When you are done viewing attribute descriptions, click Cancel.

Using Simple Filtering
You can accomplish the following simple tasks with filtering:
Using

Global Filters (page 167)

Using

Tab Filters (page 167)

Using

Filters with Category Containers (page 168)

Using

Filters with Category Containers (page 168)

Using

Filters with Reports (page 168)

Using Global Filters
You can apply filters globally across the files in the Examiner. Each filter limits which files are displayed in the
Examiner pane according to the rules of the filter.
In the Examiner, you can keep a filter selected, and still turn it on and off.
See also Types of Filters (page 164)

To use a global filter
1.

In the Examiner, in the upper-left menu bar, select the Filter drop-down menu.

In the Filter drop-down menu, locate the filter that you want to apply.

Click the filter.
The results that are displayed in the Examiner, are limited to show only the files that are applicable to
the filter that you select.

To turn global filters on and off
1.

In the Examiner, do one of the following:
To

turn a filter on or off, click the icon:
that is next to the Filter drop-down menu. This leaves the
filter that you have currently selected in place but activates or deactivates it.

If

you no longer want to use any global filter, in the Filter drop-down menu, click -unfiltered-.

Using Tab Filters
You can create filters that are only applicable to a specific tab. These filters only apply to the tab that you create
them in. If you have applied a tab filter its name is displayed at the bottom of the Examiner window.
See also Types of Filters (page 164)

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To use a tab filter
1.

In the Examiner, click Filter > Tab Filter.

In the Tab Filter Selection dialog, use the drop-down menu to select the filter that you want to apply.

Click OK.

If you have a tab filter applied, and no longer want to use it you can turn it off.

To remove a tab filter
1.

In the Examiner, click Filter > Tab Filter.

In the Tab Filter Selection dialog, use the drop-down menu, select the empty field in the drop-down list.
It is the first field in the drop-down menu.

Click OK.

How Global Filters and Tab Filters can work Together
Global filters and tab filters can be used together to further narrow down the data set that you are viewing. Using
Global filters and Tab filters together is a quick way of apply two levels of filtering without creating or defining
either a nested filter or a compound filter. For example, you can apply a global filter across all items in the case,
and then create a specific tab filter to again further refine the data set to meet a criteria.
See also Using Global Filters (page 167)
See also Using Tab Filters (page 167)

Using Filters with Category Containers
The Examiner includes a tab called the Overview tab. The Overview tab groups items into categories. There are
several different categories such as Documents, Executable files, Folders, and Graphics. You can use the
Overview tab to first select a category, and then also apply a filter.
See also What You Can Do with Filters (page 164)

To use filters with category containers
1.

In the Examiner, click the Overview tab.

In the Case Overview pane, locate and then click the category that you want to focus on.
For example you could select, File Category > Documents. The File List pane would only display
document files.

In the Filter drop-down select a filter that you want to apply.
For example, you could select the filter Encrypted Items. The File List pane would then display only
document files that are also encrypted.

Using Filters with Reports
You can apply filters when you create your reports.
See also What You Can Do with Filters (page 164)

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To use filters with reports
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the Report Options dialog, select one of the following options:
Bookmarks
Graphics
File

Paths

File

Properties

In the upper portion of the Report Options dialog, click the Filter drop-down menu and select the filter
that you want to apply.
You can apply specific filter for each of the report options.

After you have finished defining the report, click OK.

Viewing the Filters that you have Applied
If you see results in the File List pane that don’t match what you expect to see, it may because you inadvertently
have filters applied that you didn’t expect.
Check the following:
To

see if you have a global filter applied, in the upper-left portion of the Examiner, check the Filter field to
see if a filter is applied. You can also check the filter icon to see if perhaps the filter is turned on or off.

To

see if you have a tab filter applied, in the lower bar of the Examiner, check to see if a tab filter is
applied.

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Using Filtering with Searches
You can apply global filters to modify the search results window. When you apply a global filter to a search, the
search results window is modified to match the criteria of the global filter. Using global filters with searches lets
you filter against a single search, without having to create a special search criteria for each filter type.
You can add search specific filters to a live search or to an index search. They limit a search to only display
results that match the criteria contained within the search. When you add a search specific filter to a search, the
search results window continues to limit the search results to apply to the filter.
You can use search filters in conjunction with global filters to very quickly apply two levels of filtering to your
search results.
See Adding a Search Filter to Live Searches (page 170)
See Adding a Search Filter to Index Searches (page 170)

Adding a Search Filter to Live Searches
You can define a live search query, and add filter to limit the search results to meet your criteria.
See also What You Can Do with Filters (page 164)

To use a filter with a Live Search
1.

In the Examiner, click the Live Search tab.

Use the tools in the Live Search tab to create and define your search query.
Searching Evidence with Live Search (page 402)

In the Search Filter drop-down menu, select the filter that you want to apply to the search. The Search
Filter drop-down menu is located in lower portion of the search pane. This operation limits the search
results to only files that both meet the criteria of your search and the criteria of the filter.

In the lower-right portion of the search window, click Search.
The search query is displayed in the Live Search Results pane.

Adding a Search Filter to Index Searches
You can define an index search query, and add filters to limit the search results to meet your criteria.If you have
applied a filter, the filter’s name is displayed in the Search Results pane.
See also What You Can Do with Filters (page 164)

To use a filter with an Index Search
1.

In the Examiner, click the Index Search tab.

Use the tools in the Index Search tab to create and define your search query.
Searching Evidence with Index Search (page 413)

Click Search Now.

In the Indexed Search Filter Option dialog, select Apply filter.

In the filter drop-down menu, select the filter that you want to use.

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Click OK.
The search query is displayed in the Index Search Results pane. If you have added a filter to the
search, the search displays the follow string: dtSearch® Indexed Search {Prefilter:(The Filter’s Name)
Query:(The Search’s Syntax).

Using Compound Filters
Filters can be combined to more easily locate data. You can select and apply multiple filters at the same time.
Such filters are called compound filters. The Filter Manager dialog provides a display of your compound filter to
help you to visualize the resulting Include filter, or Exclude filter. You can choose AND/OR options to make your
compound filters more effective.
Compound filters are not saved. They are only combined and applied as needed. As they are applied, the File
List pane automatically displays the results of the applied filter. The filter remains applied until it is changed.
See also Applying Compound Filters (page 171)

Applying Compound Filters
Compound filters are applied in the Filter Manager.
See also Using Compound Filters (page 171)

To apply a compound filter
1.

On the Filter toolbar, click Filter Manager.

Select a filter from the list of predefined filters to use as a template.

Choose from the following as needed:

Click

the >> button, or drag and drop into the Include or Exclude box.

Click

the << button to remove an individual item from either the Include or Exclude box.

Click

Clear in either the Include or Exclude box to clear all items from that box and start over.

Click Apply at the bottom of the dialog. The results are displayed in the File List pane.

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Using Custom Filters
You can create your own customized filters to meet your exact needs.
To save you the time and effort of creating filters, AccessData has created many predefined filters that you can
leverage to accomplish the majority of your filtering tasks.
For more information see Types of Predefined Filters (page 175)
Before you create a new filter, you may be able to save time by copying a preexisting filter and modifying it to
meet your specific criteria.
See also Copying Filters (page 173)

About Nested Filters
You can use the Filter Manager to create nested filters. A nested filter is a filter that contains multiple filters within
it. You can add rules to a filter that check against other filters.
See also Types of Filters (page 164)
For example, the following illustrates the logic of a nested filter:

An Example of Rules for a Nested Filter
Properties

Operators

Criteria

Filter

Matches

Graphics Files

Filter

Does Not Match

Flagged Ignorable

Filter

Does Not Match

KFF Ignore Files

Creating a Custom Filter
You can create your own custom filters. Filters are created from either the Filter Definition dialog or the Filter
Manager.

To create a custom filter
1.

In the Examiner, click Filter > New.

In the Filter Definition dialog, enter Name for the filter.

Enter a Description that explains what the filter does.

In the Rules section do the following to create a rule:
4a.

Select a Property from the drop-down menu.

4b.

Select an Operator from the drop-down menu.

4c.

Select a Criteria from the drop-down menu.

To add additional rules to the filter, click the + icon. To remove a rule, click the - icon.

If you want to turn a rule on, or turn a rule off, select the check box next to the rule.

Note: Select the checkbox at the top of the list to select all of the listed properties in the rules box at once.

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In the lower portion of the Filter Definition dialog, do one of the following:
Select

Match Any to force the filter to include or exclude files if they match any of the rules that you
have defined in the filter.

Select

Match All to force the filter to include or exclude files only if they match all of the rules that you
have defined in the filter.

After you define the filter, click Live Preview to test that the filter is working as you expect. When you
click Live Preview the contents in the File List pane adjusts to match the definition of the filter.

Click Save.

10. Click Close.

Copying Filters
You can copy any existing filter to use as a basis to create a new filter.
See also Types of Predefined Filters (page 175)

To copy a filter
1.

In the Examiner, click Filter Manager.

In the Filter Manager, under the Filters list, select a filter.

In the lower portion of the Filter Manager, click the icon: Create a copy of the selected filter.

In the Filter Definition dialog, modify the filter according to your requirements.

Click Save.

Editing a Custom Filter
You can edit your own custom filters. You can edit the description and rules of a custom filter.
You cannot rename a custom filter. However, you can copy a filter, give the copy a new name, and then delete
the original filter, if desired.

To edit a custom filter
1.

In the Examiner, click Manage > Filters > Manage Filters.

In the Manage Filters dialog, select the filter that you want to edit.

Click Edit.

After editing the filter, click Save.

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Sharing, Importing, and Exporting Filters
You can share filters between cases. You can import filters that have been created from other systems. You can
also export custom filters that you have created to use in other systems.
See the following:
Sharing

Custom Filters Between Cases (page 174)

Importing

Filters (page 174)

Exporting

Filters (page 174)

Sharing Custom Filters Between Cases
After you create a custom filter for a case, you can share that filter to make it available to other
cases. You can also copy filters from other cases to use in your case.
To share a filter with other cases
1.

In the Examiner, click Manage > Filters > Manage Filters.

In the Manage Filters dialog, select the custom filter that you want to share with other cases.

Click Copy to Shared.

Click Close.

To copy a Shared filter into your Case
1.

In the Examiner, click Manage > Filters > Manager Shared Filters.

In the Manage Shared Filters dialog, select the custom filter that you want to copy to your case.

Click Copy to Case.

Click Close.

Importing Filters
You can import filters that have been saved as XML files into your system.
See also Exporting Filters (page 174)

To import filters
1.

In the Examiner, click Filter Manager.

In the Filter Manager dialog, click the Import a filter from a xml file icon.

In the Open dialog, browse to the location where the filter XML file is stored. Select the filter and click
Open.

In the Filter Import dialog, click OK.

Exporting Filters
You can export filters into XML files to use in other systems.
See also Importing Filters (page 174)

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To export filters
1.

In the Examiner, click Filter Manager.

In the Filter Manager dialog, select the filter that you want to export.

Click the Export selected filter to a xml file icon.

In the Save As dialog, browse to the destination location where you want to save the exported filter file

Click Save.

In the Export Filter dialog, click OK.

Types of Predefined Filters
The Examiner includes several predefined filters that you can use for common filtering tasks. If these filters do
not quite meet the criteria that you require, you can create a copy of these to create your own custom filters
See also Copying Filters (page 173)

Predefined Filters
Predefined Filter

Description

Actual Files

Shows the actual files, as opposed to All Files. All Files is the default and includes
metadata, OLE files, and alternate data stream files.

Alternate Data
Streams

Shows files with alternate data streams (additional data associated with a file
object).

Archive Files

Shows only archive-type file items, such as ZIP and THUMBS.DB.

Bad Extension Files

Shows only the files with extensions that don’t match the file header.

Bookmarked

Shows only the items that are contained in a bookmark.

Carved Files

Shows only the items that have been carved.

Cerberus Score

Shows only the items that have a Cerberus Score

Cerberus Static
Analysis

Shows only the items that have had Cerberus Static Analysis run against them.

Checked Files

Shows only the items that you have selected with a check mark.

Decrypted Files

Shows only the items that have been decrypted by AccessData tools within the
case. This indicates that AccessData decryption tools have had control of this file
and its decryption since it was added to the case in its original encrypted form.

Deleted Files

Shows only those items that have the deleted status.

Duplicate Files

Shows only files that have duplicates in the case. This filter requires that you select
the Flag Duplicate Files processing option.

eDiscovery Duplicates

A filter for eDiscovery duplicates.

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Predefined Filters (Continued)
Predefined Filter

Description

eDiscovery
Refinement

Includes files and folders that are not useful for most eDiscovery cases.

Email Attachments

Shows all email items that are not email messages.

Email Delivery Time

Allows definition of specific date/time range of email deliveries.

Email Files

Shows only those items that have the email status.

Email Files and
Attachments

Shows all email items, both messages and attachments.

Encrypted Files

Shows only those items flagged as EFS files or other encrypted files.

Evidence Items

Shows all evidence items added to the case.

Excluded eDiscovery
Refinement

Excludes files and folders that are not useful for most eDiscovery cases

Explicit Images Folder
(High Score)

Shows folders with EID scores of 60 or higher using FST or ZFN (high) criteria.

Explicit Images Folder
(Medium Score)

Shows folders with EID scores of 40 or higher using FST or ZFN (medium) criteria.

File Category

Allows user to set a filter by file category (is a member of). Relates to File Category
tree under Overview tab.

File Created Time

Allows definition of specific date/time range of file creation.

File Extension

Allows filtering of files by a defined extension or set of extensions.

File Modified Time

Allows definition of specific date/time range of file modification.

Files with Alternate
Data Streams

Shows files that contain Alternate Data Streams (additional data associated with a
file system object).

Flagged Ignorable

Shows only those items you have identified as Ignorable.

Flagged Privileged

Shows only those items you have identified as Privileged.

Folders

Shows only folder items.

From Free Space

Shows only those items found in (carved from) free space.

From Recycle Bin

Shows only those items taken from the recycle bin.

Graphic Files

Shows only those items that have been identified as graphics.

Indexed

Shows items that have been indexed.

Is Forwarded

Shows any email item that has been forwarded.

Is Reply

Shows any email item that is a reply to another email.

KFF Alert Files

Shows all files with KFF Alert status that are in a case.

KFF Ignore Files

Shows all files with KFF Ignore status that are in a case.

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Predefined Filters (Continued)
Predefined Filter

Description

Labeled Files

Shows files that have a Label assigned to them.

Microsoft Office Files

Shows Word, Access, PowerPoint, and Excel files.

Mobile Phone:
Calendar

Shows calendar information acquired from a mobile phone.

Mobile Phone: Call
History

Shows call information acquired from a mobile phone.

Mobile Phone:
Messages

Shows message information acquired from a mobile phone

Mobile Phone:
Phonebook

Shows contact information acquired from a mobile phone.

Mobile Phone Files

Shows files and data from mobile devices added to the case using AccessData
Mobile Phone Examiner.

MS Office 2007/2010
Unimportant Subitems

Includes MS Office 2007/2010 Subfolders and Subfolders.

No Deleted

Shows all except deleted items.

No Duplicate

Shows only one instance of every item in the case.

No Email Related
Files or Attachments

Shows files that are not Email related files.

No File Slack

Shows all except files found in (carved from) file slack.

No Files with
Duplicates

Shows only files that have no duplicates in the case.

No KFF Ignore Files

Shows all items except KFF ignore files.

No KFF Ignore or OLE
Subitems

Shows all items except KFF ignore files or OLE subitems.

No KFF Ignore or OLE
Subitems or
Duplicates

Shows all items except KFF ignore files, OLE subitems, or duplicate items.

No MS Office 2007/
2010 Unimportant
Subitems

Excludes unimportant files and folders contained in MS Office 2007/2010 OPC files
(DOCX, XLSX PPTX etc)

No OLE Subitems

Shows all items except OLE subitems.

No Unimportant OLE
Data Streams

Shows all items including OLE subitems, except that unimportant OLE data
streams are not shown.

Not Flagged Ignorable

Shows all items except those you indicated Ignorable.

Not Flagged Privileged

Shows all items except those you flagged Privileged.

NSF Notes

Shows Emails, views, and other notes from Lotus Notes NSF databases.

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Predefined Filters (Continued)
Predefined Filter

Description

OCR Extractions

Shows files that were extracted from graphics with OCR.

OCR Graphics

Graphic files that have been parsed by the OCR engine.

OLE Subitems

Shows only OLE archive items and archive contents.

Reclassified Files

Shows only those items whose classification you have changed.

Registry Files

Shows Windows 9x, NT, and NTFS registry files.

Subfilter for EID FST
OR ZFN (high)

This is a subfilter that is used by the explicit images folder (high score) filter.

Subfilter for EID FST
OR ZFN (medium)

This is a subfilter that is used by the explicit images folder (medium score) filter.

Thumbs.db Files

Shows Thumbs.db files.

Unchecked Files

Shows only those items that you have not checked.

Unimportant OLE
Stream Categories

Shows only Unimportant OLE Stream Categories.

Unimportant OLE
Streams

Shows only Unimportant OLE Streams.

User-decrypted Files

Shows only those items that you have decrypted and added to the case. Decrypted
by User status is always applied to files added using the Add Decrypted Files
feature. The Examiner cannot confirm validity, content, or origin of such files.

Video Conversion or
Thumbnails

Shows only generated video thumbnails or common video files.

Video Thumbnails

Shows only generated video thumbnails.

See Examining Videos on page 344.

See Generating Thumbnails for Video Files on page 345.
Video Conversion

Shows only generated video common video files.
See Creating Common Video Files on page 346.

Web Artifacts

Shows HTML, Index.dat, and empty Index.dat files.

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Filtering Data Prior to Review
It is possible to create and apply a data filter before reviewing evidence. This allows users to filter out
unnecessary items, items not included in a warrant, or other data they wish to exclude from their evidence
review. This shortens the amount of time spent processing and allows users to get into a case faster than if the
full data set were processed.
Items can be filtered out based on File Type, File Size, and Date.

To apply filter sets before evidence processing
1.

When creating a new case, select the Customize button in the New Case Options dialog.

Select the Evidence Refinement (Advanced) option from the left hand menu.

On the Refine by File Status/Type tab, in the Exclude by Category section, select the parameters you
desire. Click OK.
When the case opens, the items you have excluded will not be in the data set.

Note: It is not possible to alter this particular refinement option from within the case.

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Using the Persons of Interest Filter
Users can now scrape contact information from signatures in emails. Once a profile is created for the person of
interest, investigators can use filters to search for data within the evidence. This allows investigators to pull
contact information from disparate sets of evidence (laptop, mobile phone, email account) and connect
information found in all items to one suspect. For example, investigators can pull contact information from an
email signature, then filter based on the mobile phone number found there to connect phone calls, chats, or
SMS communications to the same person of interest.
Visualization can be used once the People Finder filter has been applied for a visual picture of how the data
relate.
Note: Persons of Interest Filters cannot be edited in the Filter Manager. They must be edited within the Persons
of Interest windows.

To Process Data for Use with the Persons of Interest Filter:
1.

In the Evidence Processing window, check the box next to the Persons of Interest option.

Click on the Persons of Interest Options box and select the Scrape email signatures option.
If you would like to create your list of communication participants before the case is created, you may do
so by clicking the Persons of Interest button within this window. But the data will not populate until after
the evidence has been processed.

Click Ok and process the evidence.

Creating a List of Communication Participants
You must first add people to the Communication Participants list before you can create and run a filter.

To Add a Person Manually:
1.

Open the Persons of Interest filter by clicking on the sillhouette icon in the menu bar. The
Communication Participants window will open.

Click on the green plus icon at the bottom of the window. The Add/Edit Person window will open.

Type the desired name in the Display Name field.

Click Ok. The person will appear in the Communication Participants list.

To Edit a Person:
1.

Open the Persons of Interest filter by clicking on the sillhouette icon in the menu bar. The
Communication Participants window will open.

Click the Edit button.

Add or edit data as desired.

Click Ok.

To Delete a Person:
1.

Select a name in the Communication Participants list.

Click on the red minus icon at the bottom of the window. A warning will appear asking if you are sure
you want to delete the selected name.

Click Yes. The name will be deleted.

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Creating a Rule within People Finder
To Create a Rule Manually within the Persons of Interest Filter:
1.

Open the Persons of Interest filter by clicking on the sillhouette icon in the menu bar. The
Communication Participants window will open.

Select or add a Display Name for your rule.

In the Add/Edit Person window, click the small plus icon in the left pane.

Select a Type in the dropdown menu.

Add an email or phone number to the Data field.

Click Ok.

Searching for Data within People Finder
To Add a Person Using Search:
1.

Open the Persons of Interest filter by clicking on the sillhouette icon in the menu bar. The
Communication Participants window will open.

Click on the green plus icon at the bottom of the window. The Add/Edit Person window will open.

Type the desired name in the Find Person field.

Click Search. The data will populate in the panel in grid form. These results will list everything that
includes the search term in the email signature.

Select your desired email result. The data found in that email will be shown in list format underneath the
results grid.

Select the data you want to include by checking the associated box and click the Import button.
A filter rule (or rules) will be created for each selected item. It is also possible to add additional rules
manually at this point.

Click Ok in the Filter Rule List pane. The person related to the selected data will be added to your
Communication Participants list, along with all of their associated rules.

Creating a Communication Filter within People Finder
Once you have found the people, phone numbers, and email addresses you are searching for, you can create a
filter to show all communications between specific persons of interest. Once created, the filter will appear in the
Filter dropdown list and can be applied at any time.

To Create a Communication Filter:
1.

Select one or more persons from the Communication Participants list.
Select

one participant if you want to see all of their communications.

Select

two or more participants to see how they communicate with each other.

Click Create Filter.

In the Create Communication Filter window, select the communication types to use in your filter.

Click Ok. A window will appear letting you know the filter was created, the name of the new filter, and
asking if you would like to apply it to the current view.

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Select Yes or No, then click Close.
If

you select Yes, the Examiner will show all communications that fit the applied filter.

If

you select No, you may apply the filter at any time using the Filter dropdown box in the Menu Bar.

Note: A yellow background will appear when a filter has been applied. This serves as a visual reminder that a
filter is in effect.

To Edit a Person of Interest Communication Filter:
1.

Open the Persons of Interest filter by clicking on the sillhouette icon in the menu bar. The
Communication Participants window will open.

Select the same people that are included in the filter you wish to edit and click the Edit button.

Add or edit data as desired.

Click Ok.

Fields Searched when using Persons of Interest
Persons of Interest filters use an OR operator between the entries in accounts (phone numbers), and an AND
operator between the people. The filter will only look for phone numbers specified for the listed people.

Email
The following fields are used to search for email addresses:

Filtering Data to Locate Evidence



From



BCC

Using the Persons of Interest Filter

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Chapter 11

Working with Labels

Labels let you group files in the way that makes the most sense to you. Initially, there are no default labels. All
are customized. Labels you create are saved locally and you have complete control over them within your case.
However, labels can be created and shared to the database for use by all who have been granted access to do
so.
This chapter includes the following topics
What

You Can Do With Labels (page 183)

Creating

a Label (page 184)

Applying

a Label (page 184)

Managing

Labels (page 185)

Managing

Label Groups (page 186)

What You Can Do With Labels
You can use labels to do the following
Create
Apply

bookmarks that contain only files with the labels that you specify.

labels according to common criteria, such as the following:

All

Highlighted

All

Checked

All

Listed

Extend

labels to associated (family) files; i.e., a label applied to a child file can also be easily applied
to its parent. Thus, labels applied to a parent file can easily be applied to all of its children.

Customize

a column template to contain a labels column and sort on that column to view all of your case
files according to the labels that are applied to them.

Apply

multiple labels to a single file.

Multiple
Create
View

local labels can be selected and shared in one operation.

group labels according to specific criteria.

labels in the Overview tab by the labels category and see all files with labels applied in the File List

view.
Share

labels you create with the database to make them available for other cases, according to user
permissions.
Shared

labels do not affect existing local labels.

Working with Labels

What You Can Do With Labels

| 183

Once

a label is shared, it is managed by either the Application Administrator, or the Case
Administrator.

Shared

labels can be pushed to cases, and can be saved (exported) and then added (imported) into
other databases.

Only


Application Administrators can delete, import, or export Shared labels.

Shared labels, once pushed to a case, become local, and are fully managed by the Case
Administrator.

Administrators

can specify which shared labels are visible to which users.

Case

Administrators can change local labels and re-share them. If there is a duplicate name, you are
given the choice to rename or cancel the operation.

Case

Administrators can update Shared labels from the database to their cases.

Case

Reviewers do not have permissions to Share local labels.

Creating a Label
You can use the File List view to create a new label.

To create a label
1.

In the File List view, click Create Labels.

Click Manage Local. The Manage Labels dialog opens.

Click New. A text entry box opens on the first available line.

Enter a name for the label, and press enter. The label is saved with the default color; black.

Click Change Color. The Color dialog opens. You can use any color from the default palette, or click
Define Custom Colors to create a unique color for this label. Use the cross-hairs and the slide to
create the color you want, then click Add to Custom Colors, then select the custom color from the
Custom colors palette.

Click OK. The Manage Labels dialog reopens. You can see your new label listed with the color you
defined or selected.

Click Close.

Click OK.

Applying a Label
You can apply a label to a file or group of files to make them easy to locate.

To apply a label
1.

In the File List view, highlight, check, or select the files you want to apply a label to.

Click the Apply Label To drop-down.

Choose whether to apply the label that you will select to Highlighted, Checked, or Listed files.

Click the Apply This Label drop-down and click on the label to apply to the selected files.
The name of the label is displayed in that label’s color.

Working with Labels

Creating a Label

| 184

Managing Labels
When you click the Labels button on the File List toolbar, and the Labels dialog opens, you see four buttons
across the bottom.
The two buttons open separate dialogs that appear very much alike.
Aside from the different list of labels you may see, the only other difference you will see is the button that in
Manage (Local) Labels says Make Shared, and in the Manage Shared Labels says Copy to Case.

Managing (Local) Labels and Managing Shared Labels Dialog Options
Button

Description

New

Click New to create another label.

Rename

Click Rename to change the name of any label you select.

Change Color

Click Change Color to select a different color for any label you select.

Delete

Click Delete to remove a label from the case. Deleting a label removes all instances
of the label’s application. The files remain, but the label itself is gone.

Import

Click Import to bring a label definition into your list from another source.

Export

Click Export to save a selected label definition for use in a different case.

Make Shared

Click Make Shared (from Manage (Local) labels) to Share a label definition to the
database for others to use.

Copy to Case

Click Copy to Case (from Manage Shared labels) to copy a global label to a case that
was created before that label was available.

Group

Click Group to create a labels Group that can be used locally or Shared to the
database for others to use according to their permissions.

Working with Labels

Managing Labels

| 185

Managing Label Groups
Label groups are created by selecting labels that are shown in the Label Groups pane. Selection is done by a
toggle method: click once to select, click again to deselect.

To create a new label Group
1.

In the Manage Label Groups dialog, click New.

Provide a name for the new group.

Click OK.

Select any or all of the Groups to create new Groups. However, to add individual labels to groups, work in the
Group Definition area, where there are two windows. On the left is Labels Available to Add to Group, and on the
right is Labels in Current Group.
You must create a label before you can add it to the group. If the label you need is not listed in the Group
Definition area, click Close. In the Manage Labels dialog, click New and create a label.

To add a label to a group
1.

In the Label Groups window, select the group you want to add labels to.

Select a label in the left window and click the >> button to move it into the right window.

Repeat until the labels in the Current Group list are how you want.

Changes are saved as they are made. When you are finished adding labels to the group, click Close.

To remove a label from a Group
1.

In the Manage Label Groups dialog, from the Labels in Current Group pane, highlight the label to be
removed.

Click the << button to move the label back to the Labels Available to Add pane.

Working with Labels

Managing Label Groups

| 186

Chapter 12

Decrypting Files

About Decrypting Files
If you have the correct credentials, you can decrypt many types of encrypted files in your cases.
Note: If you do not know the passwords for encrypted files, you can use tools to try to recover the password.
See Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files on page 194.
When files are decrypted, the original encrypted files are maintained and a child object is created for the
decrypted file. This results in two files that affects your file counts: one for the original file and one for the
decrypted file.
The following tables list the methods you can use to decrypt files and the type of encrypted files that are
supported

Decryption Methods
Encryption Type

Description

Automatic Decryption

AccessData Password Recovery Toolkit has been integrated so that you can
decrypt several types of encrypted files. This integration is included and you
do not need to have PRTK or DNA installed.
For more information, see Decrypting Files Using the Automatic Decryption
Processing Option (page 192)

Tools > Decrypt Files

From the Examiner interface, you can use the Decrypt Files option to decrypt
one or more files.
See Decrypting Files Using the Automatic Decryption Processing Option on
page 192.
See Decrypting EFS on page 196.
See Decrypting Lotus Notes Files on page 199.
See Decrypting S/MIME Files on page 199.
See Decrypting Dropbox DBX Files on page 198.

Decrypting Credant files

You can configure Credant decryption either at the global application level or
at the case level.
See Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption Server)
(page 200)

Decrypting Files

About Decrypting Files

| 187

Decryption Methods
Encryption Type

Description

When adding an encrypted
image as evidence

When you add an image as evidence, if the image is encrypted with one of
the supported types of encryption, it is automatically detected and you are
prompted to enter the credentials.

The following table provides a list of the supported types that can be decrypted and the method used:

Files that can be Decrypted
Encryption Type






















ABICoder
AdvancedFileLock
Apple DMG
AShampoo
BCArchive
BCTextEncoder
BestCrypt
CryptoForge
Cypherus
iOS backup files
Microsoft Office files
OpenOffice
PDF
PGP password file
RAR
StuffIt
TrueCrypt
WinZip adv.encryption
YAFFS (1 and 2)
ZIP
7-Zip

Description
Use the Automatic Decryption feature to decrypt these types of files.
See Decrypting Files Using the Automatic Decryption Processing
Option (page 192)
If you do not know the passwords for these encrypted files, you can
use tools to try to recover passwords.
See Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files on page 194.
Note: When decrypting TrueCrypt files, it is decrypted as a filesystem
image. You are not able to drill down into the image. As a
workaround, export the decrypted file and re-add it as additional
evidence.

Note: While BestCrypt BCArchive and BCTextEncoder are supported, BestCrypt encrypted volumes are not
supported.




Windows Rights Management
(RMS) for Microsoft Office files
and Outlook email files

You can decrypt DRM files at the case level.

Credant

You can configure Credant decryption either at the global application
level or at the case level.

See Decrypting Microsoft Office Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Protected Files (page 197)

See Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption
Server) (page 200)






Dropbox
Lotus Notes (whole NSF)
Lotus Notes (notes/email)
Microsoft EFS, Office
S/MIME PKCS7

After initial evidence processing, you can use the Decrypt Files tool.
See Decrypting Dropbox DBX Files on page 198.
See Decrypting Other Encryption Types on page 196.
See Decrypting Lotus Notes Files on page 199.
See Decrypting S/MIME Files on page 199.

Decrypting Files

About Decrypting Files

| 188

Files that can be Decrypted
Encryption Type









Bitlocker (Windows Vista, 7, 8)
Checkpoint/PointSec R73 7.4.5
Checkpoint 7.6.150 with token
challenge
McAfee Endpoint Encryption
(formerly Safeboot) 5.x and 6.0
Safeguard Easy 4.40.9 and
Enterprise 5.40 and 5.50
Symantec Endpoint Encryption
(formerly Guardian Edge)
8.1.1, 9.1.6, 9.3.0, 9.4.1, 9.5.3,
SEE version 8.0.1
Symantec Drive Encryption
(PGP WDE) 10.0 (only)

Description
When you add an image as evidence, if the image is encrypted with
one of these types of encryption, it is automatically detected and you
are prompted to enter the credentials.
See the following for more information:






Decrypting Bitlocker Partitions (page 202)
Decrypting Safeguard Utimaco Files (page 203)
Decrypting SafeBoot Files (page 205)
Decrypting Guardian Edge Files (page 205)
Decrypting an Image Encrypted With PGP® WDE (page 205)

CheckPoint

About the Encrypted File Passwords List
When you encrypt individual files, you create a list of passwords to use to try to decrypt the files. You configure a
password list for each case.
When you enter passwords into the list, you can type them or paste them from a text file. Each password must
be on its own line.
You can add passwords to the list at any time. The password list is saved with the case. The passwords are
present any other time that you access the list in that case.
When compiling a list of passwords, you can use the following sources:
Passwords

that were recovered using AccessData PRTK or DNA
See Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files on page 194.

Passwords
Lists

that you have learned about as part of an investigation

of known commonly used passwords

Decrypting Files

About Decrypting Files

| 189

Decrypting Files

About Decrypting Files

| 190

Identifying the Encrypted Files in a Case
After you have added evidence to a case, you can identify which files are encrypted. In the Examiner interface,
you can use the Overview tab or apply the Encrypted Files filter.

To view the encrypted files in a case
1.

Open the Examiner.

Do one of the following:
To

use the Overview tab, do the following:

2a.

Click the Overview tab.

2b.

Expand File Status.

2c.

Click Encrypted Files

To

2a.

use a filter, do the following:

Click the QuickPick icon for Evidence to view all or some of the of the evidence in the case.

2b. Using the Filters drop-down menu, select Encrypted Files.
In the File List, all decrypted files will be displayed.

After decrypting files, you can see which files have been decrypted.
See Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files on page 194.
Note: In the File List, all decrypted files will be displayed in text. Several decryption key files are identified and
categorized for ease of use. Find them in the Overview tab under File Category > Other Encryption
Files > Certificates. Having these files identified and available makes it easier to quickly access files that
may have been unavailable before.

Decrypting Files

Identifying the Encrypted Files in a Case

| 191

Using PRTK/DNA Integration
Decrypting Files Using the Automatic Decryption Processing Option
You can decrypt many types of encrypted files using Automatic Decryption, which uses code from AccessData
Password Recovery Toolkit (PRTK).
See About Decrypting Files on page 187.
To decrypt files, you supply a list of passwords. When the decrypted files are processed, those passwords are
used to try to decrypt the files. If the passwords match, the files are decrypted.
You can configure and use this feature at any of the following times:
As

a processing option when doing one of the following:

Creating

a case and configuring the default processing options for the case
You can enable Automatic Decryption to be a default processing option for a case. As a default
option, every time that you add evidence to the case, the default setting will be to try to decrypt files
using the passwords that you provide. You can add passwords to the list at any time. This option is
not enabled by default and will add time to the evidence processing.

Adding

evidence to a case and configuring the refinement options for processing
Any time that you add evidence to a case, you can configure the refinement options to enable file
decryption using Automatic Description. Each time you enable decryption, you can modify that
password list as needed.

After

the evidence has been processed and using Additional Analysis
Any time that you perform Additional Analysis, you can configure the refinement options to enable file
decryption using Automatic Decryption. Each time you enable decryption, you can modify that
password list as needed.

After

the evidence has been processed, from the Examiner interface using Tools > Decrypt files

The following encrypted file types cannot be decrypted using the Perform Automatic Decryption option during
processing:
EFS, Lotus Notes (whole), Lotus Notes/emails, SMIME, and Credant
Instead, you must use the Tools > Decrypt Files option in the Examiner.

To configure Automatic Decryption as a processing option
1.

Access the Processing Options for either a new case, new evidence or for performing Additional
Analysis.

On the options page, check Perform Automatic Decryption.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.

Click Passwords.

Enter the passwords that you want to use.
See About the Encrypted File Passwords List on page 189.

Click OK.

To perform Automatic Decryption from the Decrypt Files page
1.

In a case, click Tools > Decrypt Files.

In the Decrypt Files dialog, check Perform Automatic Decryption.

Click Passwords.

Decrypting Files

Using PRTK/DNA Integration

| 192

Enter the passwords that you want to use.
See About the Encrypted File Passwords List on page 189.

Select Attempt Blank Password to decrypt files with no password, or whose password is blank.

Click OK.

Click Decrypt.
A processing job is started to decrypt files.
When using PRTK/DNA integration or recover a password, a dialog is displayed showing the progress
of the recovery job. When a password has been recovered, the status in the dialog will turn green and it
will display “A password has been recovered. Attempting to decrypt the file.”
Note: You may briefly see a progress dialog appear. The dialog is not applicable to this data and will
disappear quickly.

If needed, you can cancel the decryption process.

After decrypting files, you can see which files have been decrypted.
See Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files on page 194.

Decrypting Files Using Right-Click Auto Decryption
The integration with PRTK/DNA includes an Auto Decrypt option. You can use a right-click option one an
encrypted file in the File List and it will send the file to PRTK/DNA for password recovery. If the password is
found, it will be returned automatically to the FTK interface, which will begin the FTK decryption process.
To perform auto-decryption, you must have PRTK or DNA 7.3 or higher installed on the same computer as the
Examiner.

To auto decrypt files
1.

In the Examiner, use the Quick Filters to select Encrypted Files.

Right-click an encrypted file and select Auto Decrypt.
A password recovery job is then started in PRTK/DNA.
The Data Processing Status dialog shows the process of the job.
You can view the status in the PRTK/DNA UI as well.
When the job is completed, the status displays the following message:
“The password has been recovered; attempting to decrypt the file.”

In the Examiner, use the Quick Filters to select Decrypted Files.
If the file was decrypted, it will show in the File List.

Decrypting Files

Using PRTK/DNA Integration

| 193

Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files
You may find encrypted files with unknown passwords in your case.
See Identifying the Encrypted Files in a Case on page 191.
If you have a license, you can use AccessData Password Recovery Toolkit (PRTK) or Distributed Network Attack
(DNA) to attempt to recover passwords for encrypted files. You can use PRTK or DNA in the following ways:
As

a stand-alone product

As

an integrated tool with the Examiner

About Recovering Passwords using the PRTK/DNA Integrated Tool
with Examiner
Using PRTK/DNA integration, you can easily send encrypted files to PRTK/DNA to attempt to recover unknown
passwords. These passwords can then be used with the decryption tools to decrypt the encrypted files.
See About Decrypting Files on page 187.
In order to use this PRTK/DNA integrated tool to recover passwords, you must install version 7.2 or higher of
PRTK or the DNA host on the same computer as the Examiner. (You cannot install both PRTK and DNA on the
same computer.
Important: When an item is sent to PRTK/DNA for automatic decryption, a dictionary is automatically generated
based on the case’s wordlist in FTK. This dictionary is used “As Is” in conjunction with the English
dictionaries and “PRTK” profile to attempt password recovery on the selected item.
For details about PRTK/DNA, see the PRTK/DNA User Guide.
As a workflow, you can do the following:
Identify

encrypted files in your case.
See Identifying the Encrypted Files in a Case on page 191.

Using
A

the Examiner, select and send encrypted files to PRTK/DNA.

password recovery job is started in PRTK/DNA for each file that you send.

Important: PRTK is a resource-intensive application. If you send more than 3 files at a time, you may
significantly reduce the resources available to the Examiner. Because DNA uses distributed
jobs, you can send more files without impacting the Examiner.
You

view the PRTK/DNA interface to view the status and results of the password recovery jobs.

After

jobs have been run in PRTK/DNA, you can use PRTK/DNA to copy all of the recovered passwords
to the clipboard.
See Copying Recovered Passwords From PRTK/DNA to the Windows Clipboard on page 195.

You

can then use the list of passwords with the decryption tools to decrypt the encrypted files.
See About Decrypting Files on page 187.

Recovering Passwords using the PRTK/DNA Integrated Tool
You can attempt to recovery unknown passwords for encrypted files in your case.

Decrypting Files

Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files

| 194

To Recover Passwords using the PRTK/DNA Integrated Tool with Examiner
1.

Use the Examiner to identify encrypted files.
See Identifying the Encrypted Files in a Case on page 191.

In the File List, select the files that you want to sent to PRTK/DNA.

Click Tools > Send to PRTK/DNA for password recovery...
If this option is not active, then PRTK or DNA is not installed on the same computer as the Examiner.

In the Send Files to PRTK/DNA dialog, confirm the file or files that you want to send.
The dialog will display if PRTK or DNA is installed on the computer and will be used.

Click OK.

Use the PRTK/DNA interface to view job status and results.

Copy the list of recovered passwords to use to decrypt files.

Copying Recovered Passwords From PRTK/DNA to the Windows Clipboard
You can copy the list of recovered passwords to the Windows clipboard. This can be useful is creating a list of
known passwords for other uses. For example, if you are using AccessData Forensics Toolkit (FTK), you can
use this list to decrypt files in in your FTK cases.
The passwords are copied in text format, one password per line.

To copy recovered passwords to the clipboard
1.

Complete at least one password recovery job.

In the toolbar, click the
icon.
The passwords are copied to the Windows clipboard.

Open a text editor and paste the list in the file.

Copy the list into the Passwords list.

Decrypting Files

Recovering Unknown Passwords of Encrypted Files

| 195

Decrypting Other Encryption Types
Decrypting EFS
Understanding EFS
Versions of Windows developed for business environments from Windows 2000 onwards include the ability to
encrypt files and folders. This feature is known as Encrypting File System (EFS). It is not supported in Windows
XP Home Edition.
EFS files, as well as Microsoft® Office, and Lotus® Notes (NSF) files and folders can be decrypted. To do so,
the password must already be known.
In Windows, EFS-encrypted files or folders can be viewed only by the user who encrypted them or by the user
who is the authorized Recovery Agent. When the user logs in, encrypted files and folders are decrypted and the
files are automatically displayed.
Note: There are certain files that cannot be encrypted, including system files; NTFS compressed files, and files
in the [drive]:\[Windows_System_Root] and its subdirectories.
Important: When a user marks an encrypted file as privileged and that file is later decrypted, all associated data
with the newly decrypted file are able to be found in an index search as hits. When a user attempts to
view the hits in a different list, an error is displayed that the path is invalid.

Decrypting EFS Files and Folders
To find EFS passwords, export encrypted files and add them as jobs in PRTK or DNA. When passwords are
found, you are ready to decrypt the encrypted files.

Requirements
Different versions of Windows OS have different requirements for decrypting EFS.

Windows 2000 and XP Systems Prior to SP1
EFS files on Windows 2000 prior to Service Pack 4 and Windows XP systems prior to Service Pack 1 are
automatically decrypted. Simply select the Decrypt EFS Files option when adding evidence to a case and
PRTK technology decrypts the EFS files.

Windows XP SP1 or Later
For systems running Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later, or Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 or later, the user’s
or the Recovery Agent’s password is needed before the EFS files can be decrypted.

Decrypting Files

Decrypting Other Encryption Types

| 196

Decrypting EFS
To decrypt EFS
1.

In a case, click Tools > Decrypt Files.

In the Decrypt Files dialog, if EFS had been detected in your evidence, the EFS option will be active.

Select the EFS.

In the Decrypt Files dialog, click Set Passwords.

Enter the password.
See About the Encrypted File Passwords List on page 189.

Select Attempt Blank Password to decrypt files with no password, or whose password is blank.
Note: EFS encrypted files in the case are automatically detected. Decrypt File Types will automatically
be marked according to the file types found. Unselect any file types that you do not want to
decrypt.

Choose one of the following:
Click

Decrypt to begin the decryption process.

Click

Cancel to abandon the decryption and return to the case.

Note: The Decrypt button is disabled until at least one password is entered, or until Attempt Blank
Password is marked.
8.

When decryption is complete, click Cancel to return to the case.

Decrypting Microsoft Office Digital Rights Management (DRM)
Protected Files
If your organization uses Windows Rights Management (RMS) to protect your Microsoft Office files, you can use
the Examiner to decrypt them. If you are investigating Microsoft Office files from within your organization, this
saves you time by decrypting and indexing DRM protected files in batch. By using this feature you no longer
have to first export each document and then decrypt them individually with the RMS server.
Important: This feature only applies to files that are DRM protected from within your Domain. You cannot use
this feature to decrypt files that are protected by other organization's RMS systems.
To decrypt DRM protected files, the following prerequisites must exist:
Your

Examiner computer and the Microsoft RMS server must be in the same domain.

The

Examiner computer must be able to authenticate with the RMS server. The machine activation
happen when you first attempt to open or to protect a document for the first time.

You

must be logged into the Examiner computer with a Domain account that has Super User access to
the Microsoft RMS server.

To Decrypt DRM Protected Office Files
1.

In the Examiner, click Tools > Decrypt Files.

Click Decrypt.

Enter your RMS credentials.

Decrypting Files

Decrypting Other Encryption Types

| 197

Decrypting Dropbox DBX Files
Dropbox is a cloud-based storage system that can be configured to retain some files on your personal computer
and sync whenever you connect to the Internet. Full contents of the Dropbox cannot be recovered at this time;
however, you can decrypt dropbox database (DBX) files in order to view database contents and artifacts.
Viewable data can include, but is not limited to:
Host_id
User

display name

List

of files found in the Dropbox folder

List

of files deleted from the Dropbox folder, if any

Email
Path

associated with the Dropbox account

to where Dropbox resides on the imaged machine

To decrypt a Dropbox DBX file
1.

Process the encrypted Dropbox DBX file as evidence.

When processing is complete, click Tools > Decrypt Files.

Enter the password for the Dropbox file.
Note: Dropbox DBX files can only be decrypted if you have the password.

Click Save Password.

Click Decrypt.

To locate Dropbox account data
1.

Decrypt the Dropbox DBX files.

In the Explore tab, expand the config.dbx database file.

Expand the tables folder.

Select the config folder.

Select the rows... item in the File List pane
The data will populate in the File Content pane.

To locate Dropbox file lists
1.

Decrypt the Dropbox DBX files.

In the Explore tab, expand the filecache.dbx database file.

Expand the tables folder.

Select the file_journal folder.

Select an item in the File List pane.
The data will populate in the File Content pane.

To locate deleted Dropbox file lists, if available
1.

Decrypt the Dropbox DBX files.

In the Explore tab, expand the filecache.dbx database file.

Expand the tables folder.

Select the deleted_fileids folder.

Decrypting Files

Decrypting Other Encryption Types

| 198

Select an item in the File List pane.
The data will populate in the File Content pane.

Important: Be sure the Quick Picks arrow is not highlighted when performing the above tasks. This will make it
so only the files within the specific folder you have selected appear in the File List pane.

Decrypting Lotus Notes Files
Lotus Notes stores files in a container called an NSF file. Both the NSF container file and the individual files and
emails within the NSF file can be encrypted. To decrypt Lotus Notes files, you may need to first decrypt the NSF
container file, and then decrypt its contents.
When an NSF file is created, Lotus Notes also creates a user.id file. Lotus Notes uses the user.id file to identify
the user. You must have the user.id file to decrypt the NSF container file and to decrypt its contents.
Lotus Notes versions 7 through 8.5, including NSF and ODS formats 48 and 51 are supported.

To decrypt a Lotus Notes NSF file
1.

Process the encrypted NSF file and its corresponding user.id file as evidence in the same case.
When an NSF file is created, the user.id file is created at the same time. You need both files.

When processing is complete, click Tools > Decrypt Files.

Enter the password to the user.id file.
Note: Some files do not have a password applied. In these cases, you should click Attempt Blank
Password.

Click Save Password.

Enable Lotus Notes (whole NSF).

Click Decrypt.

To decrypt Lotus Notes and emails
1.

Process the encrypted notes and emails and the corresponding user.id file as evidence in the same
case.

When processing is complete, click Tools > Decrypt Files.

Enter the password to the user.id file
Note: Some files do not have a password applied. In these cases, you should click Attempt Blank
Password.

Click Save Password.

Enable Lotus Notes (notes/emails).

Click Decrypt.

Decrypting S/MIME Files
You can decrypt RSA standard PKCS7 S/MIME email items. This includes MBOX, DBX, RFC822, and some
PST/EDB archives. You cannot decrypt PGP encrypted emails, Lotus Notes proprietary encryption, and items
with S/MIME signatures — only the S/MIME encryption.

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The Key files are PFX and PEM. The Key files are flagged and kept track of during processing in the same way
as EFS and NSF key files.

To decrypt S/MIME
1.

In a case, click Tools > Decrypt Files.

In the Decrypt Files dialog, click Set Passwords.

Enter the password.
See About the Encrypted File Passwords List on page 189.

Mark Attempt Blank Password to decrypt files with no password, or whose password is blank.
Note: S/MIME encrypted files in the case are automatically detected. Decrypt File Types will
automatically be marked according to the file types found. Unselect any file types you wish not to
decrypt.

Click Decrypt to begin the decryption process,
Note: The Decrypt button is disabled until at least one password is entered, or until Attempt Blank
Password is marked.

When decryption is complete, click OK to return to the case.

Decrypting Credant Files (Dell Data Protection | Encryption Server)
Credant encryption is file-based and works much like EFS. The Credant Decryption option in the tools menu is
unavailable unless the image contains Credant encryption.
Credant version 7.7 is supported in both online and offline key bundle modes.
The integration allows two options for decryption: offline, and online. For a key bundle located on the user’s local
machine or network, use the offline option. For a key bundle located on a remote server within your network, use
the online option.
The first time a user decrypts Credant files and provides the Credant server credentials, that information is
encrypted and stored in the database. Later, if that user needs to decrypt Credant files in that or another case,
the credentials field populates automatically.
The credentials are stored separately for each user, so while one user may have the credentials stored, others
may not until the others have processed a case with Credant files that need to be decrypted.
Both the Online and Offline Credant Decryption dialog boxes have a Decryption Threads drop-down box. This
dictates the total number of threads assigned to decryption, not the number of decryption threads per core. If you
have a high-end system, you may benefit from a higher setting. At this time, it is not possible to cancel the
processing once it has begun.
Important: If you click Cancel to process the evidence without decrypting, you will not be able to decrypt at a
later time. Also, the evidence cannot be added to the same case a second time. You will have to
create a new case to decrypt and process this evidence.
You can configure Credant server settings in the following ways:
Globally,
For

for all cases, in the Case Manager interface under the Tools menu.

a specific case. You can configure Credant decryption in one of the following ways:

When

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On

the Additional Analysis page

On

Tools > Decrypt Files

Important: This option uses an offline key bundle only. This method does not create any parent-child

relationships, and as a result, produces fewer counts than the other methods of doing
Credant decryption.
See Using an Offline Key Bundle on page 201.
Note: From the Processing Options or the Additional Analysis page, you can select to decrypt Credant files. If
you select to decrypt Credant files, the File Signature Analysis option will automatically be selected as
well.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.
You can now do a Live Search on Credant files on the fly after performing a drive preview.

Using an Offline Key Bundle
Offline decryption is a quicker and more convenient option if the key bundle can be placed on the investigator’s
local computer. To decrypt an encrypted image offline, select the key bundle file and enter the password used to
decrypt it.
Important: This method does not create any parent-child relationships, and as a result, produces fewer counts
than the other methods of doing Credant decryption.

To decrypt Credant files using an offline key bundle
1.

Click Tools > Credant Decryption to open the Credant Decryption Options dialog.

Select the key bundle file by entering its location or browsing to it.

Enter the password.

Re-enter the password.

Click OK.

Using an Online Key Bundle
Online decryption can occur only when the computer processing the image can directly access the server over
the network.
Usually the Machine ID and Shield ID fields are automatically populated. The Machine ID can be found on the
server as the Unique ID on the Properties tab. The Shield ID can be found as the “Recovery ID” on the “Shield”
tab. It looks similar to this: “ZE3HM8WW”. If the Shield ID is not working, you have the option to use the SDE
Key ID, which will auto-populate when available and should only be used after you have tried the Shield ID.
The Server Data group box contains information on how to contact the server. It includes the Credant Server
user name, password, and IP address. The port should be 8081, and is auto-populated.
Offline decryption requires you to get a key bundle file from the server. Then, select the key bundle file and enter
the password used to decrypt it. Get the key bundle file by executing the CFGetBundle.EXE file with a
command like that looks like this:

CFGetBundle -Xhttps://10.1.1.131:8081/xapi -asuperadmin -Achangeit
-dxp1.accessdata.lab -sZE3HM8WW -oKeyBundle.bin -ipassword

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-X for the server address
-a for administrator name
-A for the administrator password
-d for the Machine ID
-s for the Shield ID
-o for the output file
-i for the password used to encrypt the key bundle
Note: All command line switches are case sensitive. Also, as in the example above, there is no space between
the switch and the accompanying data.
Once you have used either the online or the offline method, the files will be decrypted immediately and the
decrypted file will become a child of the encrypted file. After decryption, the files will be processed with the same
settings last used to process a file.
Once the key has been added and the appropriate partitions selected, click OK to return to the Manage
Evidence dialog. Select a time zone from the Time Zone drop-down, then click OK to begin processing.
Important: If you click Cancel to process the evidence without decrypting, you will not be able to decrypt at a
later time. Also, the evidence cannot be added to the same case a second time. You will have to
create a new case to decrypt and process this evidence.

Decrypting Bitlocker Partitions
If you have the proper credentials, you can decrypt Bitlocker encrypted partitions. You can decrypt the Bitlocker
partitions from Windows Vista and Windows 7 computers. You can provide the unique credentials for multiple
encrypted partitions. After you provide Bitlocker credentials, files in the encrypted partitions are decrypted while
the evidence is processed.

To decrypt Bitlocker partitions
1.

Add evidence that has Bitlocker encryption to a case.
If Bitlocker encryption is detected, you are prompted to enter credentials in the following dialog:

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Enter one of the following credentials:
Boot

Key File

Recovery

Password.

If there are multiple partitions, a dialog will be displayed saying that the password for the first partition is
valid, and that additional partitions remain encrypted.

Click OK and the credential dialog is again displayed for the next partition.
This sequence continues until you have entered the credentials for all encrypted partitions.

Decrypting Safeguard Utimaco Files
You can use either Imager or the Examiner interface to decrypt boot drives that were encrypted with SafeGuard
by Utimaco.

Safeguard Easy
Safeguard Easy works only with an image of a complete drive or a live drive. Imaged partitions cannot be
decrypted because the information needed to decrypt the partition exists in the boot record of the drive.
When a live drive or drive image is added as evidence, it is checked to determine if SafeGuard Easy encryption
is used on the drive. If it is used, a dialog will appear asking for the user name and password required to access
the drive. If the correct user name and password are entered, the drive will be decrypted transparently during
processing and the user can access information on the drive as though the drive were not encrypted. Incorrect
passwords will result in long waits between attempts -- waits that grow exponentially for each failure. Hitting the
cancel button on the dialog will allow the drive to be added as evidence, but the encrypted portions will not be
processed.
Secondary hard drives and removable media that has been encrypted with SafeGuard Easy are not currently
supported. The problem with secondary drives and removable media is that they contain NO information that
indicates how they are encrypted. The encryption information for secondary drives and removable media is
contained on the boot drive of the computer that encrypted them.
Versions 2.x and later, and all Imager versions since then support SafeGuard Easy drives encrypted with the
following algorithms: AES128, AES256 (the default), DES, 3DES, and IDEA.
The Safeguard dialog box appears only when a valid Utimaco-encrypted image is read.
The username and password used to create the encrypted image are required for decryption. Once the
credentials have been added, click OK to return to the Manage Evidence dialog. Select a time zone from the
Time Zone drop-down, then click OK to begin processing.
Important: The following important information applies when using SafeGuard Decryption:

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the User Name and Password carefully and verify both before clicking OK. If this information is
entered incorrectly, the entire image is checked for matching information before returning with an error
message. Each wrong entry results in a longer wait.

Enter

you click Cancel to process the evidence without decrypting, you will not be able to decrypt at a later
time. Also, the evidence cannot be added to the same case a second time. You will have to create a new
case to decrypt and process this evidence.

If

SafeGuard Enterprise
SafeGuard Enterprise (SGN) is supported. Utimaco supplied libraries to access the decryption keys for SGN via
their recovery mechanism. This involves a somewhat cumbersome challenge/response system with the server
to access the decryption keys. Each partition may be decrypted with a different key. The challenge/response
process needs to be done for each encrypted partition. In order to enable the challenge/response system, a file
called recoverytoken.tok needs to be retrieved from the server and selected in the decryption dialog. A
recoverytoken.tok file is automatically selected if it is in the same directory as the evidence file.
SafeGuard Enterprise decryption was developed using version 5.x.
AccessData uses SafeGuard-provided BE_Sgn_Api.DLL and BE_KBRDLLn.DLL. These libraries are 32-bit
libraries. The 32-bit process is used to retrieve keys in 64-bit. The actual decryption of the drive is done in the
Examiner, but the SafeGuard libraries are needed to generate the key from the username/password.
To recognize that a drive is encrypted with SafeGuard Enterprise, “UTICRYPT” is searched for at the beginning
of the first sector of each partition.

Retrieving the Recovery Token
Before the decryption process can occur, the recoverytoken.tok file must be retrieved from the server.

To retrieve the Recovery Token
1.

From the server, you must create a virtual client.

Then you must export the virtual client. This is where the recoverytoken.tok file is created.

This file must be copied to a place where the Examiner can access the file.

Click the Recovery button next to each partition to retrieve that partition’s key. A dialog will open, telling
you which key to retrieve:
4a.

On the server, select Tools > Recovery from the menu.

4b.

Select the virtual client you exported (the recoverytoken.tok file)

Select Key requested.

Find the requested key (in this case 0x1C3A799F48FB4B199903FB5730314ABF). You can use Find >
Key IDs from the drop-down, and enter a partial key into Search Name to help find the correct key.

A challenge code of 6 segments of 5 characters each is offered.

Enter the characters from the challenge portion of the dialog into the server’s dialog.

Click Next.

10. The server then offers a response code consisting of 12 segments of 5 characters each.
11. Enter these into the corresponding dialog that provides the decryption key.
12. Click OK. The drive is decrypted and added as evidence to the case.

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Decrypting SafeBoot Files
SafeBoot is a program that encrypts drives and/or partitions. The encryption key must be available to enter into
the Key field. All recognized partitions are selected by default, up to a maximum of eight. You can unselect any
partition that you do not want to add to the case.
Important: The following important information applies when using SafeBoot Decryption:
If

You

must add all partitions and decrypt the encrypted partitions when first adding the evidence to the
case or you will be unable to see them. Encrypted partitions do not display in the Evidence list.

Once the key has been added and the appropriate partitions selected, click OK to return to the Manage
Evidence dialog. Select a time zone from the Time Zone drop-down, then click OK to begin processing.

Decrypting Guardian Edge Files
When a Guardian Edge-encrypted image is added to a case, it is automatically detected as a Guardian Edge
image and a dialog will appear asking for credentials. The dialog has a drop-down list box with the user names
that have been found to be associated with the image. Select the user name for which you have a password and
enter that password. Enter the password in one of two ways:
Enter

it twice with dots appearing for each character (to keep it hidden from on-lookers).

Check

the Show in plain text box and enter it once.

Click OK to proceed with the decryption process.
Important: If you click Cancel to process the evidence without decrypting, you will not be able to decrypt at a
later time. Also, the evidence cannot be added to the same case a second time. You will have to
create a new case to decrypt and process this evidence.

Decrypting an Image Encrypted With
PGP® WDE
You can acquire images from disks that have been protected with PGP® Whole Disk Encryption (WDE). This
section describes the support for, and the process of specifying the credentials necessary to decrypt the image.
Note: Decryption is only possible if an existing credential, such as a user passphrase or a previously-configured
Whole Disk Recovery Token, is available.

PGP® WDE Decryption
Individuals and organizations typically use PGP® Whole Disk Encryption (PGP® WDE) to protect the
information on their laptop computers in case of loss or theft. Encrypted disks prompt for a user’s passphrase
before Windows loads, allowing data to be decrypted on the fly as it is read into memory or encrypted just before
being written to disk. Disks remain encrypted at all times.

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Administrators can instruct PGP® WDE devices that are managed by a PGP® Universal™ Server to
automatically secure an encrypted disk to additional credentials based on a company’s central policy. These
could include a WDE Administrator key (for IT support purposes), an Additional Decryption Key (also called a
corporate recovery key) and/or a Whole Disk Recovery Token (“WDRT”). WDRTs are commonly used to reset a
forgotten passphrase and, can also be used by authorized administrators or examiners to decrypt an acquired
image of a PGP® WDE encrypted drive.

To decrypt a PGPWDE Image and add it to a case
1.

After creating a case, click Evidence > Add / Remove Evidence > Add > Acquired Images > OK.

Browse to the location of the image files and select the first of the set to add to this case.

You may enter any user’s boot password or passphrase, or use the Whole Disk Recovery Token
(WDRT) to decrypt a drive or image. Use one of the following methods:
Boot

passwords: The users for the drive are displayed in the drop-down list in the PGP® Encryption
Credentials box. Select the user and enter that user’s boot password.

Whole

Disk Recovery Token (WDRT): Obtain the WDRT by doing the following:

3a.

Log into the PGP® Universal™ Server.

3b.

Select the Users tab.

3c.

Click on the User Name having a recovery icon for the system being examined.

3d.

In the popup dialog in the far right column click the WDRT link to display information about the
WDRT. The WDRT will look similar to this:

ULB53-UD7A7-1C4QC-GPDZJ-CRNPA-X5A
3e. You can enter the key, with or without the dashes, in the Passphrase/WDRT text field as the
credential to decrypt a drive or image. The WDRT can be copied and pasted into the text field to
avoid errors.
3f.

Click OK.

Important: If you click Cancel to process the evidence without decrypting, you will not be able to decrypt at a
later time. Also, the evidence cannot be added to the same case a second time. You will have to
create a new case to decrypt and process this evidence.
4.

Verify that the PGP® WDE encrypted image is added to the case Manage Evidence list.

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Viewing Decrypted Files
After you have decrypted files, you can view which files have been decrypted.
You can also view the File Properties of the original encrypted file to see the password that was used to decrypt
that file.

To view decrypted files
1.

Open the Examiner.

Do one of the following:
To

use the Overview tab, do the following:

2a.

Click the Overview tab.

2b.

Expand File Status.

2c.

Click Decrypted Files

To

2a.

use a filter, do the following:

Click the QuickPick icon for Evidence to view all or some of the of the evidence in the case.

Using the Filters drop-down menu, select Decrypted Files.
In the File List, all decrypted files will be displayed.
2b.

Click on an individual file in the File List to view the file in the File Content pane.

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Chapter 13

Exporting Data from the Examiner

This section discusses how to export data from the Examiner interface.

Copying Information from the Examiner
You can use the Copy Special dialog to copy information about the files in a case to the computer clipboard. The
file information can include any or all column items, such as Filename, File Path, File Category etc. The data is
copied in a tab-delimited format.

To copy file information
1.

Select the files for the Copy Special task by doing either of the following:
In

the File List on any tab, select the files that you want to copy information about.

Right-click

Select

the file in the file list.

Open the Copy Special dialog in any of these ways:
Edit > Copy Special.

Click

the Copy Special button on the file list pane.

Click

Copy Special.

In the Copy Special dialog, select from the following:

Item

Description

Choose Columns

Choose the column template definition that you want to use for the exported data.

Include Header Row

Includes a header row that uses the column headings you selected.

All Highlighted

Copies all items highlighted in the current file list.

All Checked

Copies all items checked in all file lists. You can check files in multiple lists.
Checked items remain checked until you uncheck them.

Currently Listed

Copies all items in the current file list.

All

Copies all items in the case. Selecting this option can create a very large TSV or
CSV file, and may exceed the 10,000 item capacity of the clipboard.
4.

In the Choose Columns drop-down list, select the column template that contains the file information that
you want to copy.

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To define a new column settings template click Column Settings to open the Column Settings Manager.

Click OK to copy the data to the clipboard.

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Exporting Files to a Native Format
You can export files that you find in an investigation to process and distribute to other parties. For example, you
can export encrypted files that you need to decrypt with Password Recovery Toolkit (PRTK). You can also export
Registry files to analyze in the Registry Viewer.

To export items from a case
1.

Do either of the following:
In

the Examiner, click File > Export

Right-click

on a file in the File List pane and click Export

In the Export dialog, select from the following export options:

Export Options
File Options

Description

Append Item number to
Filename

Adds the case’s unique File ID to the filename of the exported item.

Append extension to
filename if bad/absent

Uses the file’s header information to add missing file extensions.

Export Children

Expands container-type files and exports their contents.

Exclude Slack Space
Children Files

Excludes all slack files from the export.

Save HTML view (if
available)

Saves applicable files in HTML format.

Export emails using Item
number for name

Substitutes the Item number in the case instead of the email title to shorten the
file paths.

Export directory as file

Creates a file that contains the binary data of a directory that you export.
If you select a folder to export, the Examiner does not export the parent folder or
empty sub-folders.
You can export folders as files, but any empty folders that are not selected to be
exported as files are not created during the export. To work around this issue,
export a folder structure with its children, move up one folder level and mark
Export directory as file and Export children.

Limit Path Length

The Limit Path Length option is now off by default. This prevents getting only
partial paths in the export.

Create Manifest files

Generates manifest files that contain the details and options that are selected for
the exported data. including headers. The Export Summary File is commonly
called a Manifest file. If you select this option the export creates the manifest file
CSV format. The export saves the file in the same destination folder as the
exported files.

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Export Options (Continued)
File Options

Description

Include original path

Includes the full path from the root to the file. The export maintains the folder
structure for the exported files.

Export emails as MSG

Exports email files into the MSG format for broader compatibility.

Export emails to PST

Exports email files to a PST file.
See Exporting Emails to PST on page 220.

Export messages from
email to PST

You can export email messages to a PST file, even if they didn't come from a
PST file originally. This lets you accomplish the following:
Export messages from RFC822, NSF, PST, Exchange, and so on to a PST.
As the opposite of reduction, you can create a new PST file with responsive
messages in it.
This creates a new PST rather than exporting the whole source PST and running reduction to remove anything non-responsive.
 Convert email archives, such as NSF, to a PST with the same folder and message structure.
The Exporting Emails to PST feature requires that you have either Microsoft
Outlook or the Microsoft Collaboration Data Objects (CDO) installed on the same
computer as the processing engine.



See the Important Information in the Release Notes.
Include thumbnails of
video files

Includes the thumbnails of the video files that were created during evidence
processing or during additional analysis.

Include common video
format

Includes the common video format (MP4) files that were created during evidence
processing or during additional analysis.

Select the items that you want to export from the following options:

Target Item

Description

All Checked

Selects all items checked in all file lists. You can check files in multiple lists.

All Listed

Selects all items in the current file list.

All Highlighted

Selects all items highlighted in the current file list. Items remain highlighted
only as long as the same tab is displayed.

All

Selects all items in the case.
4.

In the Destination Base Path field, enter or browse to and select the location to export the file.
The default path is [Drive]:\case_folder\Report\Export\.

Click OK.

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Exporting Files to an AD1 Image
You can export files to an Image. However; you can only export files to the AD1 format, or to their native format.
To export files to their native type see Exporting Files to a Native Format (page 210).
To export images into an image file Exporting an Image to an Image (page 214).

To export a file to an image
1.

In the Examiner, do one of the following:
Highlight
Check
Make

the items that you want to export.

the File List pane display the items that you want to export.

Click File > Export to Image.

In the Create Custom Content Image dialog, select the appropriate option based on your decision in
step one of this procedure Click OK.

In the Create Image dialog, under Image Destination(s), click Add.

In the Select Image Destination dialog, specify the following information:

Image Options
Option

Description

Case Number

(Optional) Lets you enter a case number for the data that is to be exported.

Evidence Number

(Optional) Lets you enter an evidence number for the data that is to be exported.

Unique Description

(Optional) Lets you add a description to the data that is to be exported.

Examiner

(Optional) Lets you add the name of the evidence examiner to the data that is to be
exported.

Notes

(Optional) Lets you add notes to the data that is to be exported.

Image Destination
Type

Only AD1 is supported for unique file(s).

Relative to

The image can be saved locally (Relative to This machine), or remotely (Relative to
Remote source machine).

Folder

Specify the path and the destination folder for the image on the target computer.

Username

Specify the domain and the user name to access the target computer.

Password

Specify the password of the user on the target computer.

Image Filename
(Excluding
Extensions)

Specify a filename for the image, but do not include an extension.

Image Fragment
Size

Specify the image fragment size in MB.
You can save RAW and E01 file types in a single segment by specifying 0 MB.

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Image Options (Continued)
Option

Description

Compression

Specify the compression level to use. 0 represents no compression, 9 represents the
highest compression. Compression level 1 is the fastest to create. Compression level
9 is the slowest to create.

Use AD Encryption

Select this option if you want to encrypt the image as it is created.
When exporting data to an image from an encrypted drive, create the image
physically, not logically. A physical image is often required for decrypting full disk
encryption.
AD Encryption supports the following:
Hash

algorithm SHA-512.

Crypto

algorithms AES 128, 192, and 256.

Key

materials (for encrypting the AES key): pass phrases, raw key files, and
certificates.
A raw key file is any arbitrary file whose raw data is treated as the key
material.
Certificates use public keys for encryption and corresponding private keys for
decryption.

Click OK.

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Exporting an Image to an Image
You can export images into the following types:
AD1

(AD Custom Content)

E01

(EnCase Compatible)

S01

(Smart)

001

(RAW/DD)

To export case data to an image
1.

In the Examiner, in the Evidence Items tree pane, select an image to export.

Click File > Export to Image.

In the Create Custom Content Image dialog, specify if you want to export the selected, highlighted, or
checked items and then click OK.

In the Create Image dialog, under Image Destination(s), click Add.

In the Select Image Destination dialog, specify the following information:

Image Destination Options
Option

Description

Case Number

(Optional) Lets you enter a case number for the data that is to be exported.

Evidence Number

(Optional) Lets you enter an evidence number for the data that is to be
exported.

Unique Description

(Optional) Lets you add a description to the data that is to be exported.

Examiner

(Optional) Lets you add the name of the evidence examiner to the data that
is to be exported.

Notes

(Optional) Lets you add notes to the data that is to be exported.

Image Destination
Type

By default, the image type is AD1. When exporting to an AD1, the image’s
file path is added under a root directory. This behavior speeds the process of
gathering data for the AD1, and shortens the path to the AD1 content.

Relative to

The image can be saved locally (Relative to This machine), or remotely
(Relative to Remote source machine).

Folder

Specify the path and the destination folder for the image on the target
computer.

Username

Specify the domain and the user name to access the target computer.

Password

Specify the password of the user on the target computer.

Image Filename
(Excluding
Extensions)

Specify a filename for the image, but do not include an extension.

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Image Destination Options (Continued)
Option

Description

Image Fragment
Size

Specify the image fragment size in MB.

Compression

Specify the compression level to use. 0 represents no compression, 9
represents the highest compression. Compression level 1 is the fastest to
create. Compression level 9 is the slowest to create.

Use AD Encryption

Select this option if you want to encrypt the image as it is created.

You can save RAW and E01 file types in a single segment by specifying 0
MB.

When exporting data to an image from an encrypted drive, create the image
physically, not logically. A physical image is often required for decrypting full
disk encryption.
AD Encryption supports the following:
Hash

algorithm SHA-512.

Crypto

algorithms AES 128, 192, and 256.

Key

materials (for encrypting the AES key): pass phrases, raw key
files, and certificates.
A raw key file is any arbitrary file whose raw data is treated as the
key material.
Certificates use public keys for encryption and corresponding private
keys for decryption.

Click OK.

In the Create Image dialog, choose if you want to Verify Images after they are created.

Choose if you want to Precalculate progress statistics. This feature estimates the progress of the
task as it is running.

Choose if you want to Add image to case when completed.

10. Specify the Time Zone of the evidence.
11. Click OK.
12. Click Start.

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Exporting File List Information
You can use Copy Special functionality to save file list information into a file. You can save this file in TSV, TXT,
CSV, or XML format. TXT files display in a text editor program like Notepad. Files saved in TSV, CSV, or XML
can be opened in a spreadsheet program.
To export file list information to a network/folder/etc you must have rights to access and save information to the
location.

To export File List information
1.

Do one of the following:
In

the Examiner, select File > Export File List Info.

Right-click

on a file in the File List pane and select Export File List Info.

Select the items to export.
Choose from:
All

Highlighted (in the File List View)

All

Checked (in the case)

All

Listed (in the File List View)

All

(in the case)

Specify if you want to include a header row in the exported file.

From the Choose Columns drop-down, select the column template to use. You can click Column
Settings to create a column template to use for the export.

Specify the filename for the exported information.

Choose a file type for the exported file.

Browse to and select the destination folder for the exported file.

Click Save.

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Exporting a Word List
You can export the contents of the case index or registry into a word list. You can use this word list as the basis
for a custom dictionary to aid in the password recovery process.
You must have indexed the case to export the word list. If you have not indexed the case, you can click
Evidence > Additional Analysis. In the Additional Analysis dialog, under Search Indexes, select dtSearch
Index, and then click OK.
You can only export Registry Viewer contents into a word list if the Registry Viewer is installed on the computer
where you are running the Examiner.

To export a word list
1.

In the Examiner, select File > Export Word List.

Select the Registry keys that you want to include in the word list.

Click Export.

Click Browse Folders and select the filename and location for the exported word list.

Click Save.

Exporting Recycle Bin Index Contents
You can export the indexed data from INFO2 files into TXT, TSV, or CSV format.

To export INFO2 files
1.

Locate an INFO2 file. In the Examiner you can find them in the Overview tab under OS/File System
Files > Recycle Bin Index.

In the File List, highlight the INFO2 files that you want to export.

Right-click on the selected files and choose Export Recycle Bin Index Contents.

Browse to and select the desired destination folder.

Type a filename for the exported data file.

In the Save as type drop-down, select the file type to use.

Mark Include header row if you want the column headings included in the exported file.

Click Save.

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Exporting Hashes from a Case
You can export hashes from a case. You can add the hash list into the Known File Filter in the same case to
identify and set the KFF status on files of interest (Alert) or files of no interest (Ignore). You can use the
Disregard status to make it easier to use existing groups, ignoring certain sets in the group that may have Alert
status assigned.

To export hashes from the case
1.

In the Examiner, in the File List view, select the files that you want to export the hashes for.

Right-click in the list and choose Export File List Info.

In the Save As dialog box, in the File name field, enter the name for the exported list.

In the Save as type drop-down, select either TSV or CSV.

Under File List items to export, select from the following:
All

highlighted

All

checked

Currently
All

listed

(In case)

Click Choose Columns and select the column settings to use.
If you do not find the correct column setting for this export, click Column Settings to customize a
column setting to include the file properties you want in this export.
You should include MD5 Hash, and it is recommended that you also include SHA1 Hash. It is optional to
include SHA 256 Hash.

In the Selected Columns list, double-click on each item to add and remove the columns.

Click OK.

Click Save.

Exporting KFF Data
You can use the KFF Admin interface to export KFF Data.
See About Exporting KFF Data on page 297.

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Exporting All Hits in a Search to a CSV file
After you run a search for terms, words, or predefined patterns, you can export your results to a comma
delimited text file (CSV).

To Export All Hits in a Search to a CSV file
1.

Run either a Live Search or an Index Search.

From either the Index Search Results window or the Live Search Results window, right click the search
result and click Set Context Data Width.

Set the width value. For example, 32.

Right-click the search result and click Export to File > All Hits in Search.

In the Save As dialog, browse to the destination where you want to save the file.

In the File Name field, enter a name for the file.

In the Save as type field select Comma Delimited Text File (*.CSV).

You can then import the CSV file into a program that supports CSV files such as Microsoft Excel.

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Exporting Emails to PST
You can export email messages to a PST file, even if they didn't come from a PST file originally. This lets you
accomplish the following:
Export

messages from RFC822, NSF, PST, Exchange, and so on to a PST.

As

the opposite of reduction, you can create a new PST file with responsive messages in it. This creates
a new PST rather than exporting the whole source PST and running reduction to remove anything nonresponsive.

Convert

email archives, such as NSF, to a PST with the same folder and message structure.

To export emails to PST
1.

In the Export dialog, select Export emails to PST.

(Optional) If you want to preserve the folder structure, select Preserve folder structure.
Note: When preserving the folder structure, the export creates a root directory for the email, followed by
the user name associated with that email. The folder and message structure then mirror that of
the emails being exported.

Select how you want to organize the exported emails.
Choose from the following export options:
Separate

PST per evidence.

Separate

PST per custodian

Single
PST

PST

per mail archive

Configure other export options and click OK.

To convert email archives with the same folder and message structure
1.

In the Export dialog, select Export messages from email archives to PST.

Configure other export options and click OK.

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Exporting the Properties Panel
You can export the information in the properties panel to one of two options:
CSV
XML

and HTML (these are exported at the same time)

To Export the Properties Panel Information to CSV:
1.

Right-click anywhere inside the Properties Panel.

Select Export to CSV.

Select a Destination Folder and create a File Name.

Navigate to the newly-created file. When you open it, a Text Import Wizard will open. Be sure to select
the following options:
Delimited
Comma

To Export the Properties Panel Information to XML and HTML:
1.

Right-click anywhere inside the Properties Panel.

Select Export to XML and HTML.

Select a Destination Folder and create a File Name.

Navigate to the newly-created file. When you open it, be sure to select the Open the file with the
following style sheet applied option and apply the ADObjectProperties.xslt style sheet. Once you
have applied the stylesheet, the file may open in a web browser.

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Exporting Geolocation Data to KML or KMZ
Geolocation data can be exported in order to allow users to view geolocation data from the case in any
application that allows KML imports. For example, Google Earth.

To Export Geolocation Data:
1.

Select the files for export from the file pane.
This can be done using either of the following options:
Highlight
Select

one or more items (use the columns to sort photos based on attributes)

individual files by checking the box

Right-click on any of the selected files and click Export File List Info. A window will open, allowing you
to select where to save the files and to determine which type of file you would like to export.
Note: A KMZ file is a compressed KML file.
Be sure to set the Choose Columns dropdown option to Geolocation.

Click Save.

To Open Geolocation Data in Google Earth:
1.

Open the Google Earth program.

Drag and drop the KML or KMZ file onto the program.
The pins will automatically populate on the map and will use the original file name.

The Google Earth program will change the icon for the KML or KMZ file to a Google Earth symbol.
Note: The same process can be followed using Google maps; however, the KML or KMZ file will not be
updated with a Google Earth icon.

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Chapter 14

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Malware Analysis
Cerberus lets you do a malware analysis on executable binaries. You can use Cerberus to analyze executable
binaries that are on a disk, on a network share, or that are unpacked in system memory.
Cerberus consists of the following stages of analysis
Stage

1: Threat Analysis
Cerberus stage 1 is a general file and metadata analysis that quickly examines an executable binary file
for common attributes it may possess. It identifies potentially malicious code and generates and assigns
a threat score to the executable binary.
See About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis on page 224.

Stage

2: Static Analysis
Cerberus stage 2 is a disassembly analysis that takes more time to examine the details of the code within
the file. It learns the capabilities of the binary without running the actual executable.
See About Cerberus Stage 2 Static Analysis on page 230.

Cerberus first runs the Stage 1 threat analysis. After it completes Stage 1 analysis, it will then automatically run a
static analysis against binaries that have a threat score that is higher than the designated threshold.
Cerberus analysis may slow down the speed of your overall processing.
Note: This feature is available depending on your license. Please contact your sales representative for more
information.
Important: Cerberus writes binaries to the AD Temp folder momentarily in order to perform the malware
analysis. Upon completion it will quickly delete the binary. It is important to ensure that your antivirus
is not scanning the AD Temp folder. If antivirus deletes/Quarantines the binary from the temp
Cerberus analysis will not be performed.
Cerberus analyzes the following types of files:
acm

com

dll

exe

lex

ocx

scr

tlb

cpl

dll~

iec

mui

pyd

tmp

cnv

dat

drv

ime

new

rll

sys

tsp
wpc

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

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About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis
Cerberus stage 1 analysis is a general analysis for executable binaries. The Stage 1 analysis engine scans
through the binary looking for malicious artifacts. It examines several attributes from the file's metadata and file
information to determine its potential to contain malicious code within it. For each attribute, if the condition exists,
Cerberus assigns a score to the file. The sum of all of the file’s scores is the file’s total threat score.
More serious attributes have higher positive scores, such as +20 or +30. Safer attributes have smaller or even
negative numbers such as +5, -10 or -20.
The existence of any particular attribute does not necessarily indicate a threat. However, if a file contains several
attributes, then the file will have a higher sum score which may indicate that the executable binary may warrant
further investigation. The higher the threat score, the more likely a file may be to contain malicious code.
For example, you may have a file that had four attributes discovered. Those attributes may have scores of +10,
+20, +20, and +30 for a sum of +80. You may have another file with four attributes of scores of +5, +10, -10, -20
for a sum of -15. The first file has a much higher risk than the second file.
Cerberus stage 1 analysis also examines each file’s properties and provides information such as its size, version
information, signature etc.

About Cerberus Score Weighting
There are default scores for each attribute of Cerberus Stage 1 threat scoring. However, you can modify the
scoring so that you can weigh the threat score attributes with your own values.
For example, the Bad Signed attribute as a default value of +20. You can give it a different weight of +30.
You must configure these scores before the files are analyzed.

About Cerberus Override Scores
Some threat attributes have override scores. If a file has one of these attributes, instead of the score being the
sum of the other attributes, the score is overridden with a set value of 100 or -100. This is useful in quickly
identifying files that are automatically considered either as a threat or safe. If a bad artifact is found that requires
immediate attention, the file is given the maximum score. If an artifact is found that is considered safe, the file is
automatically given the minimum score.
Score ranges have maximum and minimum values of -100 to 100.
High

threat signatures will result in a final score of 100.

Low

threat signatures will result in a final score of -100.

Cerberus attributes that have maximum override scores include:
Bad

signatures

Revoked

signatures

Expired

signatures

Packed

with known signature

If any of these attributes are found, the score is overridden with a score of +100.

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis

| 224

Cerberus Minimum override score includes:
Valid

digital signature

If this attribute is found, the score is overridden with a score of -100.
Important: If a file that is malware has a valid digital signature, the override will score the file as -100 (low threat),
even though the file is really malware.

About Cerberus Threat Score Reports
After you have processed evidence with Cerberus enabled, you can view a threat score report for each
executable file in a threat score reports. This report shows the Cerberus score that were calculated during
processing. There are two columns of scores: the weighted score assigned to each attribute (the potential score)
and the actual score given if the attribute was found in the file.

Cerberus Threat Score Report

The report also shows general file properties.

File Information Threat Score Report

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis

| 225

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis

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Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Scores
The following table lists the threat scores that are provided in a Stage 1 analysis:

Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Score Attributes
Attribute

Default
Threat
Score

Description

Network

The Network category is triggered when a program contains the
functionality to access a network. This could involve any kind of protocol
from high-level HTTP to a custom protocol written using low-level raw
sockets.

Persistence

+20

Persistence indicates that the application may try to persist permanently on
the host. For example, the application would resume operation
automatically even if the machine were rebooted.

Process

Process indicates the application may start a new a process or attempt to
gain access to inspect or modify other processes. Malicious applications
attempt to gain access to other processes to obfuscate their functionality or
attack vector or for many other reasons. For example, reading or writing
into a process’s memory, or injecting code into another process.

Crypto

Crypto is triggered when an application appears to use cryptographic
functionality. Malicious software uses cryptography to hide data or activity
from network monitors, anti-virus products, and investigators.

Protected
Storage

+10

ProtectedStorage indicates that the application may make use of the
Windows “pstore” functionality. This is used on some versions of Windows
to store encrypted data on the system. For example, Internet Explorer
stores a database for form-filling in protected storage.

Registry

Registry is triggered when a target application attempts to use the registry
to store data. The registry is commonly used to store application settings,
auto-run keys, and other data that the application wants to store
permanently but not in its own file.

Security

Imports functions used to modify user tokens. For example, attempting to
clone a security token to impersonate another logged on user.

Obfuscation

+30

Stage 1 searches for signs that the application is 'packed', or obfuscated in
a way that hinders quick inspection. The Obfuscation category is triggered
when the application appears to be packed, encrypted, or otherwise
obfuscated. This represents a deliberate decision on behalf of the
developer to hinder analysis.

Process
Execution
Space

Unusual activity in the Process Execution Space header. For example, a
zero length raw section, unrealistic linker time, or the file size doesn't
match the Process Execution Space header.

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis

| 227

Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Score Attributes (Continued)
Attribute

Default
Threat
Score

Description

Bad Signed

+20

This category is triggered when a binary is cryptographically signed, but
the signature is invalid. A signature is generally used to demonstrate that
some entity you trust (like a government or legitimate company, called a
'signing authority') has verified the authorship and good intentions of the
signed application. However, signatures can be revoked and they can
expire, meaning that the signature no longer represents that the signing
authority has trust in the application.

Embedded Data

+10

This category is triggered when an application contains embedded
executable code. While all programs contain some program code, this
category indicates that the application has an embedded 'resource', which
contains code separate from the code which runs normally as part of the
application.

Bad / Bit-Bad

+20

This category is triggered when the application contains signatures
indicating it uses the IRC protocol or shellcode signature. Many malware
networks use IRC to communicate between the infected hosts and the
command-and-control servers.

Signed / Bit
Signed

-20

This category is triggered when a program is signed. A program that is
signed is verified as 'trusted' by a third party, usually a legitimate entity like
a government or trusted company. The signature may be expired or invalid
though; check the 'BadSigned' category for this information.

PE Good

-10

Scores for good artifacts in PE headers.

PE Malware

+30

Scores for known malware artifacts in PE headers.

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis

| 228

Cerberus Stage 1 File Information
The following table lists the threat scores that are provided in a Stage 1 analysis:

File Information from Cerberus Stage 1 Analysis
Item

Description

File Size

Displays the size of the file in bytes.

Import Count

Displays the number of functions that Cerberus examined.

Entropy Score

Displays a score of the binaries entropy used for suspected packing or encrypting.

Entropy may be
packed

New:

Interesting
Functions

Displays the name of functions from the process execution space that contributed to
the file’s threat score.

Suspected Packer
List

Attempts to display a list of suspected packers whose signature matches known
malware packers.

Modules

Displays the DLL files included in the binary.

Has Version

Displays whether or not the file has a version number.

Version Info

Displays information about the file that is gathered from the Windows API including the
following:
CompanyName
FileDescription
FileVersion
InternalName
LegalCopyright
LegalTrademarks
OriginalFilename
ProductName
ProductVersion

Is Signed

Displays whether or not the file is signed. If the file is signed the following information
is also provided:
IsValid
SignerName
ProductName
SignatureTime
SignatureResult

Unpacker results

Attempts to show if and which packers were used in the binary.

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis

| 229

About Cerberus Stage 2 Static Analysis
When you run a stage 1 analysis, you configure a score that will launch a Cerberus stage 2 analysis. If an
executable receives a score that is equal or higher than the configured score, Cerberus stage 2 is performed.
Cerberus stage 2 disassembles the code of an executable binary without running the actual executable.

About Cerberus Stage 2 Report Data
When a stage 2 analysis runs, it returns its results of the file’s functions in the Functional Call Summary section
of the threat score report.

Cerberus Stage 2 Report Data in Threat Scan Report

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Cerberus Stage 2 Static Analysis

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Cerberus Stage 2 Function Call Data
Stage 2 analysis data is generated for the following function call categories:
File

Access

Networking

functionality

Process

Manipulation

Security

Access

Windows

Registry

Surveillance
Uses

Cryptography

Low-level
Loads

Access

a driver

Subverts

API

Misc

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

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File Access Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 File Access Function Call Categories
Category
File
Access

Description
Functions that manipulate (read, write, delete, modify) files on the local file system.
Filesystem.File.Read.
ExecutableExtension
FileSystem.Physical.
Read
FileSystem.Physical.
Write

FileSystem.Directory.
Create:

FileSystem.Directory.
Create.Windows:
FileSystem.Directory.
Recursion:

This is triggered by functionality which reads executable files from disk.
The executable code can then be executed, obfuscated, stored
elsewhere, transmitted, or otherwise manipulated.
This application may attempt to read data directly from disk, bypassing
the filesystem layer. This is very uncommon in normal applications,
and may indicate subversive activity.
This application may attempt to write data directly to disk, bypassing
the filesystem layer in the operating system. This is very uncommon in
normal applications, and may indicate subversive activity. It is also
easy to do incorrectly, so this may help explain any system instability
seen on the host.
This indicates the application may attempt to create directory.
Modifications to the file system are useful for diagnosing how an
application persists, where its code and data are stored, and other
useful information.
This indicates an application may try to create a directory in the
\Windows directory. This directory contains important operating system
files, and legitimate applications rarely need to access it.
This indicates the application may attempt to recurse through the file
system, perhaps as part of a search functionality.

FileSystem.Delete:

This indicates the application may delete files. With sufficient
permissions, the application may be able to delete files which it did not
write or even system files which could affect system stability.

FileSystem.File.Delete
.Windows:

This indicates the application may try to delete files in the \Windows
directory, where important system files are stored. This is rarely
necessary for legitimate applications, so this is a strong indicator of
suspicious activity.

FileSystem.File.Delete
.

This indicates the application may try to delete files in the
\Windows\System32 directory, where important system files are stored.
This is rarely necessary for legitimate applications, so this is a strong
indicator of suspicious activity.

System32:
FileSystem.File.Read.
Windows:
FileSystem.File.Write.
Windows:

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

This indicates the application may attempt to read from the \Windows
directory, which is very uncommon for legitimate applications.
\Windows is where many important system files are stored.
This indicates the application may attempt to write to the \Windows
directory, which is very uncommon for legitimate applications.
\Windows is where many important system files are stored.

About Cerberus Stage 2 Static Analysis

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Cerberus Stage 2 File Access Function Call Categories (Continued)
Category

Description
FileSystem.File.Read.
System32:

FileSystem.File.Write.
System32:

FileSystem.File.Write.
ExecutableExtension:

FileSystem.File.
Filename.Compressio
n:
FileSystem.File.
Filename.Autorun:

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

This indicates the application may attempt to read from the
\Windows\System32 directory, which is very uncommon for legitimate
applications. \Windows\System32 is where many important system
files are stored.
This indicates the application may attempt to write to the
\Windows\System32 directory, which is very uncommon for legitimate
applications. \Windows\System32 is where many important system
files are stored.
This indicates the application may attempt to write an executable file to
disk. This could indicate malicious software that has multiple ‘stages’,
or it could indicate a persistence mechanism used by malware (i.e.
write an executable file into the startup folder so it is run when the
system starts up).
This indicates the program may write compressed files to disk.
Compression can be useful to obfuscate strings or other data from
quick, automated searches of every file on a filesystem.
This indicates the application may write a program to a directory so
that it will run every time the system starts up. This is a useful
persistence mechanism.

About Cerberus Stage 2 Static Analysis

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Networking Functionality Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Networking Functionality Function Call Categories
Category
Networking
functionality

Description
Functions that enable sending and receiving data over the or other networks.
Network.FTP.Get:

Describes the use of FTP to retrieve files. This could indicate the
vector a malware application uses to retrieve data from a C&C
server.

Network.Raw:

Functions in this category indicate use of the basic networking
commands used to establish TCP, UDP, or other types of
connections to other machines. Programmers who use these build
their own communication protocol over TCP (or UDP or other
protocol below the application layer) rather than using an
application-layer protocol such as HTTP or FTP.

Network.Raw.Listen:

Functionality in this category indicates the application accepts
incoming connections over tcp, udp, or other lower-level protocol.

Network.Raw.

Functionality in this bucket indicates that the application receives
data using a socket communicating over a lower-level protocol
such as TCP, UDP, or a custom protocol.

Receive:
Network.DNS.Lookup.
Country.XX:

This indicates the application may attempt to resolve the address
of machines in one of several countries. “XX” will be replaced by
the ‘top level domain’, or TLD associated with the lookup,
indicating the application may attempt to establish contact with a
host in one of these countries.

Network.HTTP.Read:

The application may attempt to read data over the network using
the HTTP protocol. This protocol is commonly used by malware so
that its malicious traffic appears to ‘blend in’ with legitimate web
traffic.

Network.HTTP.

This indicates the application may make an HTTP request which is
not a head, get, or post request. The vast majority of web
applications use one or more of these 3 kinds of requests, so this
category indicates anomalous behavior.

Connect.Nonstandard.
Request:
Network.HTTP.
Connect.Nonstandard.
Port:
Network.HTTP.
Connect.Nonstandard.
Header:
Network.HTTP.Post:

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

Port: Most HTTP connections occur over either port 80 or 443.
This indicates the application is communicating with the server
over a non-standard port, which may be a sign that the server is
not a normal, legitimate web server.
HTTP messages are partially composed of key-value pairs of
strings which the receiver will need to properly handle the
message. This indicates the application includes non-standard or
very unusual header key-value pairs.
This indicates the application makes a ‘post’ http request. ‘post’
messages are normally used to push data to a server, but malware
may not honor this convention.

About Cerberus Stage 2 Static Analysis

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Cerberus Stage 2 Networking Functionality Function Call Categories (Continued)
Category

Description
Network.HTTP.Head:

This indicates the application makes a ‘head http request. ‘head’
messages are normally used to determine information about a
server’s state before sending a huge amount of data across the
network, but malware may not honor this convention.

Network.Connect.

This indicates the application may attempt to connect to a
machines in one of several countries. “XX” will be replaced by the
‘top level domain’, or TLD associated with the lookup.

Country.XX:
FTP.Put:

About Cerberus Malware Analysis

The application may attempt to send files over the network using
FTP. This may indicate an exfiltration mechanism used by
malware.

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Process Manipulation Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Process Manipulation Function Call Categories
Category
Process
Manipulation

Description
May contain functions to manipulate processes.
ProcessManageme
nt.Enumeration:

This functionality indicates the application enumerates all
processes. This could be part of a system survey or other attempt to
contain information about the host.

ProcessManageme
nt.Thread.Create:

This indicates the target application may create multiple threads of
execution. This can give insight into how the application operates,
operating multiple pieces of functionality in parallel.

ProcessManageme
nt.Thread.Create.

This indicates the application may create threads in a suspended
state. Similar to suspended processes, this may indicate that the
threads are only executed some time after they’re created or that
some properties are modified after they are created.

Suspended:
ProcessManageme
nt.Thread.Create:

This indicates the application may attempt to create a thread in
another process. This is a common malware mechanism for
‘hijacking’ other legitimate processes, disguising the fact that
malware is on the machine.

ProcessManageme
nt.Thread.Create.

This indicates that the application may create threads in other
processes such that they start in a suspended state. Thus their
functionality or other properties can be modified before they begin
executing.

Remote:
ProcessManageme
nt.Thread.Open:

The application may try to gain access to observe or modify a
thread. This behavior can give insight into how threads interact to
affect the host.

ProcessManageme
nt.Process.Open:

This application may attempt to gain access to observe or modify
other processes. This can give strong insight into how the
application interacts with system and what other processes it may
try to subvert.

ProcessManageme
nt.Process.Create:

This application may attempt to create one or more other processes.
Similar to threads, multiple processes can be used to parallelize an
application’s functionality. Understanding that processes are used
rather than threads can shed insight on how an application
accomplishes its goals.

ProcessManageme
nt.Process.Create.

Describes functionality to create new processes in a suspended
state. Processes can be created in a ‘suspended’ state so that none
of the threads execute until it is resumed. While a process is
suspended, the creating process may be able to substantially modify
its behavior or other properties.

Suspended:

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Security Access Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Security Access Function Call Categories
Category
Security Access

Description
Functions that allow the program to change its security settings or impersonate other
logged on users.
Security:

This category indicates use of any of a large number of securityrelated functions, including those manipulating security tokens,
Access Control Entries, and other items. Even without using an
exploit, modification of security settings can enable a malicious
application to gain more privileges on a system than it would
otherwise have.

Windows Registry Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Windows Registry Function Call Categories
Category
Windows
Registry

Description
Functions that manipulate (read, write, delete, modify) the local Windows registry. This
also includes the ability to modify autoruns to persist a binary across boots.
Registry.Key.Create
:

The application may attempt to create a new key in the registry.
Keys are commonly used to persist settings and other
configuration information, but other data can be stored as well.

Registry.Key.Delete:

Registry.Key.Delete: This application may attempt to delete a key
from the registry. While it is common to delete only keys that the
application itself created, with sufficient permissions, Windows
may not prevent an application from deleting other applications’
keys as well.

Registry.Key.Autoru
n:

This indicates the application may use the registry to try to ensure
it or another application is run automatically on system startup.
This is a common way to ensure that a program continues to run
even after a machine is restarted.

Registry.Value.Delet
e:

This indicates the application may attempt to delete the value
associated with a particular key. As with the deletion of a key, this
may not represent malicious activity so long as the application only
deletes its own keys’ values.

Registry.Value.Set:

The application may attempt to set a value in the registry. This may
represent malicious behavior if the value is set in a system key or
the key of another application.

Registry.Value.Set.

This indicates the application may store binary data in the registry.
This data could be encrypted, compressed, or otherwise is not
plain text.

Binary:

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Cerberus Stage 2 Windows Registry Function Call Categories (Continued)
Category

Description
Registry.Value.Set.
Text:
Registry.Value.Set.
Autorun:

This indicates the application may write plain text to the registry.
While the ‘text’ flag may be set, this does not mandate that the
application write human-readable text to the registry.
The application may set a value indicating it will use the registry to
persist on the machine even after it restarts.

Surveillance Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Surveillance Function Call Categories
Category
Surveillance

Description
Usage of functions that provide audio/video monitoring, keylogging, etc.
Driver.Setup:

Functionality in this category involves manipulation of INF files,
logging, and other driver-related tasks. Drivers are used to gain
complete control over a system, potentially even gaining control of
other security products.

Driver.DirectLoad:

Functionality in this category involves loading drivers. As noted in
‘driver.setup’, drivers represent ultimate control over a host system
and should be extremely trustworthy.

Uses Cryptography Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Uses Cryptography Function Call Categories
Category
Uses

Description
Usage of the Microsoft CryptoAPI functions.

Cryptography
Crypto.Hash.Comp
ute:

This indicates a hash function may be used by the target
application. Hash functions are used to verify the integrity of
communications or files to ensure they were not tampered with.

Crypto.Algorithm.X
X:

The “XX” could be any of several values, including ‘md5’, ‘sha-1’, or
‘sha-256’. These represent particular kinds of hashes which the
target application may use.

Crypto.MagicValue:

This indicates that the target contains strings associated with
cryptographic functionality. Even if the application does not use
Windows OS functionality to use cryptography, the ‘magic values’
will exist so long as the target uses standard cryptographic
algorithms.

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Low-level Access Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Low-level Access Function Call Categories
Category
Low-level
Access

Description
Functions that access low-level operating system resources, for example reading sectors
directly from disk.
Driver.Setup:

Driver.DirectLoad:

Functionality in this category involves loading drivers. As noted in
‘driver.setup’, drivers represent ultimate control over a host system
and should be extremely trustworthy.

Debugging.dbghelp:

This indicates use of functionality included in the dbghelp.dll
module from the "Debugging Tools for Windows" package from
Microsoft. With the proper permissions, the functionality in this
library represents a power mechanism for disguising activity from
investigators or for gaining control of other processes.

Misc.SystemRestore:

Describes functionality involved in the System Restore feature,
including removing and adding restore points. Restore points are
often used as part of a malware-removal strategy, so removal of
arbitrary restore points, especially without user interaction, may
represent malicious activity.

Debugging.

This is triggered if the application tries to determine whether it is
being debugged. Malicious applications commonly try to
determine whether they’re being analyzed so that they can modify
the behavior seen by analysts, making it difficult to discover their
true functionality.

ChecksForDebugger:

Loads a driver Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Loads a driver Function Call Categories
Category

Description

Loads a driver

Functions that load drivers into a running system.

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Subverts API Call Categories
Cerberus Stage 2 Subverts API Function Call Categories
Category
Subverts API

Description
Undocumented API functions, or unsanctioned usage of Windows APIs (for example, using
native API calls).

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Chapter 15

Running Cerberus Malware Analysis

This chapter includes the following topics about running Cerberus in FTK-based products.
About

Reviewing Results of Cerberus (page 243)

Using

Index Search with Cerberus (page 246)

Exporting

a Cerberus Report (page 246)

Running Cerberus Analysis
Cerberus Analysis consists of two stages of analysis that help you to locate potentially malicious files. You can
enable this analysis when creating a case or using Additional Analysis.
See About Cerberus Malware Analysis on page 223.
Stage 1 is called a threat analysis and quickly examines an executable binary file for common attributes it may
possess. Stage 2 is called static analysis. Static analysis is a disassembly analysis that takes more time to
examine the details of the code within the file.
For more information see About Cerberus Malware Analysis (page 223)
Cerberus first runs a threat analysis. After it completes Stage 1 analysis, it can then automatically run a static
analysis against binaries with a threat score that is higher than a certain threshold.
Cerberus analysis may slow down the speed of your overall processing. Depending on the size of your data set
and the amount of executable binaries that you must examine, it may be advisable to run Cerberus analysis in
two steps after you complete initial case processing. In this case, you can first only run Cerberus analysis stage
1 and then after stage 1 is completed, you can then choose to run Cerberus Analysis stage 2.
By default, you must be a Case Manager to run Cerberus analysis.

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To run a Cerberus Analysis
1.

Do one of the following:
When creating a new case

In the Case Manager, in the New Case Options dialog, click Detailed
Options.
Select Evidence Processing, then click Cerberus Analysis.

If working an existing case

in the Examiner, go to Evidence > Additional Analysis. In the Additional
Analysis dialog, under the section Indexing / Tools, click Cerberus
Analysis.

Next to Cerberus Analysis, click Cerberus Options.

In the Cerberus Analysis dialog, you can define the weight assigned to each Cerberus stage 1 score.
These Stage 1 scores are designed to identify and score specific malware properties and traits. The
user-defined weights can be saved per case as well as globally in the Evidence Processing templates.

In the Cerberus Analysis dialog, you can choose the option Perform Cerberus Analysis stage 2 if stage
1 threshold is greater than n. This option lets you choose to automatically run stage 2 analysis after
stage 1 analysis completes. Do one of the following:
To run stage 1 analysis only Deselect the option to Perform Cerberus Analysis stage 2 if stage 1
threshold is greater than, then only Cerberus Analysis stage 1 is run.
To run both stage 1 and
stage 2 analysis

Select the option to Perform Cerberus Analysis stage 2 if stage 1
threshold is greater than n.
Specify a threshold for a minimum threat score against which you want
to run the stage 2 analysis.
If a file’s threat score is higher than the threshold value that you set, then
stage 2 is run.If a file’s threat score is lower than the threshold value,
then stage 2 analysis is not run. By default, the threshold automatically
runs stage 2 analysis against files with a threat score greater than +20.

Click OK.

In the Additional Analysis dialog, click OK.

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About Reviewing Results of Cerberus
You can use the Examiner to locate executable binaries that have had Cerberus analysis run against them. For
executable binaries to have a Cerberus Score, a Case Administrator must first run a Cerberus Analysis.
The Examiner includes the following Cerberus filters that let you display only files that have had Cerberus run
against them.
Cerberus

Score: Lets you limit the results that are displayed in the File List pane to only files that have
had Cerberus Stage 1 analysis run against them.

Cerberus

Static Analysis: Lets you limit the results that are displayed in the File List pane to only files that
have had both Cerberus Stage 1 analysis and Cerberus Stage 2 analysis.

Cerberus Filter View

Cerberus Columns
In the File List pane, there are Cerberus columns that display Cerberus results data.
See About Cerberus Stage 1 Threat Analysis on page 224.
The data that the Cerberus filter uses to render the information is also available in columns in the Item List.
These columns can be sorted and filtered.
There is a Column template that is pre-configured with columns for each of the Cerberus Threat Score
Attributes.
See Icons of the File List Tool Bar on page 271.
You can you sort the list of files to see if they have had Cerberus Stage two Static Analysis run, see their threat
score, or to see if they have attributes from a Cerberus stage 1 analysis.

Cerberus Columns

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Running Cerberus Malware Analysis

About Reviewing Results of Cerberus

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Reviewing Results of Cerberus
To view files with a Cerberus score
1.

In the Examiner, open the Explore tab.

In the Evidence Items pane, use Quick Picks to select the evidence.

In the Filter drop-down menu, select one of the following:
Cerberus

Score: Lets you limit the results that are displayed in the File List pane to only files that
have had Cerberus Stage 1 analysis run against them.

Cerberus

Static Analysis: Lets you limit the results that are displayed in the File List pane to only files
that have had both Cerberus Stage 1 analysis and Cerberus Stage 2 analysis.

In the File List pane, in the Column Setting drop-down, select Cerberus Results.
The File List pane shows all files that have been analyzed by Cerberus. It displays columns for each
attribute that Cerberus 1 analyzes. If a file contained an attribute, the column cell displays a Y. If the file
did not contain an attribute, the column cell displays an N. You can sort the files by clicking on a column
heading. You can sort the displayed results by clicking a column header.

To view more details about the file, select it in the File List pane.
Additional details about the Cerberus analysis are displayed in the File Content viewer in the Natural
tab.

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Using Index Search with Cerberus
The results of Cerberus analysis can be indexed so that you can run a search for them. The indexed information
is an un-tagged version of the Cerberus HTML report. It is appended to the end of the content that is displayed in
the File Content Pane’s Filtered view.
See also Searching Evidence with Index Search (page 352).

To search for a Cerberus result
1.

In the Examiner, click Evidence > Additional Analysis.

In the Search Indexes section, select k® Text Index.

In the Miscellaneous section, select Cerberus Analysis.

Click Cerberus Options.

Enter a Cerberus stage 2 Threshold and click OK.

In the Additional Analysis dialog, click OK.

In the Examiner click the Index Search tab.

In the Terms field, enter a value from the Cerberus report to search for and click Add. For example
“Uses Cryptography.”

Click Search Now.

10. (Optional) In the Indexed Search FIlter Option dialog, you can apply a filter. For example Cerberus

Score.
11. Click OK.
12. In the Indexed Results pane, you can select a search result. The search hit is highlighted and displayed

in the File Content pane.

Exporting a Cerberus Report
You can export Cerberus results to an HTML file.

To export a Cerberus Report
1.

In the File List pane, right click a file that has Cerberus results.

Click Export.

In the Export dialog, under File Options, select Save HTML view (if available).

In the Destination base path field, browse to the location where you want to save the export.

Click OK.

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Chapter 16

Getting Started with KFF (Known File Filter)

Introducing KFF
This document contains the following information about understanding and getting started using KFF (Known
File Filter) with products 6.3 and later. If you are using products version 6.2 and earlier, refer to that version’s
documentation.
Important: AccessData applications versions 6.3 and later use a new KFF architecture. If you are using one of
the following applications version 6.3 or later, you must install and implement the new KFF
architecture:
Forensics

products (FTK, FTK Pro, AD Lab, AD Enterprise)

Summation
eDiscovery

See What has Changed in Version 6.3 on page 279.

About

KFF (page 248)

Installing

the KFF Server (page 252)

Configuring

the Location of the KFF Server (page 258)

Migrating

Legacy KFF Data from Previous Versions (page 261)

Importing

KFF Data (page 263)

Installing

KFF Updates (page 273)

Uninstalling
KFF

KFF (page 272)

Library Reference Information (page 274)

What

has Changed in Version 6.3 (page 279)

About the KFF Server and Geolocation
Geolocation (GeoIP) data is used for the Geolocation Visualization feature of several AccessData products.
Important: In versions 6.3 and later, Geolocation data is installed automatically and independently and is no
longer tied to KFF.

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About KFF
KFF (Known File Filter) is a utility that compares the file hash values of known files against the files in your
project. The known files that you compare against may be the following:
Files

that you want to ignore, such as operating system or application files

Files

that you want to be alerted about, such as malware or other contraband files

The hash values of files, such as MD5, are based on the file’s content, not on the file name or extension. This
helps you identify files even if they are renamed.
Using KFF during your analysis can provide the following benefits:
Immediately

identify and ignore 40-70% of files irrelevant to the project.

Immediately

identify known contraband files.

Introduction to the KFF Architecture
There are two distinct components of the KFF architecture:
KFF

Server - The KFF Server is the component that is used to store and process the KFF data against
your evidence. After you install the KFF Server, you import your KFF data into it.
See Installing the KFF Server on page 252.

KFF

Data - The KFF data are the hashes of the known files that are compared against the files in your
project. The KFF data is organized in KFF Hash Sets and KFF Groups. The KFF data can be comprised
of hashes obtained from pre-configured libraries (such as NSRL) or custom hashes that you configure
yourself.
See Components of KFF Data on page 248.

Components of KFF Data
Item

Description

Hash

The unique MD5 or SHA-1 hash value of a file. This is the value that is compared
between known files and the files in your project.

Hash Set

A collection of hashes that are related somehow. The hash set has an ID, status,
name, vendor, package, and version. In most cases, a set corresponds to a
collection of hashes from a single source that have the same status.

Group

KFF Groups are containers that are used for managing the Hash Sets that are
used in a project.
KFF Groups can contains Hash Sets as well as other groups.
Projects can only use a single KFF Group. However, when configuring your
project you can select a single KFF Group which can contains nested groups.

Status

The specified status of a hash set of the known files which can be either Ignore
or Alert. When a file in a project matches a known file, this is the reported status
of the file in the project.

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Item

Description

Library

A pre-defined collection of hashes that you can import into the KFF Server.
You can use the following pre-defined libraries:





NSRL
NDIC HashKeeper
DHS
For law enforcement users, you can also use Project Vic libraries.

See About Pre-defined KFF Hash Libraries on page 249.

About the Organization of Hashes, Hash Sets, and KFF Groups
Hashes, such as MD5, SHA-1, etc., are based on the file’s content, not on the file name or extension.
You can also import hashes into the KFF Server in .CSV format.
For FTK-based products, you can also import hashes into the KFF Server that are contained in .TSV, .HKE,
.HKE.TXT, .HDI, .HDB, .hash, .NSRL, or .KFF file formats.
You can also manually add hashes.
Hashes are organized into Hash Sets. Hash Sets usually include hashes that have a common status, such as
Alert or Ignore.
Hash Sets must be organized into to KFF Groups before they can be utilized in a case or project.

About Pre-defined KFF Hash Libraries
There are pre-configured hash sets currently available for KFF that come from federal government agencies and
are available in KFF libraries.
See About KFF Pre-Defined Hash Libraries on page 274.
You can use the following KFF libraries:
NIST

NSRL
See Importing the NIST NSRL Library on page 267.

NDIC

HashKeeper (Sept 2008)
See Importing the NDIC Hashkeeper Library on page 271.

DHS

(Jan 2008)
See Importing the DHS Library on page 271.

For

law enforcement users using forensic products, you can also use Project Vic libraries.
See Using Project VIC on page 298.

It is not required to use a pre-configured KFF library in order to use KFF. You can configure or import custom
hash sets. See your application’s Admin Guide for more information.

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How KFF Works
The Known File Filter (KFF) is a body of MD5 and SHA1 hash values computed from electronic files. Some predefined data is gathered and cataloged by several US federal government agencies or you can configure you
own. KFF is used to locate files residing within project evidence that have been previously encountered by other
investigators or archivists. Identifying previously cataloged (known) files within a project can expedite its
investigation.
When evidence is processed with the MD5 Hash (and/or SHA-1 Hash) and KFF options, a hash value for each
file item within the evidence is computed, and that newly computed hash value is searched for within the KFF
data. Every file item whose hash value is found in the KFF is considered to be a known file.
Note: If two hash sets in the same group have the same MD5 hash value, they must have the same metadata.
If you change the metadata of one hash set, all hash sets in the group with the same MD5 hash file will be
updated to the same metadata.
The KFF data is organized into Groups and stored in the KFF Server. The KFF Server service performs lookup
functions.

Status Values
In order to accelerate an investigation, each known file can labeled as either Alert or Ignore, meaning that the file
is likely to be forensically interesting (Alert) or uninteresting (Ignore). Other files have a status of Unknown.
The Alert/Ignore designation can assist the investigator to hone in on files that are relevant, and avoid spending
inordinate time on files that are not relevant. Known files are presented in the Overview Tab’s File Status
Container, under “KFF Alert files” and “KFF Ignorable.”

Hash Sets
The hash values comprising the KFF are organized into hash sets. Each hash set has a name, a status, and a
listing of hash values. Consider two examples. The hash set “ZZ00001 Suspected child porn” has a status of
Alert and contains 12 hash values. The hash set “BitDefender Total Security 2008 9843” has a status of Ignore
and contains 69 hash values. If, during the course of evidence processing, a file item’s hash value were found to
belong to the “ZZ00001 Suspected child porn” set, then that file item would be presented in the KFF Alert files
list. Likewise, if another file item’s hash value were found to belong to the “BitDefender Total Security 2008 9843”
set, then that file would be presented in the KFF Ignorable list.
In order to determine whether any Alert file is truly relevant to a given project, and whether any Ignore file is truly
irrelevant to a project, the investigator must understand the origins of the KFF’s hash sets, and the methods
used to determine their Alert and Ignore status assignments.
You can install libraries of pre-defined hash sets or you can import custom hash sets. The pre-defined hash sets
contain a body of MD5 and SHA1 hash values computed from electronic files that are gathered and cataloged by
several US federal government agencies.
See About KFF Pre-Defined Hash Libraries on page 274.

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Higher Level Structure and Usage
Because hash set groups have the properties just described, and because custom hash sets and groups can be
defined by the investigator, the KFF mechanism can be leveraged in creative ways. For example, the
investigator may define a group of hash sets created from encryption software and another group of hash sets
created from child pornography files and then apply only those groups while processing.

About KFF Data Formats
When importing KFF data, you can import the following file formats:
CSV

file format

Forensics

products: .HDB, .HKE, .KFF, .XML, .HASH file formats

Forensics

products used by law enforcement: Project VIC JSON file format

About the CSV Format
When you import or export KFF data, you can import from or export to a CSV format. When you use the .CSV
format, you use a single .CSV file at a time. The .CSV file can contain hashes, Hash Sets and KFF Groups that
you import or export.
See Components of KFF Data on page 248.

Using the CSV format
Exporting to
CSV format

When you export KFF data using the CSV format, you can export specific pieces
of KFF data, such as one or more Hash Sets or one or more KFF Groups. The
exported CSV contains the hashes as well as all of the information about any
associated Hash Sets and KFF Groups.
Each export is contained in one .CSV file.
CSV files can be easily viewed and can be manually edited.

Importing
from CSV
format

When you import a CSV file, the data in the file is data is added to your existing
KFF data. The CSV file can be a simple file containing only the hashes of files, or
it can contain additional information about Hash Sets and KFF Groups.
For example, suppose you manually created four Hash Sets and one KFF Group.
That would be the only contents in your KFF Server. Suppose you import a .CSV
file that contains five hash sets and two KFF Groups. They will be added together
for a total of nine Hash Sets and three KFF Groups.
To import .CSV files, you can do either of the following:



Use the KFF Import feature in your application.
See Using the Known File Feature chapter.
Use the stand-alone KFF Import Utility.
See Importing KFF Data on page 263.

To view a sample of a .CSV file that contains binaries and Hash Sets and KFF Groups, perform a CSV export
and view the file in Excel. You can also use the format of CSV files that were exported in previous versions.

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Installing the KFF Server
About Installing the KFF Server
In order to use KFF, you must first install and configure a KFF Server.
For

product versions 6.3 and later, you install a KFF Server by installing Apache Cassandra.

For

product versions 5.6 - 6.2, you install a KFF Server by installing the AccessData Elasticsearch.

Where you install the KFF Server depends on the product you are using with KFF.
See Determining Where to Install the KFF Server on page 254.

About KFF Server Versions
The KFF Server (AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service) may be updated from time to time. It is best to
use the latest version.
Product
Version

KFF Server

Released

6.3

Apache Cassandra



Version 3.11

October 2017 with 6.3
versions of
FTK-based products
Summation
eDiscovery

Installation Instructions
See Determining Where to Install the KFF
Server on page 254.

About Upgrading from Earlier Versions
If you have used KFF with applications with a previous KFF Server architecture, you can migrate your legacy
KFF data to the new architecture.
See Migrating Legacy KFF Data from Previous Versions on page 261.

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Process for Installing KFF
The process for installing KFF is as follows:
1.

Downloading the Latest KFF Installation Files (page 253)

Determining Where to Install the KFF Server (page 254)

Installing the KFF Server (page 256)

Configuring the KFF Server location:

Configuring

the KFF Server Location on AD Lab and AD Enterprise (page 258)

Configuring

the KFF Server Location on Summation or eDiscovery (page 259)

(Optional) Upgrading or importing KFF data.
See

Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.5 and earlier on page 262.

About

Importing KFF Data (page 263)

Importing

Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries (page 266)

Downloading the Latest KFF Installation Files
You can download ISO files which has the latest KFF files. Files may be updated from time to time.

To download the latest KFF Installation Files
1.

Go to the AccessData Current Releases - Digital Forensics product download page.
You can also download the file from the FTK or AD Lab product download pages.

Click the following:
Known

File Filter (KFF) Compatible with 6.3 and above.

Do one of the following:
To

download the KFF Server files, and utilities, click KFF for all 6.3 products.

To

download the DHS library, click KFF DHS.

To

download the NDIC library, click KFF NDIC.

To

download the NSRL, you can use files from AccessData or you can access them from
www.nist.gov.
See Importing the NIST NSRL Library Files from AccessData on page 269.

Click Download Now.

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Determining Where to Install the KFF Server
Where you install the KFF Server depends on the application and environment you are running.
For

FTK and FTK Pro applications, the KFF Server must be installed on the same computer that runs the
FTK Examiner application.

For

AD Lab and AD Enterprise, applications, the KFF Server is generally installed on a different computer
that runs the Examiner application.

For

Summation or eDiscovery, the KFF Server may be installed on either the same computer as the
application or on a remote computer. For large environments, it is recommended that the KFF Server be
installed on a dedicated computer.

After installing the KFF Server, you configure the application with the location of the KFF Server.
See Configuring the Location of the KFF Server on page 258.

AD Lab and AD Enterprise
With AD Lab and Enterprise, you generally install the KFF Server on a different computer than the application.

Special Configuration Steps for KFF
When you install the KFF Server on a different computer than the application you perform special configuration
steps by doing the following:
Configure

the KFF Sever location.
See Configuring the KFF Server Location on AD Lab and AD Enterprise on page 258.

Application

version 6.3 and later:

During

the installation of Cassandra, you must enable and configure Remote Access.
See Installing the KFF Server on page 256.

If

you installed Cassandra without enabling remote access, you can manually configure Cassandra.
See Manually Configuring Remote Setting for Cassandra on page 260.

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Summation or eDiscovery
With Summation or eDiscovery, you may have one of the following environments. The type of environment
determines where and how to configure the KFF Server.

Environment

KFF Server Location and Configuration

Single Server

All components of the application are installed on a single server.




Distributed Components
with Local Processing

Components of the application are installed on multiple servers. For example,
the MAP component is on one server and other application components, such as
WCF Services and Local Processing are installed on a separate computer.




Distributed Processing
Manager and Engines

You can install the KFF Server on the same server as WCF Services and
Local Processing or on a different remote computer.
If you install the KFF Server on the same server, no special configuration for
KFF is needed.
If you install the KFF Server on a remote computer, you must perform special
configuration steps for KFF.

You have installed the Distributed Processing Manager and Distributed
Processing Engines.



Dedicated KFF Server

You can install the KFF Server on this server or a different remote computer.
If you install the KFF Server on the same server, no special configuration for
KFF is needed.
If you install the KFF Server on a remote computer, you must perform special
configuration steps for KFF.

You can install the KFF Server on any computer.
You must perform special configuration steps for KFF.

For performance, you can install the KFF Server on a dedicated computer.


You must perform special configuration steps for KFF.

If you do not need to perform special configuration steps, you can use default settings.

Special Configuration Steps for KFF
If needed, when you perform special configuration steps, you must do the following:
Configure

the KFF Sever location by editing two application configuration files.
See Configuring the KFF Server Location on Summation or eDiscovery on page 259.

Application

version 6.3 and later:

During

the installation of Cassandra, you must enable and configure remote access.
See Installing the KFF Server on page 256.

If

you installed Cassandra without enabling remote access, you can manually configure Cassandra.
See Manually Configuring Remote Setting for Cassandra on page 260.

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Installing the KFF Server
How you install the KFF Server depends on version of the product you are running.
For product versions 6.3 and later, you install the KFF Server by installing Apache Cassandra 3.11.
When you install Cassandra, it will also install Python 2.7.13 if needed.
In order to install Cassandra, you must have 64-bit Java for Windows version 8 or later. To install Java, go to:
https://java.com/en/download/windows-64bit.jsp

Installing Cassandra
Use the AccessData Cassandra installation wizard to install Cassandra.
Note about Cassandra and firewalls:
During the installation, if you check the box to Enable Remote Access, the installer creates an inbound
exception rule for the port entered in the Cassandra installer (if the rule has not already been created).
The rule has the following attributes:
name

= AccessData Cassandra Remote Access Port

direction

= in

program

= “\Cassandra\bin\daemon\prunsrv.exe”

local

port = 9042 (or whatever the user entered)

protocol

= tcp

If you uninstall Cassandra, the installer checks to see if Enable Remote Access was checked during install,
and if it was, the installer looks for the above firewall rule using the 5 listed attributes, and if it finds the rule,
it removes it from the firewall.

To install Cassandra
1.

Select the computer that you want to install Cassandra on.
See Determining Where to Install the KFF Server on page 254.

If needed, install Java 8.

Do one of the following to access AccessData_Cassandra_Installer.exe:
Disk
Download

Launch AccessData_Cassandra_Installer.exe.

If needed, install Python 2.7.

On the Welcome page, click Next.

Accept the license terms and click Next.

Verify or change the the Destination Folder and click Next.

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If needed, configure Remote Access.
See Determining Where to Install the KFF Server on page 254.

Important: If installing for FTK, do not enable Remote Access. FTK requires a setting of localhost.
9a.

Select Enable Remote Access.

9b.

In the RPC_Address field, enter the IP address of the computer you are installing on.
For example, 10.10.10.10.

9c.

In the Native Transport Port Number field, leave the default 9042.

9d. Click Next.
If you do not enable Remote Access during installation, you can manually configure it later.
See Manually Configuring Remote Setting for Cassandra on page 260.
10. If you enabled Remote Access, set the User Credentials for the service and click Next.
11. Click Install to perform the installation.
12. Click Finish.
13. If your AccessData application is already open, restart it.

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Configuring the Location of the KFF Server
After installing the KFF Server, on the computer running the application, such as Summation, eDiscovery, FTK,
or AD Lab, you configure the location of the KFF Server.
Do one of the following:
Configuring

the KFF Server Location on AD Lab and AD Enterprise (page 258)

Configuring

the KFF Server Location on Summation or eDiscovery (page 259)

Manually

Configuring Remote Setting for Cassandra (page 260)

Configuring the KFF Server Location on AD Lab and AD Enterprise
If running FTK, you use default settings.
If running with AD Lab or AD Enterprise, and if not using default settings, before using KFF, you must configure
the location of the KFF Server.
Important: To configure KFF, you must be logged in with Admin privileges.

To view or edit KFF configuration settings
1.

In the Case Manager, click Tools > Preferences > Configure KFF.

You can set or view the address of the KFF Server.
If

you installed the KFF Server on the same computer as the application, this value will be localhost.

If

you installed the KFF Server on a different computer, identify the KFF server.

Click Test to validate communication with the KFF Server.

Click Save.

Click OK.

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Configuring the KFF Server Location on Summation or eDiscovery
When using the KFF Server with Summation or eDiscovery, two configuration files must point to the KFF Server
location.
Important: If you are upgrading to 6.3 or later from 6.2 or earlier, the syntax of and the port values for the KFF
Server have changed. If the KFF Server is not being recognized, make sure that the two config files
are correct.
See What has Changed in Version 6.3 on page 279.

KFF Server Location scenarios
If one of the following is true, you can use the default settings and the KFF Server location is configured as
“localhost”.
Your

Summation or eDiscovery installation is on a single server

Your

Summation or eDiscovery installation is on multiple servers, and you install the KFF Server on
the same server that is running WorkManager

If needed, you can verify the settings without changing them.
If one of the following is true, you must manually specify the location of the KFF Server:
If

you change the location of your KFF Server

If

you install the KFF Server on a different computer than is running WorkManager

If

you are using distributed processing

For KFF processing to work correctly in this situation, change the the KFFServerURL setting from “localhost”
to the actual IP address.

Manually Verifying or Configuring the KFF Server Location on products 6.3 and later
1.

Configure AdgWindowsServiceHost.exe.config:
1a.

On the computer running the work manger service, go to C:\Program
Files\AccessData\Common\FTK Business Services.

1b.

Open AdgWindowsServiceHost.exe.config.

1c.

Find the line .
Note: 9042 is the default port for Cassandra.

1d.

If needed, change localhost to be the location IP address of your KFF server.
For example, value=”10.10.10.10:9042”
Otherwise, leave as localhost.

1e.

Leave the following line unchanged:

1f.

Save and close the file.

1g.

If you changed the file, restart the AccessData Business Services Common service.

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Configure Infrastructure.WorkExecutionServices.Host.exe.config:
2a.

On the computer running the work manger service, go to C:\Program
Files\AccessData\eDiscovery\WorkManager.

2b.

Open Infrastructure.WorkExecutionServices.Host.exe.config.

2c.

Find the line .
Note: 9042 is the default port for Cassandra.

2d.

If needed, change localhost to be the location IP address of your KFF server.
For example, value=”10.10.10.10:9042”
Otherwise, leave as localhost.

2e.

Leave the following line unchanged:

2f.

Save and close the file.

2g.

If you changed the file, restart the AccessData Work Manager service.

Migrate or Import your KFF Hash Data.
See About Importing KFF Data on page 263.

Manually Configuring Remote Setting for Cassandra
In some situations Cassandra needs be to configured to enable Remote Access.
See Determining Where to Install the KFF Server on page 254.
During the installation of Cassandra there is the option to Enable Remote Access and then set the
RPC_Address (the IP address of the computer that Cassandra is installed on).
If you set these settings correctly during the installation, no further configuration is needed.
However, if you did not enable remote access or make a change, you can manually configure the remote
settings for Cassandra.
Note: Use an editor that supports YAML files.

To manually configuring remote settings for Cassandra
1.

Go to the location that you installed Cassandra.
By default, it is C:\Program Files\AccessData\Cassandra.

Open the \conf folder.

Edit the cassandra.yaml file.

Search for rpc_address:

Change the address from local host to the IP or DNS name of the computer running Cassandra.
For example change rpc_address: localhost to rpc_address: 10.10.10.10

Search for native_transport_port:

Verify that the setting is:

native_transport_port: 9042 (or the port you are using)
8.

Save and exit the file.

Restart the AccessData Cassandra service.

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Migrating Legacy KFF Data from Previous Versions
You can migrate KFF Data from a previous KFF Server architecture to a newer one.
See

Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.6 - 6.2 to 6.3 on page 261.

See

Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.5 and earlier on page 262.

Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.6 - 6.2 to 6.3
If you have are using applications version 6.3 and later and you previously used KFF with applications versions
5.5 - 6.2, you can migrate the older data from the Elasticsearch KFF Server to the new KFF Server architecture
used in 6.3 and later. To migrate the KFF data, you use the AccessData Has Manager Migration Tool. This tool is
a separate Windows-based application.
Important: Please note the following:
Applications

version 6.3 and later can only use the new KFF architecture that was introduced in versions
6.3. If you want to use KFF data from previous versions, you must migrate the data.

If

you have NSRL, NDIC, or DHS data in your legacy data, those sets will not be migrated. You must reimport them using the 6.3 versions or later of those libraries. Only legacy custom KFF data will be
migrated.

You

cannot migrate data from 5.5 and earlier directly to 6.3 or later. You must do a two-step migration
process and migrate first to the 5.6-6.2 format.

If

you already have data in Cassandra and you migrate from Elasticsearch, if the same hash exists on
bother servers, and one if either one of them has an Alert status, it will be given an Alert status.
Otherwise, data will be migrated with the same values.

Legacy KFF data is migrated to KFF Groups and Hash Sets on the new KFF Server.
You migrate data using the KFF Migration Tool. To use the KFF Migration Tool, you identify the following:
The

server where the legacy Elasticsearch KFF data is located.

The

server where the legacy Elasticsearch KFF data will be located to (the Cassandra location).

To install the KFF Migration Tool
1.

You can install the KFF Migration Tool onto any computer as long as it can access the servers running
Elasticsearch and Cassandra.

Access the KFF Installation disc, and run the autorun.exe.

Click the Hash Manager Migration Tool.

Complete the installation wizard.
The default path is Program Files (x86)\AccessData\HashManagerMigration.
You can use the default or enter a new path.

The tool is automatically opened after installation.

To migrate legacy KFF data
1.

Launch the KFF Hash Manager Migration Tool.

Enter the location and port of the legacy ElasticSearch KFF data.
For example, if ElasticSearch is on the same computer, you can use the default location of
http://localhost:9200.
If it is on a different computer, enter the IP address and port of the computer. For example, http://
10.10.10.10:9200.

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Enter the location of the new KFF server (Cassandra database).
For example, if Cassandra is on the same computer, you can use the default location of
localhost. If it is on a different computer, enter the IP address, for example, 10.10.10.10.

Click Start Migration.

Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.5 and earlier
If you have used KFF with applications versions 5.5 and earlier, you can migrate that data from the legacy KFF
Server to the Elasticsearch KFF Server architecture that was used in version 5.6 - 6.2. You cannot migrate data
from 5.5 directly to 6.3 or later. Instead, you must upgrade the legacy to a 5.6 - 6.2 format, then migrate that to
6.3.
Important: Applications version 5.6 - 6.2 can only use the Elasticsearch KFF architecture. If you want to use KFF
data from previous versions, you must migrate the data.
Important: If you have NSRL, NDIC, or DHS data in your legacy data, those sets will not be migrated. You must
re-import them using the 5.6 - 6.2 versions of those libraries. Only legacy custom KFF data will be
migrated.
Legacy KFF data is migrated to KFF Groups and Hash Sets on the new KFF Server.
Because KFF Templates are no longer used, they will be migrated as KFF Groups, and the groups that were
under the template will be added as sub-groups.
You migrate data using the KFF Migration Tool. To use the KFF Migration Tool, you identify the following:
The

Storage Directory folder where the legacy KFF data is located.
This was folder was configured using the KFF Server Configuration utility when you installed the legacy
KFF Server. If needed, you can use this utility to view the KFF Storage Directory. The default location of
the KFF_Config.exe file is Program Files\AccessData\KFF.

The

URL of the new KFF Server (the computer running the AccessData Elastic Search Windows Service)
This is populated automatically if the new KFF Server has been installed.

To install the KFF Migration Tool
1.

On the computer where you have installed the KFF Server, access the KFF Installation disc, and run the
autorun.exe.

Click the 64 bit or 32 bit Install KFF Migration Utility.

Complete the installation wizard.

To migrate legacy KFF data
1.

On the legacy KFF Server, you must stop the KFF Service.
You can stop the service manually or use the legacy KFF Config.exe utility.

On the new KFF Server, launch the KFF Migration Tool.

Enter the directory of the legacy KFF data.

The URL of Elasticsearch should be listed.

Click Start.

When completed, review the summary data.

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Importing KFF Data
About Importing KFF Data
You can import hashes and KFF Groups that have been previous configured.
You can import KFF data in one of the following formats:

KFF Data sources that you can import
Source

Description

Pre-configured KFF libraries

You can import KFF data from the following pre-configured libraries
NIST NSRL
NDIC HashKeeper
 DHS
 Law enforcement users: Project VIC
To import large KFF libraries, use the KFF Import Utility.



See About KFF Data Import Tools on page 264.
See Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries on page 266.
See KFF Library Reference Information on page 274.
Custom Hash Sets and KFF
Groups

You can import custom hashes from CSV and other file types.
See About the CSV Format on page 251.
You can import custom CSV files either through the application or the KFF
Import Utility.
Other files types can be imported in FTK.
See About KFF Data Import Tools on page 264.

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About KFF Data Import Tools
When you import KFF data, you can use one of two tools:

KFF Data Import Tools
The application’s Import
feature

The KFF management feature in the application lets you import .CSV files
(especially files that only have one KFF status).
For FTK-based forensics products, you can also import custom hashes from the
following file types:








Delimited files (CSV or TSV)
Hash Database files (HDB)
Hashkeeper files (HKE)
FTK Exported KFF files (KFF)
FTK Supported XML files (XML)
FTK Exported Hash files (HASH)
Project VIC JSON files

To import these kinds of files, use the KFF Import feature in your application.
See Using the Known File Feature chapter.
You can also manually create your own KFF hash set data.
KFF Import Utility

You can import files using the KFF Import Utility.
It is recommended that you use the KFF Import Utility to import files in the
following situations:
A CSV file that has a mixture of Alert and Ignore statuses.
Large pre-configured libraries:
NIST NSRL
NDIC HashKeeper
DHS
See Using the KFF Import Utility on page 265.



About Default Status Values
When you import KFF data, you configure a default status value of Alert or Ignore. When adding Hash Sets to
KFF Groups, you can configure the KFF Groups to use the default status values of the Hash Set or you can
configure the KFF Group with a status that will override the default Hash Set values.
See Components of KFF Data on page 248.

About Duplicate Hashes
If multiple Hash Set files containing the same Hash identifier are imported into a single KFF Group, the group
keeps the last Hash Set’s metadata information, overwriting the previous Hash Sets’ metadata. This only
happens within an individual group and not across multiple groups.

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Using the KFF Import Utility
It is important that you use the correct version of the KFF Import Utility with the version of the application you are
using. The KFF Import Utility was modified significantly for 6.3.

Using the KFF Import Utility versions 6.3 and later
About the KFF Import Utility
Due to the large size of some KFF data, a stand-alone KFF Import utility is available to use to import the data.
This KFF Import utility can import large amounts of data faster then using the import feature in the application.
It is recommend that you install and use the KFF Import utility to import the following pre-configured libraries:




NIST NSRL
NDIC HashKeeper
DHS

After importing NSRL, NDIC, or DHS libraries, these libraries are displayed in the Currently Installed Sets list.
See Components of KFF Data on page 248.
You can also use the KFF Import Utility to remove the NSRL, NDIC, or DHS indexes that you have imported.

Installing the KFF Import Utility versions 6.3 and later
You must use the matching version of the KFF Import Utility with your application, for example, 6.3.

To install the KFF Import Utility
1.

On the computer where you have installed the KFF Server, access the KFF Installation disc, and run the
autorun.exe.

Click the Install KFF Import Utility.

Complete the installation wizard.

To import libraries, see See About Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries on page 266.

Importing a CSV Using the KFF Import Utility versions 6.3 and later
You can import Hash Sets and KFF Groups by importing a custom CSV file.
See About the CSV Format on page 251.

To import a CSV using the KFF Import Utility
1.

Open the KFF Import Utility.

Click the Browse .. button and locate the CSV that you want to import.

Click Open.

(Optional) - Enter package, vendor, version, etc.

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If you installed Cassandra enabling Remote Access, in the Server address field, you must enter the
computer’s IP that has Cassandra installed on it, even if it is on the same computer as the import utility.
Otherwise, leave it as localhost.

Click Import.

When complete, click OK.

Removing Pre-defined KFF Libraries Using the KFF Import Utility version 6.3
and later
You can remove a pre-defined KFF Library that you have previously imported.
You cannot see or remove existing custom KFF data (your own CSVs or manually entered data).
Important: Removing files using this method takes a very long time (up to a couple of hour for NIST and DHS,
and many hours for NSRL). You may want to manually deletes sets and groups using the application
instead.

To remove pre-defined KFF Libraries
1.

On the KFF Server, open the KFF Import Utility.

Select the library that you want to remove.

Click Remove.

Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries
About Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries
After you install the KFF Server, you can import pre-defined NIST NSRL, NDIC HashKeeper, and DHS data
libraries.
See About KFF Pre-Defined Hash Libraries on page 274.
Important: In versions 6.3, you must import specific files for these versions. It is recommend that you use the
KFF Import Utility.
After importing pre-defined KFF Libraries, you can remove them from the KFF Server.
Removing

Pre-defined KFF Libraries Using the KFF Import Utility version 6.3 and later (page 266)

See the following sections:
Importing

the NIST NSRL Library (page 267)

Importing

the NDIC Hashkeeper Library (page 271)

Importing

the DHS Library (page 271)

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Importing the NIST NSRL Library
To import NSRL data in applications version 6.3 and later, you can do one of the following:
Download

version 2.58 or later RDS files from nist.gov and import them.
See Downloading and Importing the NIST NSRL Files from NIST.ORG on page 267.

Download

version 2.54 files from AccessData and import them.
See Downloading and Importing the NIST NSRL Files from NIST.ORG on page 267.

Downloading and Importing the NIST NSRL Files from NIST.ORG
You can download the latest ISO files directly from the NIST.GOV.
After you have downloaded the files, you import them into the KFF Server.
Before importing NSRL data, we recommend that you verify the hashes of the iso files that you downloaded from
NIST. This assures that the data has not been corrupted.

Important: Please note the following:
The

complete NSRL library data is contained in a large (3 GB) .ZIP file in the image file. When expanded,
the data is about 14 GB.

Due

to the large amount of NSRL data, it will take 6-8 hours to import the NSRL data using the KFF
Import Utility. If you import from within an application, it will take even longer.

You

must not have a previous version version of the NSRL library installed. If needed, uninstall the
previous version first.

To download NSRL files from NIST.ORG
1.

Go to https://www.nist.gov/software-quality-group/national-software-reference-library-nsrl

Click NSRL Download.

Click Current RDS Hash Sets.

Click and download Modern RDS.

Compare and the hashes of your downloaded iso files with the hashes listed at:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/rds.nsrl.nist.gov/RDS/current/version.txt
(This address is case-sensitive)

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To prepare NSRL files for importing
1.

Mount the RDS ISO file.

Create a folder that you can browse to from the Import Utility (for example, RDS_258_modern).

Extract the NSRLFile.txt.zip file into that RDS folder.

Copy the following files from the ISO image to that same RDS folder:
NSRLProd.txt
NSRLOS.txt
NSRLMfg.txt

Create an AppTypes.txt file.
In this file, you can specify application files that you may want to flag as Alert rather than Ignore.
5a.

In the same folder as the NSRLFile.txt.zip file, create a text file named AppTypes.txt.

5b.

In the file, include the following text:

This is a text file listing the application types (one per line) which should have "Alert"
status set:
Anti-KeyLogger
Computer Investigation
Data Encryption
Disk Wiper
Encryption
Forensic
Forensic Toolkit
Hacker Tool
Keyboard Logger
Steganography
5c.
6.

Save and exit the file.

Verify that the folder has the following files:
NSRLProd.txt
NSRLOS.txt
NSRLMfg.txt
NSRLFile.txt
AppTypes.txt

To import the NIST NSRL library
1.

On the KFF Server, launch the 6.3 or later version of the KFF Import Utility.
See About Importing KFF Data on page 263.

Do the following:
2a.

In the File to Import field, browse to and select the NSRLFile.txt file that you previously extracted.

2b.

If you installed Cassandra enabling Remote Access, in the Server address field, you must enter
the computer’s IP that has Cassandra installed on it, even if it is on the same computer as the
import utility. Otherwise, use localhost.

2c.

Click Import.

2d.

The import will take several hours.

2e.

When the import is complete, click OK.

2f.

The NSRL library will be listed in the Currently Installed Sets.

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Using the KFF Import Utility

| 268

Importing the NIST NSRL Library Files from AccessData
You can download version 2.54 files from AccessData and import them.
See About NSRL Library Files Provided by AccessData on page 270.
Important: The NSRL library data is contained in a large (3.75 GB) .ZIP file. When expanded, the data is about
21.7 GB. Make sure that your file system can support files of this size.
Important: Due to the large amount of NSRL data, it will take approximately 8 hours to import the NSRL data
using the KFF Import Utility.

To install the NSRL library
1.

On the computer that you want to be the KFF Server, extract the nsrlsource_2.54.zip file that is at the
root of the ISO.

On the computer that you want to be the KFF Server, install the AccessData Cassandra Service.

Install the KFF Import Utility version 6.3.

Use the KFF Import Utility to import the NSRL library by doing the following:
4a.

Launch the KFF Import Utility.

4b.

Browse to the NSRLFile.txt that is contained in the nsrlsource_2.54 folder.

4c.

Click Open.

4d.

Click Import.

4e.

When the import is complete, a finished window pops up, click OK.

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Using the KFF Import Utility

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About NSRL Library Files Provided by AccessData
You can import the NSRL library into your KFF Server. During the import, two KFF Groups are created:
NSRL_Alert and NSRL_Ignore. In FTK-based products, these two groups are automatically added to the Default
KFF Group.
The NSRL libraries are updated from time to time. The NSRL import feature supports appending new data and
updating existing data when importing a newer version. To import and maintain the NSRL data, you do the
following:

Process for Importing and Maintaining the NIST NSRL Library
1. Import the complete
NSRL library.

You must first install the most current complete NSRL library. You can later add
updates to it.
To access and import the complete NSRL library, see
Importing the NIST NSRL Library (page 267)

2. Import updates to the
library

When updates are made available, import the updates to bring the data up-to
date.
See Installing KFF Updates on page 273.
Important: In order to use the NSRL updates, you must first import the complete
library. When you install an NSRL update, you must keep the previous NSRL
versions installed in order to maintain the complete set of NSRL data.

Available NRSL library files (new format)
NSRL Library
Release

Released

Information

Complete library
version 2.54
(source .ZIP file)

Mar 2017

For use only with applications version 5.6 and later.

Complete library
version 2.45
(source .ZIP file)

Nov 2014

Contains the full NSRL library up through update 2.54.

Getting Started with KFF (Known File Filter)

For use only with applications version 5.6 and later.
Contains the full NSRL library up through update 2.45.

Using the KFF Import Utility

| 270

Importing the NDIC Hashkeeper Library
You can import the Hashkeeper 9.08 library.
For application versions 6.3 and later, these files are stored in CSV format.

To import the Hashkeeper library
1.

Have access to the NDIC source files by download the ZIP file from the web:
See Downloading the Latest KFF Installation Files on page 253.

Extract the ZIP file.

On the KFF Server, launch the 6.3 or later version of the KFF Import Utility.
See About Importing KFF Data on page 263.

Do the following:
4a.

In the File to Import field, browse to and select the ndic.csv file.

4b.

If you installed Cassandra enabling Remote Access, in the Server address field, you must enter
the computer’s IP that has Cassandra installed on it, even if it is on the same computer as the
import utility. Otherwise, use localhost.

4c.

Click Import.

4d.

The import may take a few minutes.

4e.

When the import is complete, click OK.

4f.

The NDIC library will be listed in the Currently Installed Sets.

Importing the DHS Library
You can import the DHS 1.08 library.
For application versions 6.3 and later, these files are stored in CSV format.

To import the DHS library
1.

Have access to the DHS source files by download the ZIP file from the web:
See Downloading the Latest KFF Installation Files on page 253.

Extract the ZIP file.

On the KFF Server, launch the 6.3 or later version of the KFF Import Utility.
See About Importing KFF Data on page 263.

Do the following:
4a.

In the File to Import field, browse to and select the dhs.csv file.

4b.

If you installed Cassandra enabling Remote Access, in the Server address field, you must enter
the computer’s IP that has Cassandra installed on it, even if it is on the same computer as the
import utility. Otherwise, use localhost.

4c.

Click Import.

4d.

The import may take a few minutes.

4e.

When the import is complete, click OK.

4f.

The DHS library will be listed in the Currently Installed Sets.

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Using the KFF Import Utility

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Uninstalling KFF
You can uninstall KFF application components independently of the KFF Data.

Main version

Description

Applications 5.6
to 6.2

For applications version 5.6 and later, you uninstall the following components:
AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service (KFF Server) v1.2.7 and later
Note: Elasticsearch is used by multiple features in various applications, use caution
when uninstalling this service or the related data.
 AccessData KFF Import Utility (v5.6 and later)
 AccessData KFF Migration Tool (v1.0 and later)
 AccessData Geo Location Data (v2014.10 and later)
Note: This component is not used by the KFF feature, but with the KFF Server for the
geolocation visualization feature.
The location of the KFF data is configured when the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows
Service was installed. By default, it is located at


C:\Program Files\AccessData\Elacticsearch\Data.
Applications 5.5
and earlier

For applications version 5.5 and earlier, you can uninstall the following components:
KFF Server (v1.2.7 and earlier)
Note: The KFF Server is also used by the geolocation visualization feature.
 AccessData Geo Location Data (1.0.1 and earlier)
This component is not used by the KFF feature, but with the KFF Server for the geolocation visualization feature.
The location of the KFF data was configured when the KFF Server was installed. You can
view the location of the data by running the KFF.Config.exe on the KFF Server.


If you are upgrading from 5.5 to 5.6, you can migrate your KFF data before uninstalling the
KFF Server.

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Uninstalling KFF

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Installing KFF Updates
From time to time, AccessData will release updates to the KFF Server and the KFF data libraries.
Some of the KFF data updates may require you to update the version of the KFF Server.
To check for updates, do the following:
1.

Go to the KFF product download page.
See Downloading the Latest KFF Installation Files on page 253.

Check for updates.
See

About KFF Server Versions on page 252.

See

Importing the NIST NSRL Library on page 267.

If there are updates, download them.

Install or import the updates.

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Installing KFF Updates

| 273

KFF Library Reference Information
About KFF Pre-Defined Hash Libraries
This section includes a description of pre-defined hash collections that can be added as AccessData KFF data.
The following pre-defined libraries are currently available for KFF and come from federal government agencies:
NIST

NSRL (The default library installed with KFF)

NDIC

HashKeeper (An optional library that can be downloaded from the AccessData Downloads page)

DHS

(An optional library that can be downloaded from the AccessData Downloads page)

For law enforcement users, you can also use Project Vic libraries.
See Using Project VIC on page 298.

Use the following information to help identify the origin of any hash set within the KFF
The

NSRL hash sets do not begin with “ZZN” or “ZN”. In addition, in the AD Lab KFF, all the NSRL hash
set names are appended (post-fixed) with multi-digit numeric identifier. For example: “Password Manager
& Form Filler 9722.”

All

HashKeeper Alert sets begin with “ZZ”, and all HashKeeper Ignore sets begin with “Z”. (There are a
few exceptions. See below.) These prefixes are often followed by numeric characters (“ZZN” or “ZN”
where N is any single digit, or group of digits, 0-9), and then the rest of the hash set name. Two examples
of HashKeeper Alert sets are:
“ZZ00001

Suspected child porn”

“ZZ14W”
An example of a HashKeeper Ignore set is:



“Z00048
The


Corel Draw 6”

DHS collection is broken down as follows:

In 1.81.4 and later there are two sets named “DHS-ICE Child Exploitation JAN-1-08 CSV” and
“DHS-ICE Child Exploitation JAN-1-08 HASH”.

In

AD Lab there is just one such set, and it is named “DHS-ICE Child Exploitation JAN-1-08”.

Once an investigator has identified the vendor from which a hash set has come, he/she may need to consider
the vendor’s philosophy on collecting and categorizing hash sets, and the methods used by the vendor to gather
hash values into sets, in order to determine the relevance of Alert (and Ignore) hits to his/her project. The
following descriptions may be useful in assessing hits.

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KFF Library Reference Information

| 274

NIST NSRL
The NIST NSRL collection is described at: http://www.nsrl.nist.gov/index.html. This collection is much larger than
HashKeeper in terms of the number of sets and the total number of hashes. It is composed entirely of hash sets
being generated from application software. So, all of its hash sets are given Ignore status by AccessData staff
except for those whose names make them sound as though they could be used for illicit purposes.
The NSRL collection divides itself into many sub-collections of hash sets with similar names. In addition, many of
these hash sets are “empty”, that is, they are not accompanied by any hash values. The size of the NSRL
collection, combined with the similarity in set naming and the problem of empty sets, allows AccessData to
modify (or selectively alter) NSRL’s own set names to remove ambiguity and redundancy.
Find contact info at http://www.nsrl.nist.gov/Contacts.htm.

NDIC HashKeeper
NDIC’s HashKeeper collection uses the Alert/Ignore designation. The Alert sets are hash values contributed by
law enforcement agents working in various jurisdictions within the US - and a few that apparently come from
Luxemburg. All of the Alert sets were contributed because they were believed by the contributor to be connected
to child pornography. The Ignore sets within HashKeeper are computed from files belonging to application
software.
During the creation of KFF, AccessData staff retains the Alert and Ignore designations given by the NDIC, with
the following exceptions. AccessData labels the following sets Alert even though HashKeeper had assigned
them as Ignore: “Z00045 PGP files”, “Z00046 Steganos”, “Z00065 Cyber Lock”, “Z00136 PGP Shareware”,
“Z00186 Misc Steganography Programs”, “Z00188 Wiping Programs”. The names of these sets may
suggest the intent to conceal data on the part of the suspect, and AccessData marks them Alert with the
assumption that investigators would want to be “alerted” to the presence of data obfuscation or elimination
software that had been installed by the suspect.
The following table lists actual HashKeeper Alert Set origins:

A Sample of HashKeeper KFF Contributions
Hash

Contributor

Location

ZZ00001
Suspected child
porn

Det. Mike McNown
& Randy Stone

Wichita PD

ZZ00002
Identified Child
Porn

Det. Banks

Union County
(NJ) Prosecutor's
Office

ZZ00003
Suspected child
porn

Illinois State Police

ZZ00004
Identified Child
Porn

SA Brad Kropp,
AFOSI, Det 307

Getting Started with KFF (Known File Filter)

Contact Information

Case/Source

(908) 527-4508

case 2000S-0102

(609) 754-3354

Case # 00307D7S934831

KFF Library Reference Information

| 275

A Sample of HashKeeper KFF Contributions (Continued)
Hash

Contributor

ZZ00000,
suspected child
porn

NDIC

ZZ00005
Suspected Child
Porn

Rene Moes,
Luxembourg Police

ZZ00006
Suspected Child
Porn

Illinois State Police

Location

Contact Information

Case/Source

rene.moes@police.eta
t.lu

ZZ00007b
Suspected KP
(US Federal)
ZZ00007a
Suspected KP
Movies
ZZ00007c
Suspected KP
(Alabama 13A-12192)
ZZ00008
Suspected Child
Pornography or
Erotica

Sergeant Purcell

Seminole County
Sheriff's Office
(Orlando, FL,
USA)

(407) 665-6948,
dpurcell@seminoleshe
riff.org

suspected child
pornogrpahy from
20010000850

ZZ00009 Known
Child
Pornography

Sergeant Purcell

Seminole County
Sheriff's Office
(Orlando, FL,
USA)

(407) 665-6948,
dpurcell@seminoleshe
riff.org

200100004750

ZZ10 Known Child
Porn

Detective Richard
Voce CFCE

Tacoma Police
Department

(253)594-7906,
rvoce@ci.tacoma.wa.u
s

ZZ00011
Identified CP
images

Detective Michael
Forsyth

Baltimore County
Police
Department

(410)887-1866,
mick410@hotmail.com

ZZ00012
Suspected CP
images

Sergeant Purcell

Seminole County
Sheriff's Office
(Orlando, FL,
USA)

(407) 665-6948,
dpurcell@seminoleshe
riff.org

ZZ0013 Identified
CP images

Det. J. Hohl

Yuma Police
Department

928-373-4694

Getting Started with KFF (Known File Filter)

YPD02-70707

KFF Library Reference Information

| 276

A Sample of HashKeeper KFF Contributions (Continued)
Hash

Contributor

ZZ14W

Sgt Stephen May

Location

Contact Information

Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898
ZZ14U

Sgt Chris Walling
Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898

ZZ14X

Case/Source
TXOAG
41929134

TXOAG
41919887

TXOAG Internal

Sgt Jeff Eckert
Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898

ZZ14I

Sgt Stephen May
Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898

ZZ14B

ZZ14S

Robert Britt, SA,
FBI

Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898

Sgt Stephen May
Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898

ZZ14Q

Sgt Cody Smirl
Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898

ZZ14V

Sgt Karen McKay
Tamara.Chandler@oa
g.state.tx.us,
(512)936-2898

ZZ00015 Known
CP Images

Det. J. Hohl

ZZ00016

Marion County
Sheriff's
Department

Yuma Police
Department

TXOAG
041908476

TXOAG
031870678

TXOAG
041962689

TXOAG
041952839

TXOAG
41924143

928-373-4694

YPD04-38144

(317) 231-8506

MP04-0216808

The basic rule is to always consider the source when using KFF in your investigations. You should consider the
origin of the hash set to which the hit belongs. In addition, you should consider the underlying nature of hash
values in order to evaluate a hit’s authenticity.

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KFF Library Reference Information

| 277

Higher Level KFF Structure and Usage
Since hash set groups have the properties just described (and because custom hash sets and groups can be
defined by the investigator) the KFF mechanism can be leveraged in creative ways. For example:
You

could define a group of hash sets created from encryption software and another group of hash sets
created from child pornography files. Then, you would apply only those groups while processing.

You

could also use the Ignore status. You are about to process a hard drive image, but your search
warrant does not allow inspection of certain files within the image that have been previously identified.
You could do the following and still observe the warrant:
4a.

Open the image in Imager, navigate to each of the prohibited files, and cause an MD5 hash value
to be computed for each.

4b.

Import these hash values into custom hash sets (one or more), add those sets to a custom group,
and give the group Ignore status.

4c.

Process the image with the MD5 and KFF options, and with AD_Alert, AD_Ignore, and the new,
custom group selected.

4d.

During post-processing analysis, filter file lists to eliminate rows representing files with Ignore
status.

Hash Set Categories
The highest level of the KFF’s logical structure is the categorizing of hash sets by owner and scope. The
categories are AccessData, Project Specific, and Shared.

Hash Set Categories
Category

Description

AccessData

The sets shipped with as the Library. Custom groups can be created from these sets, but
the sets and their status values are read only.

Project
Specific

Sets and groups created by the investigator to be applied only within an individual project.

Shared

Sets and groups created by the investigator for use within multiple projects all stored in the
same database, and within the same application schema.

Important: Coordination among other investigators is essential when altering Shared groups in a lab
deployment. Each investigator must consider how other investigators will be affected when Shared
groups are modified.

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KFF Library Reference Information

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What has Changed in Version 6.3
With the 6.3 release of eDiscovery, Summation, and FTK-based forensics products, the KFF architecture and
features have been updated. This architecture is used in versions 6.3 and later.
If you used KFF with applications version 6.2 or earlier, be aware of the following changes in the KFF
functionality.

KFF Changes from version 6.2 to 6.3
Item

Description

KFF Server

KFF Server now runs as a different service.



In versions 5.6 through 6.2, the KFF Server ran as the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service.
In 6.3 and later, the KFF Server uses the AccessData Cassandra service.

Important: If you are upgrading from 6.2 or earlier, all KFF data must be created
in or migrated into the new KFF Server.
See Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.6 - 6.2 to 6.3 on page 261.
eDiscovery or
Summation KFF Server
Configuration Files

In eDiscovery or Summation, there are two configuration files that configure the
location of the KFF server.
See Configuring the KFF Server Location on Summation or eDiscovery on
page 259.
The location format and port value in those files have changed.
In 5.6 - 6.2, the following was used:

In 6.3 it was changed to:

Note: The “http://” text is no longer used and Cassandra uses port 9042 instead
of 9200.
There is also a new line:

Hash Manager Migration
Tool

If you are upgrading from 5.6 through 6.2, there is a new tool that lets you
migrate custom KFF data to the new KFF Server on 6.3.
See Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.6 - 6.2 to 6.3 on page 261.
Important: NIST NSRL, NDIC HashKeeper, or DHS library data from 6.2 and
earlier will not be migrated when using the Migration Tool. You must re-import
those using the 6.3 KFF Import Tool.
See About Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries on page 266.

KFF Import Utility

This utility has been updated to use the new KFF Server.
If you are upgrading from 5.6 - 6.2, make sure to install and use the new 6.3
version.
See Using the KFF Import Utility on page 265.

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What has Changed in Version 6.3

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KFF Changes from version 6.2 to 6.3
Item

Description

NDIC HashKeeper and
DHS libraries

To use these libraries, you must import new versions of the files using the 6.3
version of the KFF Import Utility.
NDIC HashKeeper and DHS libraries are now downloaded from AccessData and
imported as CSV files.
See About Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries on page 266.

NIST NSRL

To import NSRL data, you can do either of the following:
Download version 2.54 files from AccessData and import them.
Download version 2.58 or later RDS files from nist.gov and import them.
See Importing the NIST NSRL Library on page 267.



Export/Import

When you export and import KFF data, the Binary format (Entire Library) is no
longer available. CSV is the only export format supported.

Geolocation data

Geolocation data is installed independently and is no longer linked to KFF.

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What has Changed in Version 6.3

| 280

What was Changed in Version 5.6
WIth the 5.6 release of eDiscovery, Summation, and FTK-based products, the KFF feature was updated. This
architecture was used in versions 5.6 through 6.2.
If you used KFF with applications version 5.5 or earlier, you will want to be aware of the following changes in the
KFF functionality.

Changes from version 5.5 to 5.6
Item
KFF Server

Description
KFF Server now runs a different service.



KFF Migration Tool

In 5.5 and earlier, the KFF Server ran as the KFF Server service.
In 5.6 and later, the KFF Server uses the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows
Service.
For applications version 5.6 and later, all KFF data must be created in or
imported into the new KFF Server.

This is a new tool that lets you migrate custom KFF data from 5.5 and earlier to
the new KFF Server.
NIST NSRL, NDIC HashKeeper, or DHS library data from 5.5 will not be
migrated. You must re-import it.
See Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.5 and earlier on page 262.

KFF Import Utility

This is a new utility that lets you import large amounts of KFF data quicker than
using the import feature in the application.
See Using the KFF Import Utility on page 265.

KFF Libraries, Templates,
and Groups

In 5.5, all Hash Sets were configured within KFF Libraries. KFF Libraries could
then contain KFF Groups and KFF Templates.
KFF Libraries and Templates have been eliminated. You now simply create or
import KFF Groups and add Hash Sets to the groups.
You can now nest KFF Groups.

NIST NSRL, NDIC
HashKeeper, or DHS
libraries

In 5.5 and earlier, to use these libraries, you ran an installation wizard for each
library. You now import these libraries using the KFF Import Utility.

Import Log

FTK-based products no longer include the Import Log.

Export

When you export KFF data you can now choose two formats:

See About Importing Pre-defined KFF Data Libraries on page 266.

CSV

format which replaced XML format

A

new binary format
See About the CSV Format on page 251.

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What was Changed in Version 5.6

| 281

Chapter 17

Using the Known File Filter (KFF)

This chapter explains how to configure and use KFF and has the following sections:
See

Process for Using KFF on page 282.

See

About the KFF Admin page on page 283.

See

Adding Hashes to the KFF Server on page 285.

See

Using KFF Groups to Organize Hash Sets on page 289.

See

Enabling a Case to Use KFF on page 292.

See

Reviewing KFF Results in the Examiner on page 294.

See

Exporting KFF Data on page 297.

Process for Using KFF
To use the KFF feature, you perform the following steps:

Process for using KFF
Step 1.

Install and configure the KFF Server.
See Installing the KFF Server on page 252.

Step 2.

Add and manage KFF hashes on the KFF Server.
See Adding Hashes to the KFF Server on page 285.

Step 3.

Add and manage KFF Groups to organize KFF Hash Sets.
Using KFF Groups to Organize Hash Sets (page 289)

Step 4.

Enable KFF for a case.
See Enabling a Case to Use KFF on page 292.

Step 5.

Review KFF results in the Examiner.
See Reviewing KFF Results in the Examiner on page 294.

Step 6.

(Optional) Re-process the KFF data using different hashes.
See Re-Processing KFF Using Additional Analysis on page 296.

Step 7.

(Optional) Archive or export KFF data to share with other KFF Servers.
See Exporting KFF Data on page 297.

Using the Known File Filter (KFF)

Process for Using KFF

| 282

About the KFF Admin page
You use the KFF Admin page to configure KFF Data by doing the following:
Import

Hashes

Manually

manage Hash Sets

Create

and manage KFF Groups

Export

KFF data

To open the KFF Admin page
From the Case Manager or the Examiner, click Manage > KFF...

The KFF Admin page opens.
If the Configure KFF dialog appears instead, check the following:
The

KFF Server is installed.
See Installing the KFF Server on page 252.

The

application has been configured for the KFF Server.
See Configuring the Location of the KFF Server on page 258.

The

KFF Service is running.
In the Windows Services manager, make sure that the AccessData Elasticsearch service is started.

Elements of the KFF Admin page
Pane

Element

Groups pane

Description
Lets you create and manage KFF groups.
See Using KFF Groups to Organize Hash Sets on
page 289.

New

Lets you create a KFF Group.
See Creating a KFF Group on page 290.

Edit

Lets you edit a KFF Group.
See Managing KFF Groups on page 290.

Delete

Lets you delete a KFF Group.
See Managing KFF Groups on page 290.

Export

You can share KFF hashes by exporting KFF
groups.
See Exporting KFF Data on page 297.

Hash Sets Pane

Displays the sets that you have imported or
created.
For example, if you import the NSRL KFF library,
those sets are displayed here.
Once you select a KFF Group in the Groups pane,
only the Hash Sets and Groups that are in that
selected group are listed.

Using the Known File Filter (KFF)

About the KFF Admin page

| 283

Elements of the KFF Admin page
Pane

Element

Description

Edit

Lets you edit the hashes in a custom Hash Set.
See Using KFF Groups to Organize Hash Sets on
page 289.

Import

Lets you import KFF data.
See Importing KFF Data on page 285.

Archive Server

Lets you archive all of the custom KFF Groups and
Hash Sets stored in this KFF Server.
See Enabling a Case to Use KFF on page 292.

Using the Known File Filter (KFF)

About the KFF Admin page

| 284

Adding Hashes to the KFF Server
You must add the hashes of the files that you want to compare against your evidence data. When adding hashes
to the KFF Server, you add them in KFF Hash Sets.
You can use the following methods to add hashes to the KFF Library:
Migrate legacy KFF Server
data

You can migrate legacy KFF data that is in a KFF Server in applications
versions 5.5 and earlier.
See Migrating Legacy KFF Data from versions 5.5 and earlier on
page 262.

Import hashes

You can import previously configured KFF hashes, for example, from
.CSV, .HDB, .HKE, or .HASH files.
See Importing KFF Data on page 285.

Manually create and manage
Hash Sets

You can manually add hashes to a Hash Set.

Add hashes from files in your
case

You can add hashes from files in your case.

See Manually Managing Hashes in a Hash Set on page 286.

See Adding Hashes From Files in Cases on page 287.

Importing KFF Data
Before Importing KFF Data
To understand the methods and formats for importing KFF data, first see About Importing KFF Data (page 263).
This chapter explains how to import KFF data using the KFF Admin page.

Importing KFF Hashes
You can import KFF data from the following:
KFF

export files, such as CSV, TSV, HDB, HKE, KFF, HASH
See About the CSV Format on page 251.

KFF

export files, such as TSV, HDB, HKE, KFF, HASH

When importing KFF data, you must enter values for the following fields:
Name
Source

Vendor

Version
Package

While the values are required, you can enter whatever values you may want to use to help you organize your
hashes.

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To import KFF hashes from files
1.

Open the Case Manager or the Examiner.

Click Manage > KFF.

In KFF Admin, click Import.

Click Add File.

Set the Status: Alert or Ignore.

To browse to a file, for the Path, click ...

Browse to the path of the file.

Use the file type selector to view the types of files that you are looking for (.CSV, HKE, KFF, etc.)

Select a file.

10. Click Open.
11. Enter information for the hash set:
12. Click OK.
13. (Optional) Add other files that you want to import.
14. Click Import.

Manually Managing Hashes in a Hash Set
You can manually add, edit, and delete hash values within a custom hash set.
Important: You can manually delete hash values that were imported from NSRL, NDIC HashKeeper, and DHS
libraries. However, this can take one to several hours. Instead of deleting them using the application,
we recommend that you delete them using the KFF Import Utility. See Removing Pre-defined KFF
Libraries Using the KFF Import Utility version 6.3 and later on page 266.

Searching For, Viewing, and Managing Hashes in a Hash Set
Due to the large number of hashes that may be in a Hash Set, a list of hashes is not displayed. (However, you
can export a KFF Group that contains the Hash Set and view the hashes in the export file.)
You can use the KFF Hash Finder to search for hash values within a hash set. You search by entering a
complete hash value. You can only search for one hash within one hash set at a time.

To search for and manage hashes in a hash set
1.

Click Manage > KFF.

Select a Hash Set.

Click Edit.

To search for a hash, do the following:

4a.

In the Hash field, enter the complete hash value that you want to search for.

4b.

Click Search.

To manually add a hash to a hash set, do the following:
5a.

In the Hash field, enter the complete hash value that you want to add.

5b.

Click Search to verify if the hash already exists.

5c.

If the hash was not found, click Add.

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5d.

Select the status of the hash:
 Alert
 Ignore
 None

5e.

Enter the File Name of the file for the hash.

5f.

(Optional) Enter other information about the hash.

5g.

Click Save.

To manually edit a hash in a hash set, do the following:
6a.

In the Hash field, enter the complete hash value that you want to edit.

6b.

Click Search to verify that the hash already exists.

6c.

If the hash was found, click Edit.

6d.

Edit any settings and click Save.

To manually delete a hash from a hash set, do the following:
7a.

In the Hash field, enter the complete hash value that you want to delete.

7b.

Click Search to verify that the hash already exists.

7c.

If the hash was found, click Delete.

Click Done.

Adding Hashes From Files in Cases
You may identify files that in exist in a case as files that you want to add to your KFF hashes. For example, you
may find a graphics file that you want to either alert for or ignore in this or other cases. Using Examiner, you can
select files, export their file information to CSV, and then Import them as new KFF Hash Sets.

To add hashes from files in a case
1.

Open a case in the Examiner.

Check one or more files that you want to have an Alert status for. (Only do similar statuses at a time.)

Export the file information you want to add hashes for by doing the following:

3a.

Click File > Export File List Info.

3b.

Browse to a folder and provide a name, such Files_for_KFF_Alerts.

3c.

Select a CSV format.

3d.

Choose All checked.

3e.

Click Save.

3f.

(Optional) Repeat the export for files that you want to have an Ignore status for.

Import one or more exported File List Info CSV files by doing the following:
4a.

Click Manage > KFF.

4b.

Click Import.

4c.

On the KFF Import Tool, click Add File.

4d.

Select the status: Alert or Ignore for the hashes.

4e.

Click ... to browse to the file that you exported with the File List Info.

4f.

Enter the Source Vendor, Version, and Package.

4g.

Click OK.

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4h.

(Optional) Click Add file and repeat for other files.

4i.

Click Import.

Add the new Hash Sets to one or more KFF Groups.

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Using KFF Groups to Organize Hash Sets
About KFF Groups
KFF groups are containers for one or more Hash Sets. When you create a group, you then add Hash Sets to the
group. KFF Groups can also contain other KFF Groups.
When you enable KFF for a case, you select which KFF Group to use during processing.
Within a KFF group, you can manually edit custom Hash Sets.

About KFF Groups Status Override Settings
When you create a KFF Group, you can choose to use the default status of the Hash Set (Alert or Ignore) or
override it. You do this by setting one of the following Status Override settings:
Alert

- All Hash Sets within the KFF Group will be set to Alert regardless of the status of the individual
Hash Sets.

Ignore

- All Hash Sets within the KFF Group will be set to Ignore regardless of the status of the individual
Hash Sets.

No

Override - All Hash Sets will maintain their default status.

For example, if you have a Hash Set with a status of Alert, if you set the KFF Group to No Override, then the
default status of Alert is used. If you set the KFF Group with a status of Ignore, the Hash Set Alert status is
overridden and Ignore is used.
As a result, use caution when setting the Status Override for a KFF Group.

About Nesting KFF Groups
KFF Groups can contain Hash Sets or they can contain other KFF Groups. When one KFF Group includes
another KFF Group, it is called nesting.
The reason that you may want to nest KFF Groups is that you can use multiple KFF Groups when processing
your data. When you enable KFF for a case, you can only select one KFF Group. By nesting, you can use
multiple KFF Groups.
For example, you may have one KFF Group that contains Hash Sets with an Alert status. You may have a
second KFF Group that contains Hash Sets with an Ignore status. When processing a case, you may want to
use both of those KFF Groups. To accomplish this, you can create another KFF Group as a parent and then add
the other two KFF Groups to it. When processing, you would select the parent KFF Group.
When nesting KFF Groups you must be mindful of the Status Override of the parent KFF Group. When nesting
KFF Groups, the Status Override the highest KFF Group in the hierarchy is used. In most cases, you will want to
set the parent KFF Group with a status of None. That way, the status of each child KFF Group (or their Hash
Sets) is used. If you select an Alert or Ignore status for the parent KFF Group, then all child KFF Groups and
their Hash Sets will use that status.

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About the Default KFF Group
A Default KFF Group is automatically created, but by default, has no Hash Sets in it. You cannot rename or
delete the Default KFF Group however, you can add and remove Hash Sets.
The purpose of the Default KFF Group is that you can add the Hash Sets that you most regularly use, and when
you enable the processing of KFF data for a case, you can simply select the Default KFF Group.
See Enabling a Case to Use KFF on page 292.
If you install NSRL, NDIC HashKeeper, and DHS libraries, they are automatically added to the Default KFF
Group. You can remove them from the Default KFF Group if you wish.

Creating a KFF Group
You create KFF groups to organize your Hash Sets. When you create a KFF Group, you add one or more Hash
Sets to it. You can later edit the KFF Group to add or remove Hash Sets.

To create and configure a KFF group
1.

Open the Case Manager or the Examiner.

Click Manage > KFF.

In the Groups pane, click New.

Enter a Name.

Set the Status Override.
See About KFF Groups Status Override Settings on page 289.

In the Available Hash Sets pane, select any hash sets to include in the KFF Group and click << .

To nest another KFF Group within it, in the Available Groups pane, select any child KFF Groups and
click << .

Click OK.

Viewing the Contents of a KFF Group
In KFF Admin, you can select a KFF Group and in the right Hash Sets pane, view the Hash Sets and child KFF
Groups that are contained in that KFF Group.

Managing KFF Groups
You can edit KFF Groups and do the following:
Rename
Change
Add

the group
the Override Status

or remove Hash Sets and KFF Groups

You can also do the following:
Delete

the group

Export

the group
See Exporting KFF Data on page 297.

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To manage a KFF Group
1.

Open the Case Manager or the Examiner.

Click Manage > KFF.

Select a group or right-click a KFF Group.

Do one of the following:
Click

Edit.

Click

Delete.

Click

Export.

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Enabling a Case to Use KFF
About Enabling and Configuring KFF
To use KFF in a case, you do the following when you either create a case, add evidence to a case, or run
Additional Analysis:

Process for enabling and configuring KFF
1. (Optional) Create a
new case or add
evidence to a case.

You can enable KFF when you create a case or add evidence to a case.

2. Configure how to
process KFF Ignorable
files

When you create a case or or add evidence to a case, you can choose how to
process KFF Ignorable files:

3. Enable KFF

You can also enable KFF for an existing case using Additional Analysis.
See Re-Processing KFF Using Additional Analysis on page 296.

Exclude KFF Ignorable Files - By default, KFF will not include Ignorable files
in the processed evidence. They will not be visible in the Examiner nor will
they be in any file counts.
 Enable Include KFF Ignorable Files - You can enable a processing option to
include KFF Ignorable files. Any files that are KFF Ignorable will be included
and visible in the project.
However, Ignorable files can be hidden using filters.
See Enabling and Configuring KFF on page 292.
See Using KFF Filters on page 295.
When you process KFF using Additional Analysis, KFF Ignorable files are still
included in the case’s evidence files.


Enable the KFF processing option.
See Enabling and Configuring KFF on page 292.

4. Select a KFF Group

When you enable KFF, you select one KFF group to use. You can select an
existing group or create a new group.
A KFF Group can include other KFF Groups. You can select a parent KFF Group
that contains other groups with the sets that you want to use
See Using KFF Groups to Organize Hash Sets on page 289.

Enabling and Configuring KFF
To enable and configure KFF for a new case or new evidence
1.

Create a new case or add evidence to a case and open the Evidence Processing options.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 90.
(In an existing case, open the Additional Analysis page.)
See Using Additional Analysis on page 141.
See Re-Processing KFF Using Additional Analysis on page 296.

Choose whether or not to include KFF Ignorable files.
By default, KFF Ignorable files will not be included.
To include KFF Ignorable files, do the following:
2a.

In the Detailed Options dialog, click the Evidence Refinement (Advanced) tab.

2b.

Select Include KFF Ignorable Files.

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2c.

Click the Evidence Processing tab.

In the Evidence Processing options, select KFF.

Do one of the following to select a KFF Group:
In

the KFF drop-down menu, select and existing KFF Group that you want to use.

Click

... to open KFF Admin and configure a KFF Group to use and then select it.
See About KFF Groups on page 289.
You can use a KFF Group that you created or use the Default group.
See About the Default KFF Group on page 290.

Configure any other processing options.

Click OK.

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Reviewing KFF Results in the Examiner
You can view the KFF results in the Examiner. You can use the following tools to view KFF results:
KFF

Information in Columns

KFF

Filters

KFF

file status in the Overview tab.

About KFF Data Shown in the Item List
Depending on the KFF configuration options, you can identify and view files based on their KFF status and
group.
Note: KFF Ignorable files will not be displayed in the File List unless you enabled the Include KFF Ignorable
Files processing option.
See Enabling a Case to Use KFF on page 292.
There are three possible KFF statuses in the Examiner:
Alert

- Files that matched hashes in the template with an Alert status

Ignore

- Files that matched hashes in the template with an Ignore status (not shown in the Item List by
default)
See About Enabling and Configuring KFF on page 292.

Unknown

- Files that did not match hashes in the template (designated by a blank KFF Status)

Using the KFF Information Columns
You can add the following columns to display KFF data about each file in the File List.

KFF Columns
Column

Description

KFF Status

Displays the status of the file as it pertains to KFF. The three status options are
Alert, Ignore, or Unknown (blank).

KFF Group

Displays the name of the KFF Group that has the matched hash.

Not KFF Ignore...

Displays a True status it if is not a KFF Ignorable file or a False status if it is a
KFF Ignorable file.

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Using KFF Filters
You can use filters to filter your evidence based on KFF data. You can use the Filter Manager to build a
Compound filters.

To use the KFF Filters
1.

In the Examiner, click the Filter drop-down menu.

Select one of the KFF Filters:
KFF

Alert Files - Shows all files with an Alert status.

KFF

Ignore Files - Shows all files with a KFF Ignore status.
KFF Ignorable files will not be displayed unless you enabled the Include KFF Ignorable Files
processing option.
See Enabling a Case to Use KFF on page 292.

No

KFF Ignore Files - Shows all files except those with a KFF Ignore status.

Using the Overview Tab
You can use the File Status nodes in the Overview tab to filter your evidence based on KFF data.

To use the Overview tab to filter KFF status
1.

In the Examiner, click the Overview tab.

Expand File Status.

Click one of the following KFF nodes:
KFF

Alert Files - Shows all files with an Alert status.

KFF

Ignorable Files - Shows all files with a KFF Ignore status.
KFF Ignorable files will not be displayed unless you enabled the Include KFF Ignorable Files
processing option.
See Enabling a Case to Use KFF on page 292.

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Re-Processing KFF Using Additional Analysis
You can process an existing case with KFF using Additional Analysis in the following situations:
After

you have processed a case with KFF enabled, you can re-process your data using an updated or
different KFF Group. This is useful in re-examining a project after adding or editing hash sets.
See Adding Hashes From Files in Cases on page 287.

Enabling

KFF for a case that was not previously processed using KFF.

To re-process a case using KFF
1.

In the Examiner, click Evidence > Additional Analysis.

Enable KFF.

Do one of the following:
In

the the drop-down menu, select a KFF Group.

Configure

a KFF Group by clicking the ....

You can either process files new files in the case or process files that have been processed previously
against KFF.
Mark Recheck previously processed items if you want to processes all existing files with the KFF
Group that you have selected.

Click OK.

Review the KFF results.
See Reviewing KFF Results in the Examiner on page 294.

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Exporting KFF Data
About Exporting KFF Data
You can share KFF Hash Sets and KFF Groups with other KFF Servers by exporting KFF data on one KFF
Server and importing it on another. You can also use export as a way of archiving your KFF data.
You can export data in one of the following way:
Exporting

KFF Groups - This exports the selected KFF Groups with any included sub-groups and any
included Hash Sets and hashes to a CSV file.
See About the CSV Format on page 251.

Exporting KFF Groups
You can share KFF hashes by exporting one or more KFF Groups. Exports are saved in a CSV file.

To export a KFF group
1.

Open the Case Manager or the Examiner.

Click Manage > KFF.

Select one or more groups.

Click Export.

Select the location to which you want to save the exported CSV file.

Enter a name for the exported file.

Click Save.

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Chapter 18

Using Project VIC

This chapter contains information on how to integrate with and use Project VIC.

About Project VIC
Project VIC is a global partnership that uses advanced technology to fight child sexual exploitation and
trafficking. In order to use this feature, you must have an account set up with Project VIC.
Project VIC has compiled information about known online child abuse images. Known image or video files have
unique identifier known as a “hash value.” When you process your evidence data, it is compared to the known
hash values. If a match is found, the file in your evidence is flagged. You can easily see flagged files in the
examiner.
You can also provide information to Project VIC about images that were previously unknown.

About PhotoDNA
Project VIC includes a component called PhotoDNA. This tool compiles a digital signature or fingerprint of
images (known as a “hash”), which can be matched against a database of known child pornography images.
This significantly reduces the time law enforcement officers must spend viewing images, speeding their
determination of whether child victims have already been identified or are currently at risk.
Note: This PhotoDNA feature requires a special law enforcement license. Contact sales for more information.
Without the license, the feature is not enabled.

About Project VIC and KFF
To process and flag Project VIC data, you use the KFF (Known File Filter) Architecture.
The KFF architecture lets you import Project VIC hash values and compare your evidence data against those
hash sets. Files that match hits in Project Vic are flagged so you you can easily identify them.
For general information about KFF, see the following:
Getting
Using

Started with KFF (Known File Filter) (page 247)

the Known File Filter (KFF) (page 282)

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About Project VIC and File Categories
When evidence files are flagged by the KFF Server, they are given a VIC category as well as a KFF Status of
Alert.
The categories can vary depending on the country or region in which you are.
For example, in the United States of America, the following categories are used:
Child

Abuse Material = 1

Child

Exploitive = 2

CGI

Animation = 3

Comparison

Image = 4

Uncategorized

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Overview of Using Project VIC
To use Project VIC feature, you perform the following steps:

Process for using KFF
Step 1.

Download Project VIC hash data.
See Downloading Project VIC Hash Data on page 300.

Step 2.

Install and configure the KFF Server.
See Installing the KFF Server on page 252.

Step 3.

Import Project VIC hash data in the KFF Server.
Importing Project VIC Data (page 301)

Step 4.

Create a case, enable Project VIC for the case, and process the case.
See Creating a Case and Enabling Project VIC on page 302.

Step 5.

Review the Project VIC results in the Examiner.
See Viewing Project VIC Results in the Examiner on page 303.

Step 6.

(Optional) Bookmark your own files to export to Project VIC.
See Bookmarking Files to Export to Project VIC on page 305.

Step 7.

(Optional) Export your own files to Project VIC.
See Exporting Bookmarked Files to Project VIC on page 306.

Downloading Project VIC Hash Data
Project VIC data is imported as JSON files. You can use pre-configured data files from Project VIC and you can
also create or use custom JSON files.
If you want to use data from Project VIC, you must contact them and have an account with them in order to
download hash data.

Installing and Configuring the KFF Server
In order to work with Project VIC, you use the KFF infrastructure.
If you have not done so, you must install a KFF Server.
See Installing the KFF Server on page 252.
For other information on how to use the KFF infrastructure, see Using the Known File Filter (KFF) (page 282).

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Importing Project VIC Data
You import JSON files into the KFF infrastructure.

Importing KFF Hashes
To import Project VIC hashes from JSON files
1.

Open the Case Manager or the Examiner.

Click Manage > KFF.

In KFF Admin, click Import.

Click Add File.

To browse to a file, for the Path, click ...

Browse to the path of the file.

Use the file type selector to view the *.json file type.

Select a file.

Click Open.

10. (Optional) Enter the version of the hash set.

For example, 1.2 or 1.3
11. (Optional) In the Package field enter any information you would like to describe.
12. Select the region of the hash set.

Important: You must select the same region that matches the data that you downloaded from Project VIC.
Otherwise, data may be incorrect.
Important: In this release, only the United States region is supported.
13. Click OK.
14. (Optional) Add other files that you want to import.
15. Click Import.
16. You can view the hash sets and groups to verify that data that you will use in a project.

About Project VIC KFF Groups
Project VIC hash sets must be included in a KFF Group.
If you import Project VIC data, they are imported as KFF Hash Sets. The imported Project VIC hash sets are
automatically placed in a KFF Group named Project VIC - Region which is nested inside a parent group named
Project VIC. When you process a case, you select one, and only one KFF Group to use. The Project VIC KFF
group is the one to generally use unless you use some custom sets.
If you have custom hash sets, you must manually associate them with a KFF Group.
See About KFF Groups on page 289.

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Creating a Case and Enabling Project VIC
To use Project VIC in a case, you do the following when you either create a case, add evidence to a case, or run
Additional Analysis:

Process for enabling and configuring Project VIC
1. Create a new case or
add evidence to a case.

You can enable Project VIC when you create a case or add evidence to a case.

2. Enable Project VIC

You enable Project VIC by enabling the following processing options:

You can also enable Project VIC for an existing case using Additional Analysis.

KFF
Photo DNA
A law enforcement licence is required for the PhotoDNA option to be available.
See About PhotoDNA on page 298.
See Enabling and Configuring Project VIC on page 302.




4. Select a KFF Group

When you enable Project VIC, you can select the Project VIC KFF group to use
or you can select a custom group if you created one.

Enabling and Configuring Project VIC
To enable and configure Project VIC for a new case or new evidence
1.

Select the Forensics Processing profile.

In the Evidence Processing options, select KFF.

In the KFF drop-down menu, select the Project VIC group.

Select PhotoDNA.
Note: A law enforcement licence is required for the PhotoDNA option to be available.

(Optional) Configure any other processing options.

Click OK.

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Viewing Project VIC Results in the Examiner
You can view the Project VIC results in the Examiner. You can use the following tools to view Project VIC
results:
Project

VIC Matches under File Status in the Overview tab.

Project

VIC Information in columns

Project

VIC information in the Graphics tab.

Project

VIC information in the Video tab.

Using the Overview Tab
You can use a File Status node in the Overview tab to filter your evidence based on Project VIC data.

To use the Overview tab to filter KFF status
1.

In the Examiner, click the Overview tab.

Expand File Status.

Click Project VIC Matches
This shows all files that were flagged as a Project Vic match.

Using the Project VIC and PhotoDNA Information Columns
In any view, you can add the following columns in the File List to display Project VIC data about each file in the
list. You can sort by the columns to easily identify flagged files.
Note: A law enforcement licence is required for the PhotoDNA information to be available.
For general information, see Managing Columns (page 505).

Project VIC and PhotoDNA Columns
Column

Description

VIC Category

Depending on your region, this is the category as matched with Project VIC hash
data.

VIC Hash Type

Identifies if the file was flagged through a SHA1 hash or through PhotoDNA.

PhotoDNA Hash

When a file is flagged and categorized, a hash is assigned to it.
The hash value is based on difference from the known image.
You can also use this column to find files that have a PhotoDNA hash but do not
have a VIC category. You can bookmark these files and export them to Project
VIC so that they can be reviewed and categorized.
Bookmarking Files to Export to Project VIC (page 305)

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Project VIC and PhotoDNA Columns
Column

Description

Photo DNA Distance

A PhotoDNA Distance value is generated that represents how closely it matches
any of the files in Project VIC. (If the image matches more than one item, the
closest score is used).
The PhotoDNA Distance value can range from 0 to 49,000. A value of 0 means
that there is no distance and the photo is a perfect match. Any score higher than
the range means that there is no match and therefore no value is given.

To view the Project VIC data in columns
1.

In the Examiner, use the Overview tab, Graphics tab, or Video tab to view the flagged files in your case.

Add columns to the File List that display the Project VIC data by doing the following:

2a.

Click the Column Settings icon.

2b.

Either create or edit a column settings template.

2c.

In the Available Columns list, expand All Features.

2d.

Select and Add the following columns:
 File Status Features/VIC Category
 File Status Features/VIC Hash Type
 Common Features/PhotoDNA Hash
 File Status Features/PhotoDNA Distance

2e.

Click OK.

2f.

Select the desired settings and click Apply.

You can sort by the columns to easily identify flagged or hashed files.

Using the Graphics Tab
You can use the Graphics tab to view thumbnails of graphics.
For general information, see Examining Graphics (page 337).

To use the Graphics tab to view Project VIC status
1.

In the Examiner, click the Graphics tab.

Apply the Project VIC columns.

Sort the Project VIC and PhotoDNA information columns to easily identify flagged files.

Using the Video Tab
You can use the Video tab to view thumbnails of videos.
For general information, see Examining Videos (page 344).

To use the Video tab to view Project VIC status
1.

In the Examiner, click the Video tab.

Apply the Project VIC columns.

Sort the Project VIC and PhotoDNA information columns to easily identify flagged files.

Using Project VIC

Viewing Project VIC Results in the Examiner

| 304

Bookmarking Files to Export to Project VIC
You may discover images in your evidence that are not categorized but could be.
Using the Project VIC and PhotoDNA Information Columns (page 303)
You can export the information about those files to Project VIC so that they can be analyzed and categorized.
You do this by creating and exporting bookmarks.
For general information about creating and using bookmarks, see Bookmarking Evidence (page 390).

To create a Project VIC bookmark
1.

In the File List view, select the files that you want to add to a Project VIC bookmark.
You can either highlight the files that you want to include, check the boxes of the files that you want to
include, or do nothing to include all files.

Right-click on a selected file in the File List view and click the Project VIC icon

Enter in the bookmark information.
See Project VIC Bookmarks Dialog Options on page 305.

Click OK.

Project VIC Bookmarks Dialog Options
Options of the Bookmark Information Pane
Field

Description

Bookmark Name

The name you give the bookmark.

Project VIC Case Number

The name you give the bookmark.

Default Project VIC Category

You can select a default category for all of the items in the bookmark.
Also, lower in the dialog, you can assign a category for an individual file.
This will override the default for that file.

Contact information

Enter your contact information.

Files to Include

The files are limited to images and videos.
Specify which files in the File List to include in this bookmark. You can
select one of the following:




Highlighted Media Files - Includes only the highlighted items.
Checked Media Files - Includes only the checked items.
All Listed Media Files- Includes all items in the File List.

Project VIC Category

(Optional) You can highlight and assign a category for an individual file.
This will override the default for the bookmark if you set one.

Directory

Windows
Desktop
IE

Live Server

Search (Vista and Windows 7)

10 Web Data (for example, history, cookies, cache, and so forth)

SRS

(Site Replication Service) Template

Windows

Help Center

Windows

Update

Windows

System Update

Windows

Server Security

Windows

Server WINS

Windows

Server DHCP

NT

File Replication Service

These ESE databases are expanded when processing evidence (if selected in the Expansion Options) and
displayed in Evidence Groups. Most of the ESE databases appear in File Category > Databases. The exception
is Exchange ESE databases, which appear in File Category > Email.
Internet Explorer version 10 or later also use ESE databases to store data like the internet history, cookies,
cache, and so forth. (See About Expanding Data from Internet Explorer (IE) Version 10 or Later on page 366.)

To expand the ESE Databases into individual records
1.

In the Examiner, click Evidence > Additional Analysis.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Click Miscellaneous

Under Miscellany, select Expand Compound Files.

Select Expand Compound Files.

Click Expansion Options.

Verify that ESE DB is selected.

Click OK to save the expansion settings.

Click OK to process the evidence to expand the files.

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About Expanding Google Chrome, Firefox, and IE 9 Data
There are advanced processing options that will expand the basic Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet
Explorer data. You can do the following:
Expand

Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox SQLite tables and IE 9 IE.DAT files to create individual
records.
This provides investigators the ability to bookmark specific records from within the tables. For example, if
you are looking for a specific Top Site record, you can more easily find and bookmark the record you
need.

Reconstruct

web pages .
When viewing either Cache or History entries, if enough data is stored in the cache, you can see the
reconstructed web page that was cached when the user was browsing the respective web site.

The following table lists the expanded data that you can view:

Internet Artifact Expanded Data
Browser type

Expanded Browser Data

Chrome









Firefox








Internet Explorer 9







Cache Index Data
Cookies
Downloads
History
Top Sites
Key Words
Web Autofill Data
Bookmarks
Cache Index Data
Cookies
Favorites
Form History
History
IE Cache Entries
IE Cookies Entries
IE History Entries
IE Download Entries
MSIE Recovery dat Entries

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When viewing the expanded data, you can use the following columns in the File List to display detailed data.

Internet History Columns
















Action URL
Autofill Name
Autofill Value
Bytes Downloaded
Cookie Name
Cookie Path
Cookie Value
Count
Duration
Encrypted Card Number
End Time
Expiration Month
Expiration Time
Expiration Year
File Path


















Google Profile Address
Google Profile City
Google Profile Company Name
Google Profile Country
Google Profile Country Code
Google Profile Email Address
Google Profile First Name
Google Profile Last Name
Google Profile Middle Name
Google Profile Phone Number
Google Profile State
Host Key
Last Updated Time
Last Visit Time
Name on Card
Offline User Email


















Opened
Origin URL
Password Element
Password Value
Rank
Redirects to
Start TIme
Terms
This Visit Time
Types Times
URL
URL has HTML
Username Element
Username Value
Visit TImes
Zip Code

See Managing Columns on page 505.
See Icons of the File List Tool Bar on page 314.
If you expand internet artifact data, you will have files are are generated when the data was processed and was
not part of the original data. There are tools to help you identify generated data.
See Identifying Processing-Generated Data on page 351.
See Relating Generated Files to Original Files on page 351.

About Expanding Data from Internet Explorer (IE) Version 10 or Later
Data from Internet Explorer (IE) 10 is stored in a database called WebCacheV01.dat. This file is an ESE
(Extensible Storage Engine) database that points to IE 10’s cached files. When expanded in Examiner, you can
view the following data:

Internet Artifact Expanded Data
Browser type

Expanded Browser Data

Internet Explorer 10










IE Web Cache Compatibility Entries
IE Web Cache Content Entries
IE Web Cache Cookie Entries
IE Web Cache DOM Store Entries
IE Web Cache Download Entries
IE Web Cache RSS Feed Entries
IE Web Cache History Entries
Other Web Cache Entries

This data displays in the Overview tab under Internet/Chat Files or in the Internet/Chat tab.

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IE 10 (and later) WebCache Data on a Live System
You cannot expand or display Internet Explorer 10 (or later) WebCache data from a live system. WebCache data
is locked by the Windows operating system and does not display correctly in the Examiner.

About Internet Artifact Processing Options
To expand internet artifact data, you enable processing options either when you add the evidence or later by
using Additional Analysis.
Note: The IE WebCache contains many files and can take additional time to expand. Therefore, IE WebCache
is not selected by default.
Important: Expanding internet artifact data can add a significant amount of data to your evidence.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Internet Artifact Processing Options
Browser

Options

Chrome

Firefox

De fu a lt value

Expand Compound Files > Chrome Bookmarks

unselected by default

Expand Compound Files > Chrome Cache

unselected by default

Expand Compound Files > Chrome SQLite

unselected by default

Expand Compound Files > Firefox Cache

unselected by default

Expand Compound Files > Firefox SQLite

unselected by default

Internet Explorer 9 or Expand Compound Files > Internet Explorer
earlier
Expand Compound Files > IE Recovery

selected by default
unselected by default

This lets you expand IE Recovery data that was
stored when access to a Web site was lost.
Internet Explorer 10 Expand Compound Files > IE WebCache
or later

unselected by default

About Viewing Internet Artifact Data
After you have expanded the artifact data, you can view the data in the Examiner. You can view expanded data
in one of the following ways:
Clicking

an individual file and viewing the contents in the Natural view.
For most items, you will see the data displayed in a table.
Viewing

Reconstructed web pages
For history and cache entries, if enough data exists, the reconstructed web page appears. If enough
data is not available, informational data appears instead.
You can use the URL has HTML column to help you determine which files can be reconstructed.

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Adding

columns to the File List that displays expanded data.
You can add columns for all of the expanded items that is generated. A sample is listed in the Internet
History Columns table above.
You can view a list of all of the Internet History columns by looking at the Internet History column group in
the column manager.
See Managing Columns on page 505.

In the Internet/Chat files folder, the files are organized as follows:
Chrome:
Original
The

Chrome artifact files are stored under the Chrome Browser Files folder

expanded data is stored under the Chrome Browser Data folder.

Firefox:
Original
The

Firefox artifact files are stored under the Firefox Files folder

expanded data is stored under the Firefox Browser Data folder.

IE
Original
The

IE artifact files are stored under the Internet Explorer Browser Files folder

expanded data is stored under the Internet Explorer Browser Data folder.

Expanding Internet Artifact Data
To expand internet artifact data
1.

When either adding evidence to a case or performing Additional Analysis, access the processing
options.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Select the option to Expand Compound Files.

Click Expansion Options.

Select one or more of the following options:
Chrome:
 Chrome

Bookmarks
 Chrome Cache
 Chrome SQLite
Firefox:
 Firefox

Cache
 Firefox SQLite
IE:
 IE

Cookie Text
Recovery
 IE WebCache
 Internet Explorer Files
 IE

Skype

SQLite
See About Internet Artifact Processing Options on page 367.

Process your data.

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Viewing Internet Artifact Data
To view expanded internet data in the Natural view
1.

In the examiner, open one of the following: (Both tabs display the same data.)
The

Overview tab > File Category > Internet/Chat Files

Note: Chrome and Firefox SQLite files are also located in Internet/Chat Files.
The

Internet/Chat tab

For Chrome files, expand Chrome Browser > Chrome Browser Data.

For Firefox files, expand Mozilla Files > Firefox Browser > Firefox Browser Data.

For IE files, expand Internet Explorer Browser > Internet Explorer Browser Data.

Select a folder, such as Cookies.

Click an item in the File List.
The cookie’s data is displayed in the Natural view.

Click History.

Click an item in the File List.
If possible, the reconstructed web page will be shown. If insufficient data exists, informational data will
be shown instead.

You can perform a search for a specific value in the Natural view by clicking CTRL-F.

To view expanded internet data using columns
1.

In the examiner, open one of the following: (Both tabs display the same data.)
The

Overview tab > File Category > Internet/Chat Files

The

Internet/Chat tab

Click the Column Settings icon.
See Managing Columns on page 505.

Either create a new column template or edit an existing one.

In the Available Columns list, expand Data.

Add the desired columns to the template.
For example, to add columns for Chrome or Firefox browser history data, use the following:
URL
Visit

TImes

Typed

Times

Last

VIsit Time

This

Visit Time

Duration

Click OK.

Select the template name you just configured and click Apply.
This applies the template to the File List.

Click Close.

Expand Browser > Browser Data for either Chrome or Firefox.

10. Click History.

In this example, you will see the history data in the columns for each record.

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Examining Mobile Phone Data
You can examine detailed information about the mobile phone data in your case.
The mobile phone data that you can see comes from the following sources:
AD1

files from AccessData Mobile Phone Examiner

Cellebrite

UFDR report files
See Working with Cellebrite UFDR Images on page 376.

At a basic level, when evidence is processed, mobile phone files are categorized and organized so that you can
easily see them. You can use the Overview tab to quickly view data specific to mobile phones:
The

Overview tab > File Category > Mobile Phone

For example, using these views, you can quickly see the following files:
Mobile

Phone Data

Bookmark
Call

History

Cookie
Powering

Event

SMS

Messages

Web

History

Mobile

Phone Files

Cellebrite

Files

For many of these files, you can view information from the files in the Natural view. For example, you can see
artifacts for the Call History or the contents of an SMS Message.
Some mobile phone information is stored in SQLite tables. Most of these tables are viewable in the Natural view.
Note: The files listed in the Mobile Phone Data section are specific to the particular mobile phone image you
have processed, and will be different for each mobile phone image.
There are many files found on mobile phones that are not specific to the Mobile Phone file category. This data
could include, but is not limited to, the following file categories:
Archives
Databases
Documents
Folders
Graphics

These files can also be viewed by using the Overview tab.

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About Expanding Mobile Phone Data
When viewing the expanded mobile phone data, you can use the following columns in the File List to display
detailed data.

Mobile Phone Columns
App Usage








Bluetooth Device





Calendar













Call History











Installed Apps














App Activation Count
App Active Time
App Background Time
App Launch Count
App Launch Day
App Name
Bluetooth Device Info
Bluetooth Device MAC Address
Bluetooth Device Name
Calendar Priority
Event Category
Event Description
Event End Time
Event Location
Event Phone Number
Event Start Time
Event Status
Event Summary
Event Timezone
Reminder Timestamp
Call Duration
Call Number
Call Time
Call Type
Calling Name
Country Code
Network Code
Network Name
Phone Call Type
App Category
App Description
App GUID
App Identifier
App Install Time
App Name
App Update Timestamp
App Vendor
App Version
Copyright
Permissions
Purchase Date

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Mobile Phone Columns
IP Connection













Location













Miscellaneous File Info











MMS Messages












Mobile Card









Cellular Wan
Connection Adapter
Connection IP Address
Connection Status
Connection Type
Device IPs
DNS Addresses
Domain
MAC Address
Router Address
Service Name
Elevation
Latitude
Location Address
Location Category
Location Confidence
Location Country
Location Description
Location Name
Location Type
Longitude
Precision
Folder Name
Group
Item Source
Local File Path
Related Account
Related Application
Related URL
Storage Location
Storage Type
MMS BCC
MMS CC
MMS File Count
MMS From
MMS Priority
MMS Received Timestamp
MMS Sent Timestamp
MMS Status
MMS Subject
MMS To
Card Activation Time
Card Barcode
Card Description
Card Expiration Time
Card Name
Card Purchase Time
Card Type

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Mobile Phone Columns
Notification








Password






Phone Info












Notification ID
Notification Participants
Notification Status
Notification Subject
Notification To
Notification Type
Password Account
Password Data
Password Server
Password Service
Dictionary Locale
Dictionary Word
Event Severity
Package Name
Participant
Participant Email
Powering Event
Powering Event Element
Process
Type

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Mobile Phone Columns
Phonebook


































SMS Messages













VoiceMail





Address
Address Type
Address1
Address2
City
Company
Email
First Name
Home Address
Home Email
Home Number
Last Name
Last Time Contacted
Middle Name
Mobile Number
Nickname
Number Type
Personal Mobile Number
Phone Number
Phonebook Item Home Website
Phonebook Item Name
Phonebook Item URL
Phonebook Item Work Website
Phonebook Label
State
Times Contacted
Title
Work Address
Work Email
Work Mobile Number
Work Number
Zip
SMS From
SMS From Number
SMS Service Center
SMS State
SMS Text
SMS Time Received
SMS Time Sent
SMS Time Zone of Sender
SMS To
SMS To Number
SMS Type
VM Duration
VM From
VM Name

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Mobile Phone Columns
WiFi








BSSID
Last Connected
Last Network
Network Protocol
SSID
Wireless Security Mode

Note Summary
Note Title
Task Time Zone

Viewing Mobile Phone Data
To view expanded mobile phone data in the Natural view
1.

In the examiner, open the following:
The

Overview tab > File Category > Mobile Phone > Mobile Phone Data

Select a folder, such as SMS Messages.

Click an item in the File List.
The data is displayed in the Natural view.

Click Mobile Phone Files.

Click Extraction Summary in the File List.
Details of the original mobile phone extraction will be shown.

You can perform a search for a specific value in the Natural view by clicking CTRL-F.

To view expanded mobile phone data using columns
1.

In the examiner, open the following:
The

Overview tab > File Category > Mobile Phone

Click the Column Settings icon. There are six mobile phone templates available:
Mobile

Device Apps

Mobile

Device Call Log

Mobile

Device Contacts

Mobile

Device Events

Mobile

Device MMS

Mobile

Device SMS

Either create a new column template or edit an existing one.
See Managing Columns on page 505.

In the Available Columns list, expand Mobile Phones.

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Add the desired columns to the template.
For example, to add columns for SMS Messages data, use the following:
SMS

From

SMS

From Number

SMS

Service Center

SMS

State

SMS

Text

SMS

Time Received

SMS

Time Sent

SMS

Time Zone of Sender

SMS

To Number

SMS

Type

Click OK.

Select the template name you just configured and click Apply.
This applies the template to the File List.

Click Close.

Apply the Mobile Device SMS column template.

10. Expand Mobile Phone > Mobile Phone Data.
11. Click SMS Messages.

In this example, you will see the SMS data in the columns for each record.

To view expanded mobile phone data using filters
1.

In the examiner, open the following:
The

Overview tab > File Category > Mobile Phone

Click the Filter dropdown. There are five mobile phone templates available:
Mobile

Phone: Calendar

Mobile

Phone: Call History

Mobile

Phone: Messages

Mobile

Phone: Phonebook

Mobile

Phone Files

Either apply an existing filter or create a new one.
See Managing Filters on page 53.

Once applied, you will see only those items allowable by the selected filter. The File List contents will
also be highlighted yellow, showing a filter is applied.

Working with Cellebrite UFDR Images
About Expanding Cellebrite Data
To expand Cellebrite mobile phone data, you enable processing options either when you add the evidence or
later by using Additional Analysis.

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See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Expanding Cellebrite Data
To expand Cellebrite data
1.

When either adding evidence to a case or performing Additional Analysis, access the processing
options.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Select the option to Expand Compound Files.

Click Expansion Options.

Click Clear All.

Select the Cellebrite UFDR option.

Process your data.

Working with iOS Backup
About Expanding iOS Backup Data
To expand iOS Backup data, you will need to enable the appropriate processing option either when you add the
evidence or later by using Additional Analysis.
Note: You will need the user’s password in order to open any encrypted backup files. We currently do not
decrypt iOS Backup files.

Expanding iOS Backup Data
To Expand iOS Backup Data:
1.

During processing, or in Additional Analysis, open the Evidence Processing window.

Check the Expand Compound Files option.

Click on the Expansion Options box and check the box for iOS Backup.

Click Ok and process the evidence.

Locating iOS Backup Data
To Locate iOS Backup Data:
1.

In the Explore Tab, open the evidence and navigate to the Manifest.db file.

Select any folder to view iOS Backup evidence.

Important: When looking at iOS Backup files in the Overview Tab, these files will not be classified as Mobile
Phone files. They will be classified as the standard file category for each type of file found on the
phone.

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Working with Facebook Messenger (Android)
To expand Facebook Messenger App data on an Android phone, you will need to enable the appropriate
processing option either when you add the evidence or later by using Additional Analysis.

Expanding Facebook Messenger (Android) Data
To Expand Facebook Messenger (Android) Data:
1.

During processing, or in Additional Analysis, open the Evidence Processing window.

Check the Expand Compound Files option.

Click on the Expansion Options box and check the box for Facebook Messenger (Android).

Click Ok and process the evidence.

Note: There is a known issue within Facebook that deletes the last names of contacts and substitutes the first
name for the last name. This is a bug within Facebook, but the behavior will persist when exploring
evidence within the Examiner.

Locating Facebook Messenger (Android) Data
To Locate Facebook Messenger (Android) Data:
1.

In the Explore Tab, open the phone evidence and navigate to the following path:

[root] > data > com.facebook.orca > databases > threads_db2
2.

Open the threads_db2 folder. Select either the Contacts, inbox, or pending folder to view the data.

Important: The pending folder will not always have data in it.

To View Facebook Messenger (Android) Contacts:
1.

Navigate to and highlight the Contacts folder, as described above.

The File List will show the available contacts. Select a contact, and the associated information for that
contact will appear in the File Content pane.
Note: The Profile URLs shown for Facebook Messenger (Android) contacts are external and unusable
because they require Facebook cookies to work.

To View Facebook Messenger (Android) Conversations:
1.

Navigate to the inbox folder, as described above.

Select a conversation. It will populate as individual messages in the File List. The entire conversation
will appear in Cool HTML in the File Content pane.
Note: The Attachments Column will contain links, not actual items. These links are external (stored in

the cloud) and will need the Facebook cookies to work, meaning you must be logged in under
the proper Facebook account to view them. The Pending Send Media Attachment Column will

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| 378

also have a link to the image. But since this image was pending, it might be available somewhere in the evidence.

Facebook Messenger Data Types
The following data types can be extracted from Facebook Messenger on Android:

Contacts
User
First

Name

Last

Name

Last

Update Time

Profile

URLs

Message Threads
Timestamp
User
Message
Attachment

URLs

Attachments

(if the data is present in the image)

Mobile Chat Applications
It is possible to extract the following mobile chat applications:
WeChat

for Android

WeChat

for iOS

WhatsApp

for Android

WhatsApp

for iOS

WeChat for Android Data Types
The following data types can be extracted from WeChat Apps on Android. Unless specified otherwise, the data
shows in both the Content Viewer (in CoolHTML) and in the Property Window (attributes).

Device Owner Info
Display

Name

Username
Phone
Description

(CoolHTML only)

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Examining Mobile Phone Data

| 379

Comment

(CoolHTML only)

City
State
Country

Contact Items
Display

Name

Username
Note
Country
City

Conversation Items
Create

Date

Modify

Date

Message

Count

Participants
CoolHTML

List of all messages
This includes Sent, To, and Message Data (including thumbnails of sticker, picture, and video clip
messages)

Message Items
Create

Date

From
To
Message

Displays a thumbnail image in CoolHTML if it is a sticker, picture, or video clip.
Attachment

Count

Attachment Items
Attachment items include pictures, video clips, and voice recordings. The picture, audio, or video clip is shown in
the Content Viewer when available.
Note: Audio is compressed and not directly playable.
Original

Path (attribute only)

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Examining Mobile Phone Data

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WeChat for iOS Data Types
The following data types can be extracted from WeChat Apps on iOS. Unless specified otherwise, the data
shows in both the Content Viewer (in CoolHTML) and in the Property Window (attributes).
Contact

Names (when available)

Contact

Phone Number (when device owner)

Video

Thumbnails

Picture

Files

Message

Contents

Message

Dates

Message

Sender

Message

Recipients

WhatsApp for Android Data Types
The following data types can be extracted from WhatsApp on Android. Unless specified otherwise, the data
shows in both the Content Viewer (in CoolHTML) and in the Property Window (attributes).

Contacts
Display
Phone

Name

Number

Status
Given

Name

Family

Name

Nickname
Company

Conversation
Message

Count

Participants
Thread

Item

Description

Sent

Date

From
To
Message
Date

Created

Date

Modified

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Examining Mobile Phone Data

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Message
From
To
Item

Description

Date

Created

Date

Modified

Sent

Date

Message

Attachment
Name
File

Class

File

Size

WhatsApp for iOS Data Types
The following data types can be extracted from WhatsApp on iOS. Unless specified otherwise, the data shows
only in the Content Viewer (in CoolHTML) and not in the Property Window (attributes).

Device Owner Information
App

Version (CoolHTML only)

Number
Date
Full

of Times Launched (CoolHTML only)

of Last Auto Backup (CoolHTML only)

Name

Username
User’s
Call

What’s App JabberID (CoolHTML only)

Sound (CoolHTML only)

Blacklist

in Sync (CoolHTML only)

Number

of System Bytes Received (CoolHTML only)

Number

of System Bytes Sent (CoolHTML only)

Number

of VoIP Bytes Received (CoolHTML only)

Number

of VoIP Bytes Sent (CoolHTML only)

Number

of VoIP Calls Received (CoolHTML only)

Number

of VoIP Calls Sent (CoolHTML only)

Date

modified (attributes only)

Contact Items
ID

(CoolHTML only)

Full

Name

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Examining Mobile Phone Data

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First

Name

Last

name (attributes only)

Nickname
Account

(CoolHTML only)

JabberID
Mobile
Home
Is

(CoolHTML only)

Number

Phone

Starred

Description
File

(attributes only)

Class (attributes only)

Group Items
ID

(CoolHTML only)

Group

Name (CoolHTML only)

Group

JabberID (CoolHTML only)

Date

Created

Date

Modified (attributes only)

Member

List (CoolHTML only)

Created

By Member (CoolHTML only)

Description
File

(attributes only)

Class (attributes only)

Conversation Items
ID

(CoolHTML only)

Conversation
Create

Name (CoolHTML only)

Date

Message

Count

Modify

Date
last message time

Participants
Partner

(CoolHTML only)

Description
File

(attributes only)

Class (attributes only)

Message Items
Date

Sent
Creation Date

Date

Modified (attributes only)

From*

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Examining Mobile Phone Data

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To*
Is

Outgoing* (CoolHTML only)

Is

Starred* (CoolHTML only)

Message

Type (CoolHTML only)
Includes Text, Image, File, Audio, Video, VCard, Shared Location, System Message.

Text

(CoolHTML only)
Includes audio_file_location, picture_thumbnail, video_thumbnail, shared_map_location_thumbnail, lat,
long, vcard, file*

Description
File

(attributes only)

Class (attributes only)

Message

Text (attributes only)
Text Messages Only

Image

Width and Height (attributes only)

Longitude

and Latitude (attributes only)
Shared Location

Note: The asterisk (*) indicates that a particular item is not included for system messages.

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Examining Mobile Phone Data

| 384

Viewing Data in Volume Shadow Copies
You can examine data that is contained in NTFS Volume Shadow Copies.
See Examining Data in Volume Shadow Copies on page 134.

Viewing Microsoft Office and Adobe Metadata
You can examine metadata from Microsoft Office and Adobe documents. This data is processed by default, but
you must use the following method to view it.

To view Microsoft Office and Adobe Metadata
1.

In the examiner, open one of the following:
The

Overview tab > File Category > Documents > Adobe Documents

The

Overview tab > File Category > Documents > Microsoft Documents

In the File List, click the Check all files in the current list icon.

Click on the Column Settings icon.
See Managing Columns on page 505.

Either create a new column template or edit an existing one.

In the Available Columns list, expand Office-specific Features or All Features.

Add the desired columns to the template.
For example, to add columns for Adobe metadata, use the following:
All

Features
 Meta-data
 Meta-data

- Date Created
- Date Modified

Click OK.

Select the template name you just configured and click Apply.
This applies the template to the File List.

Click Close.

10. You will now see the meta-data information in the columns for each record.

When viewing the expanded files, you can use the following columns in the File List to display detailed data

Microsoft Office and Adobe Metadata Columns
Microsoft Office
documents












CreateTime (Content created)
EmbeddedComments (PPT files)
HiddenColumnsRows (Excel files)
HiddenWorkSheets (Excel files)
LastPrinted
LastSavedTime (Date last saved)
RevisionNumber
TotalEditingTime (Word and PPT)
TrackChanges
From file Origin properties

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Viewing Data in Volume Shadow Copies

| 385

Microsoft Office and Adobe Metadata Columns
Adobe files




Meta-data - DateCreated
Meta-data - DateModified

About Windows 8 and 10 Keyword Searches
Windows 8 and Windows 10 have added the ability to perform an advanced search query. These advanced
search query files are now parsed automatically during forensic processing.
Advanced Query Searches are saved by Windows in the Admin > Searches folder. There are two default
searches found in Windows 10. These are the Indexed Locations and Everywhere files.

Parsing Data Using Belkasoft
When you have a Belkasoft license, you are able to parse additional items using an integrated Belkasoft tool.

To use Belkasoft parsing
1.

Open the Evidence Refinement dialog either by creating a new case, or navigating to Evidence > Add/
Remove. Add or select the evidence you would like to perform Belkasoft parsing for and select
Refinement Options.

Check Expand Compound Files and click the Expansion Options button.

Select the Belkasoft All-in-One option in the Compound File Expansion Options dialog.

Select the Enable Quin-C compatibility option (located below the scroll window). Click OK.

Important: The Quin-C option is only active in the New Case processing options. If you do not select it at
this time it will be grayed out and unavailable when performing Additional Analysis. Whatever
selection you made during case creation will persist in all subsequent Additional Analysis for the
case.
5.

To see the appropriate information in the File List, apply the Chat Messages column settings template,
or add the following columns:
Chat

From

Chat

Message

Belkasoft Parsers
The following file types will be parsed when applying the Belkasoft All-in-One option.
Note: Any items on this list that are able to be parsed by AccessData will be parsed using AccessData software
and not by Belkasoft.

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

About Windows 8 and 10 Keyword Searches

| 386

Android File Types Parsed by Belkasoft within AccessData Products
AIM

Gettaxi

NextPlus

Twitter

Android Bitcoin Wallet

Gmail

Odnoklassniki

VKontakte

Android Bitcoin.com Wallet

Google Drive

OneDrive

Viber

Any.do

Google Maps

Opera

Vipole

BBM

Google+

Paltalk

Voxer

Badoo

Grindr

Wamba

Baidu

Hangouts

Richnote

WeChat

Brosix

HeyTell

Sina Weibo

Calendar

ICQ\Mail.ru Agent (All)

Skype chatsync

Whisper

Calls

IMO

Skype (All versions)

WifiConnections

ChatON

Im+

Slack

Xabber

CommFort

InstalledApplications

Sms

Yahoo Mail

Contacts

Kakao Talk

Snapchat

Yahoo! Messenger

Default Mail App

KateMobile

Swarm

Yandex Mail

Dolphin

Kik

Tango

YouMagic

Downloads

Line

Zalo

Dropbox

Text Plus

Zello

Evernote

MailRu Mail

TextMe

eBuddy

Facebook

Maxthon

Textie

ooVoo

Firefox

MeetMe

Tinder

Foursquare

Meow Chat

Touch

Fring

Mercury

Tumbler

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Parsing Data Using Belkasoft

| 387

iOS File Types Parsed by Belkasoft within AccessData Products
Any.do

HeyTell

Odnoklassniki

Uber

Brosix

ICQ\Mail.Ru Agent (All)

Pokemon GO

Viber

Calendar

IMO

Recents

Vipole

Calls

Im+

Skype chatsync

VoiceMail

ChatON

IpConnections

Skype (All versions)

Contacts

Kakao Talk

Sms

Whisper

Dropbox

Kik

Tango

WifiConnections

Ebuddy XMS

Line

Text Plus

YahooMail

Evernote

LiveMe

TextMe

Yahoo! Messenger

Fring

MailRu Mail

Textie

Zello

Gettaxi

MeetMe

Tinder

ooVoo

Google Maps

Meow chat

Touch

Grindr

NextPlus

Tumblr

Growlr

Notes

Twitter

Linux FileTypes Parsed by Belkasoft within AccessData Products
ICQ

Skype (All versions)

MacOS File Types Parsed by Belkasoft within AccessData Products
AIM

Contacts

Jitsi

Yahoo! Messenger

Apple Mail

Google Drive

Skype

iChat

Brosix

ICQ (All versions)

Snak

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Parsing Data Using Belkasoft

| 388

Windows File Types Parsed by Belkasoft within AccessData Products
Adobe Flash

Google Drive

Psi

Vipole

Ares Galaxy

ICQ (All versions)

QIP

Virtus

Brosix

Jitsi

Shareaza

Zello

ChatZilla

MySpace IM

Skype (All versions)

eM Client

EMule

Nimbuzz

Team Viewer

ooVoo

Facebook

Opera

The Bat!

Gadu-Gadu

Outlook

TorrentFiles

Gajim

Outlook Express

Viber

All OS File Types Parsed by Belkasoft within AccessData Products
Bitcoin Core Wallet

Jaxx

Examining Miscellaneous Evidence

Parsing Data Using Belkasoft

| 389

Chapter 26

Bookmarking Evidence

This chapter includes the following topics
About

Bookmarks (page 390)

About

Timeline Bookmarks (page 390)

Using

the Bookmarks Tab (page 397)

Creating
Viewing

a Bookmark (page 391)

Bookmark Information (page 397)

Bookmarking
Adding

Selected Text (page 398)

to an Existing Bookmark (page 399)

Creating

Email or Email Attachment Bookmarks (page 400)

Adding

Email and Email Attachments to Existing Bookmarks (page 400)

Moving

a Bookmark (page 401)

Copying

a Bookmark (page 401)

Deleting

a Bookmark (page 401)

Deleting

Files from a Bookmark (page 401)

About Bookmarks
A bookmark is a group of files that you want to reference in your case. These are user-created and the list is
stored for later reference, and for use in the report output. You can create as many bookmarks as needed in a
case. Bookmarks can be nested within other bookmarks for convenience and categorization purposes.
Bookmarks help organize the case evidence by grouping related or similar files. For example, you can create a
bookmark of graphics that contain similar or related graphic images. The Bookmarks tab lists all bookmarks that
have been created in the current case.
Bookmarks only apply to the case they are created in.

About Timeline Bookmarks
When creating bookmarks, you can also create a Timeline type of bookmark. A Timeline bookmark lets you
show the chronological relationships of the files in your case. When you create a Timeline bookmark, you can
record the Create Date, Accessed Date, and Modified Date for files as individual items. You can then export that
data to a CSV report file. Each action (create, accessed, modified) for each file is a separate item in the report.

Bookmarking Evidence

About Bookmarks

| 390

When sorted by the date and time, the CSV report file presents a chronological timeline of the actions of the
evidence files in your case.
For example, you can create a bookmark of files that were downloaded from the internet. The report shows
when the files were downloaded (created) and the time interval between then and when they were last
accessed. You can also see if and when the files were modified.
You can also add manual timeline data. Manual timeline data lets you add items to your timeline that may not be
represented by the files in your case. For example, you may have phone logs that show when relevant phone
calls were placed. You can add those phone calls as manual timeline items so that they appear in your report
along with the file information in the case.
You can use the exported CSV file produce you own chronological timeline of the evidence in the case. This can
present a clearer view of how certain events happened which can help investigators communicate to the jurors
and judge on their case.
The CSV report file includes the following data as columns:
The

date/time stamp of the file action

The

type of file action (Modified, Accessed, Created, or Other)
The Other category is used for manual timeline entries.

The

bookmark name

The

filename

Any

comments that you manually entered for each item

A bookmark can either be a timeline bookmark or a regular bookmark, but not both.

Creating a Bookmark
To create a bookmark
1.

In the File List view , select the files that you want to add to the bookmark.
You can either highlight the files that you want to include, check the boxes of the files that you want to
include, or do nothing to include all files.

Right-click on a selected file in the File List view and click Create Bookmark.

Enter the information about the bookmark.
See Bookmarks Dialog Options on page 393.

Click OK.
Note: Applying filters to a group of listed files for bookmarking can speed the process. The All
Highlighted setting does not work in this instance. Enabling this feature would significantly slow
the response of the program. Instead, use either the Checked Files filter, or the All Files Listed
filter.

Bookmarking Evidence

Creating a Bookmark

| 391

About Empty Bookmarks
You can create bookmarks that contain only the name and location of the bookmark. These are called Empty
Bookmarks. Empty Bookmarks allow you to add “placeholders” while investigating a case. This feature makes it
easy to mark your place and come back to it later. For example, while investigating a fraud case, you notice an
email that may or may not be pertinent to your investigation. Creating an Empty Bookmark allows you to quickly
“save your place” and come back later when you have more time to delve into that evidence.
You can also use Empty Bookmarks to format your Bookmarks tree. This allows you to better organize your
bookmarks. For example, you may be investigating documents, video, graphics, and emails. You could create an
Empty Bookmark called Documents, under which you would place all of your document-related bookmarks.
Then, you would create an Empty Bookmark called Video, under which you would place all of your video-related
bookmarks. Continue creating Empty Bookmarks until you have a manageable Bookmark tree.
There are two ways to create Empty Bookmarks, creating the Empty Bookmark from the Bookmarks tab or in the
Create New Bookmark dialog.

To create an Empty Bookmark from the Bookmarks tab
1.

In Evidence Explorer, click the Bookmarks tab.

Right-click the bookmark under which to create the Empty Bookmark.

Click Create Empty Bookmark.

Enter a name for the Empty Bookmark and click OK.
You add and save additional bookmark information to an Empty Bookmark at anytime by using the
Bookmark Information pane.

To create an Empty Bookmark in the Create New Bookmark dialog
1.

Create a bookmark. See Creating a Bookmark on page 391.

In Files to Include, select None.

Save the bookmark.

Bookmarking Evidence

Creating a Bookmark

| 392

Bookmarks Dialog Options
Options of the Bookmark Information Pane
Field

Description

Bookmark Name

The name of the bookmark.

Bookmark Comment

Comments about the bookmark or its contents. Bookmark Comments
are created in an HTML editor. HTML allows you to format your
comments within the bookmark and for any subsequent reports.
See Bookmark Comments HTML Editor on page 395.

Files to Include

Specify which files in the File List to include in this bookmark. You can
select one of the following:





Timeline Bookmark

All Highlighted - Includes only the highlighted items.
All Checked - Includes only the checked items.
All Listed - Includes all items in the File List.
None - Creates an Empty Bookmark.

Select this option to make this a Timeline bookmark. If you select the
Timeline tab, this options is selected automatically.
A bookmark can either be a Timeline Bookmark or a regular bookmark,
but not both.

Select Existing Bookmark

Select the parent bookmark under which you would like to save the
bookmark.
A default shared tree for bookmarks available to all investigators is
created, and a bookmark tree specific to the case owner is created.
If the bookmark is related to an older bookmark it can be added under
the older bookmark, with the older bookmark being the parent, or it can
be saved as a peer.

Comments
tab

This lets you configure elements of a standard bookmark.
File Comments

You can assign a comment to each file in the bookmark. Comments are
created in an HTML editor. HTML allows you to format your comments
within the bookmark and for any subsequent reports.
See Bookmark Comments HTML Editor on page 395.

Supplementary
Files

You can add external, supplementary files associated with the
bookmark. Options are:




Bookmarking Evidence

Attach: Allows the investigator to add external supplementary files to
the bookmark. The attached files appear in the Supplementary Files
pane and are copied to the case folder.
Remove: Removes a selected supplementary file from the bookmark.

Bookmarks Dialog Options

| 393

Options of the Bookmark Information Pane (Continued)
Field

Description
Also include

If applicable, you can include the following:









Bookmark
Selection in File

Parent index.dat
The option to include Parent index.dat is only available if you have
selected to bookmark an index entry, for example a cookie. This
option includes the entry’s parent index.DAT file in the bookmark.
Email Attachments - If one of the items selected is an email with
attachments, this will include all of the attachments that the email
has.
Parent Email - If one of the items selected is an email attachment
object, selecting this option will include the parent email.
Exclude Selected OCR Extractions
The Exclude Selected OCR Extractions check box appears only
when OCR- extracted files have been selected when creating a new
or adding to an existing bookmark. If, instead, you have selected
graphic files, and have not selected their OCR counterparts, the
check box for OCR Extractions of selected Graphics will be active
and available.
Actual Source File
This option lets you include the parent child of a processing-generated file.
See Relating Generated Files to Original Files on page 351.

Check this item to have the highlighted text in a file automatically
highlighted when the bookmark is re-opened. The highlighted text also
prints in the report.
The selected text that will be included displays in the text box below the
check box.

Timeline tab

This lets you configure elements of a Timeline bookmark.
Create Date

Select this option to record the date and time that the file was created.

Accessed Date

Select this option to record the date and time that the file was last
accessed.

Modified Date

Select this option to record the date and time that the file was last
modified.

Object Timeline
Comments

You can assign a comment to each file timestamp in the bookmark.
Comments are created in an HTML editor. HTML allows you to format
your comments within the bookmark and for any subsequent reports.
See Bookmark Comments HTML Editor on page 395.
The timeline comments are shown in the timeline report anchored to
each date, and each date being used will crate a new row in the text
report.

Manual
Timeline Data

In this section, you can add manual timeline entries that are not available
as items in the File List.
For example, you may have access to phone records and you can add
call histories as individual manual entries.
You enter the date and time of the items and then in the CSV, they are
displayed chronologically with the other items in your bookmark.
Note: Manual items are listed as Other in the report.

Bookmarking Evidence

Bookmarks Dialog Options

| 394

Options of the Bookmark Information Pane (Continued)
Field

Description
Manual
Timeline
Comments

(Optional) Enter a comment or description to enter a Manual Timeline
item. Comments are created in an HTML editor. HTML allows you to
format your comments within the bookmark and for any subsequent
reports.
See Bookmark Comments HTML Editor on page 395.

Manual Date

Enter the date of the Manual Timeline item.
You can click the arrow to open a calendar.

Manual Time

Enter the time of the Manual Timeline item.

Add

Click Add to save the Manual Timeline item.
The item is added to the Manual Timeline Entries list.

Remove

Highlight a Manual Timeline entry and click Delete to remove it from the
list.

Manual
Timeline Entries

The list Manual Timeline items that you have added.

Select Bookmark Parent

Select the parent bookmark under which you would like to save the
bookmark.
There are two default bookmark parents:
A Shared tree that is available to all investigators
A bookmark tree specific to the logged-in-user
Administrators and Case Administrators can see and use all bookmarks
in a case.



If the bookmark is related to an older bookmark it can be added under
the older bookmark, with the older bookmark being the parent, or it can
be saved as a peer.

Bookmark Comments HTML Editor
The HTML Editor for Bookmark Comments allows you to format Bookmark Comments using HTML.
Important: You are required to use the HTML Editor when entering Bookmark Comments, with or without
formatting.

To enter Bookmark Comments
1.

In Evidence Explorer, click the Bookmarks tab.

Highlight (click) a bookmark from the Bookmarks pane.

Click the Edit button next to the Comment field.
The HTML Editor appears.

Enter and/or format your comments using formatting options. You can also format your comments
directly in HTML by clicking Source. For a brief description of each HTML formatting option, click Help
in the HTML Editor.

Click Done in the HTML Editor when finished.

Bookmarking Evidence

Bookmarks Dialog Options

| 395

Note: ALWAYS click Done in the HTML Editor to exit the editor and keep your comments. You still need
to save the Bookmark (Save Changes) to keep the comment in the Bookmark.

Bookmarking Evidence

Bookmarks Dialog Options

| 396

Viewing Bookmark Information
The Bookmark Information pane displays information about the selected bookmark and the selected bookmark
file. The data in this pane is editable by anyone with sufficient rights.
Select a bookmark in the Bookmarks tree view of the Bookmarks tab, or in the Bookmarks node in the tree of the
Overview tab to view information about a bookmark. The Overview tab view provides limited information about
the bookmarks in the case. The Bookmark tab provides all information about all bookmarks in the case. In the
Bookmark tab, the Bookmark Information pane displays the Bookmark Name, Creator Name, Bookmark
Comment, and Supplementary files. When selected, a list of files contained in the bookmark displays in the File
List. If you select a file from the File List, the comment and selection information pertaining to that file displays in
the Bookmark Information pane.
Bookmarked files display in a different color in the File List pane than non-bookmarked files for easy
identification.
Change any of the information displayed from this pane. Changes are automatically saved when you change the
bookmark selection.
In the File List, bookmarked items display in a different color for easy identification. You may need to refresh the
view to force a rewrite of the screen for the different color to display. Forcing a rewrite would impact the overall
performance of the program.

Creating a Timeline Bookmark Report
After you have created Timeline Bookmarks, you can crate Timeline Bookmark Reports. The reports are in CSV
format. You can specify one or more Timeline Bookmarks for each report. You specify one or more Timeline
Bookmarks for each report. You specify the location and name of the saved CSV report.
See About Timeline Bookmarks on page 390.

To create a timeline Bookmark Report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Timeline > Report.

Select one or more Timeline Bookmarks to use for the report.

(Optional) Select one of the following
Select
Clear

All Children - This selects all of the children of the selected bookmarks in the bookmark tree.

All Children - This clears all of the children of the selected bookmarks in the bookmark tree.

Click Select to select an output folder.
4a.

Select the folder to save the report in.

4b.

Specify the name of the report or use the default Timeline Report name.

Click Generate to save the report.

Using the Bookmarks Tab
You can use the Bookmark tab to view, create, and edit bookmarks.

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Bookmarking Selected Text
Bookmarked selections are independent of the view in which they were made. Select hex data in the Hex view of
a bookmarked file and save it; bookmark different text in the Filtered view of the same file and save that
selection as well.

To add selected text in a bookmark
1.

Open the file containing the text you want to select.

From the Natural, Text, Filtered or Hex views, make your selection.
Note: If the file is a graphic file, you will not see, nor be able to make selections in the Text or the
Natural views.

Click Create Bookmark in the File List toolbar to open the Create New Bookmark dialog.

When creating your bookmark, check Bookmark Selection in File.

To save selected content, choose the view that shows what you want to save, then highlight the content
to save.

Right-click the selected content. Click Save As.

In the Save As dialog, provide a name for the selection and click Save.
The selection remains in the bookmark.

Bookmarking Video Thumbnails
You can bookmark Video Thumbnails by creating a new bookmark or adding to an existing bookmark. By
default, Video Thumbnails that are added to Bookmarks play from the location thumbnail to end of the video. You
can update, change the start/end times, or remove the thumbnail from within the bookmark. You can also export
your video thumbnails to your report.
See Using the Video Thumbnails Pane on page 348.
See About Bookmarks on page 390.
See Adding Bookmarks to a Report on page 513.

Adding a Video Thumbnail to a New or Existing Bookmark
To add a Video Thumbnail to a new or existing Bookmark
1.

From the Evidence Explorer, click the Video tab.

Right-click the video thumbnail for the Bookmark.

Click either:
Create
Add

Bookmark. See Creating a Bookmark on page 391.

to Bookmark. See Adding to an Existing Bookmark on page 399.

Follow the instructions for creating and/or adding to a Bookmark.

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About Updating/Removing Bookmarked Video Thumbnails
Once there are Video Thumbnails in a Bookmark, you can update (change) the Video Thumbnail or remove it.
Note: You cannot add a selection of a video from the Bookmark’s Natural Viewer using the Add Selection
button. To add a video thumbnail to a bookmark, see Adding a Video Thumbnail to a New or Existing
Bookmark (page 398).

To update a Video Thumbnail in a Bookmark
1.

From the Evidence Explorer, click the Bookmarks tab.

In the Bookmarks pane, navigate to and highlight the Bookmark containing the Video Thumbnail(s).

In the File List pane, highlight the video from which the thumbnails were created.

In the Bookmark Information > Selections pane, click (highlight) the thumbnail (selection).

In the File Content > Natural Viewer, click Play (

Click Update Section.

Enter a Start and/or End Time.

Click OK.

) and then Pause.

To remove a Video Thumbnail from a Bookmark
1.

From the Evidence Explorer, click the Bookmarks tab.

In the Bookmarks pane, navigate to and highlight the Bookmark containing the Video Thumbnail(s).

In the File List pane, click (highlight) the video from which the thumbnails were created.

In the Bookmark Information > Selections pane, click (highlight) the thumbnail (selection).

Click Remove Selection.

Confirm the change.

Adding to an Existing Bookmark
Sometimes additional information or files are desired in a bookmark.

To add to an existing bookmark
1.

Select the files to be added to the existing bookmark.

Right-click the new files.

Click Add to Bookmark.

When available (depending on the type of files you are adding), make selections for Files to Add, Also
Include, OCR Extractions of Selected Graphics, and Bookmark Selection in File.

Open the parent bookmark tree.

Select the child bookmark to add the file or information to.

Click OK.

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Creating Email or Email Attachment Bookmarks
When bookmarking an email, you can also add and bookmark any attachments. You can also include a parent
email when you bookmark an email attachment.
To create a bookmark for an email, follow the steps for creating a bookmark. Select the email to include in the
bookmark. Right-click and choose Create Bookmark. Note that by default, the Email Attachments box is
active, but unmarked. If only the parent email is needed, the Email Attachments box should remain unselected.
Complete the bookmark creation normally by naming the bookmark, selecting the bookmark parent, then
clicking OK.
If you need to bookmark only an attachment of the email, select and right-click on the attachment. Choose
Create Bookmark. For more information on creating bookmarks, see, Creating a Bookmark (page 391).
Notice that the Parent Email box is automatically active, allowing you to include the parent email if it is not part of
the selection you have already made. If the Parent Email box is checked, and there is more than one
attachment, the Email Attachments box becomes active as well, allowing you to also include all attachments to
the parent email. To add only the originally selected attachment to the bookmark, do not check the Parent Email
box.

Adding Email and Email Attachments to Existing
Bookmarks
To add an email to a bookmark, select the email to add, then right-click on the email and choose Add To
Bookmark. Note that if emails are selected, but their attachments are not selected, the Email Attachments box
is active, but not marked. If only the parent email is needed, the Email Attachments box can remain unselected.
If you have selected only the attachment, include the attachment’s parent email by marking the Parent Email
box.
One way to be sure to find the exact items you want is to highlight an interesting item in the File List view in one
tab, then right-click on it and select View This Item in a Different List. Click on Email and you are taken to the
Email tab with the selected email highlighted in the File List view, and displayed in the Natural tab in the File
Content pane. In the Email Attachments pane on the right that file is displayed, along with its role; whether it is a
parent email, part of the email thread, or an attachment.
If only an attachment of an email is needed to be added to the bookmark, select the attachment and follow the
instructions for adding to a bookmark.

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Moving a Bookmark
To move a bookmark
1.

From either the Bookmark tab or the Overview tab, select the bookmark you want to move.

Drag the bookmark to the desired location and then release the mouse button.

Copying a Bookmark
To copy a bookmark
1.

From either the Bookmark tab or the Overview tab, select the bookmark you want to copy.

Using the right mouse button, drag the bookmark to the desired location and release the mouse button.

Deleting a Bookmark
To delete a bookmark
1.

In the Bookmark tab, expand the bookmark list and highlight the bookmark to be removed.

Do one of the following:
Press

the Delete key.

Right-click

on the bookmark to delete, and click Delete Bookmark.

Deleting Files from a Bookmark
To delete files from a bookmark
1.

From either the Overview tab or the Bookmarks tab, open the bookmark containing the file you want to
delete.

Right-click the file in the Bookmark File List pane.

Do one of the following:
Select

Remove from Bookmark.

Press

the Delete key on your keyboard. You will be prompted, “Are you sure you want to delete files
from this bookmark?” Click Yes.

Deleting

a file from a bookmark does not delete the file from the case.

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Chapter 27

Searching Evidence with Live Search

Searching evidence for information pertaining to a case can be one of the most crucial steps in the examination.
An index search gives rapid results, and a live search includes options such as text searching and hexadecimal
searching. You can view search results from the File List and File Contents views of the Search tab.

The Live Search is a process involving a bit-by-bit comparison of the entire evidence set with the search term.
This chapter includes the following topics
Conducting

a Live Search (page 402)

Live

Text Search (page 403)

Live

Hex Search (page 405)

Live

Pattern Search (page 406)

Using

Pattern Searches (page 406)

Predefined
Creating

Regular Expressions (page 409)

Custom Regular Expressions (page 411)

Conducting a Live Search
The live search takes slightly more time than an index search because it involves a bit-by-bit comparison of the
search term to the evidence. A live search is flexible because it can find patterns of non-alphanumeric
characters, including those that are not generally indexed. It is powerful because you can define those patterns
to meet your needs in an investigation.
Note: If a case was originally processed using distributed processing, when a reviewer conducts a live search,
the system will first attempt to use the computer with the distributed processing engine, but if it is not
available, it will use the reviewer’s local computer to conduct the search.

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Live Text Search
A Text search finds all strings that match an exact entry, such as a specific phone number (801-377-5410).
When conducting a Live Text Search, there are no arrows to click for operand selection.
A Live Text Search gives you options such as ANSI, Unicode with UTF-16 Little Endian, UTF-16 Big Endian, and
UTF-8. The latter two are always case-sensitive. You can also choose from a list of other Code Pages to apply to
the current search. In addition, you can select Case Sensitivity for any Live Text Search.
Note: When entering Chinese characters into search, you must have both ANSI and Unicode options selected.
The difference between a Pattern search and a Text search is that a text search searches for the exact typed
text, there are no operands so the results return exactly as typed. For example, a simple Pattern search allows
you to find all strings that match a certain pattern, such as for any 10-digit phone number (nnn-nnn-nnnn), or a
nine-digit social security number (nnn-nn-nnnn).
More complex Pattern searches (“regex”) require specific syntax. See Live Pattern Search (page 406).
Search terms can be entered then exported as XML files, then imported at any time, or with any case. Text files
can be imported and used in Live Search, however the Live Search Export feature supports only XML format.
Note: When importing TXT files that the search of those terms depend on the specific tab your in. (ie If I have a
few hex terms and import the TXT list into Live Search in the Patterns tab), the search is run as a pattern
search and not hex.

To Conduct a Live Text search
1.

In the Live Search tab, click the Text tab.
In the Text or Pattern tabs, you can check the character sets to include in the search.

If you want to include sets other than ANSI and Unicode, check Other Code Pages and click Select.

Select the needed sets.

Click to include EBCDIC, Mac, and Multibyte as needed.

Click OK to close the dialog.

Check Case Sensitive if you want to search specifically uppercase or lowercase letters as entered.
Case is ignored if this box is not checked.

Enter the term in the Search Term field.

Click Add to add the term to the Search Terms window.

Click Clear to remove all terms from the Search Terms window.

10. Repeat Steps 7, 8, and 9 as needed until you have your search list complete.

When you have added the search terms for this search, it is a good idea to export the search terms to a
file that can be imported later, saving the time of re-entering every item, and the risk of errors. This is
particularly helpful for customized pattern searches.
11. In the Max Hits Per File field, enter the maximum number of search hits you want listed per file. The

default is 200. The range is 1 to 65,535. If you want to apply a filter, do so from the Filter drop-down list
in the bar below the Search Terms list. Applying a filter speeds up searching by eliminating items that do
not match the filter. The tab filter menu has no effect on filtering for searches.
12. Click Search.
13. Select the results to view from the Live Search Results pane. Click the plus icon (+) next to a search line

to expand the branch. Individual search results are listed in the Live Search Results pane, and the

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corresponding files are listed in the File List. To view a specific item, select the hit in the search results.
Selected hits are highlighted in the Hex View tab.
14. When a search is running you can click View > Progress Window to see how the job is progressing.

Note: In the progress window, you can Pause, Resume, and Cancel jobs, in addition to closing the
window. (Pause and Resume are the same button, but the label changes depending on
processing activity.)

Note: Mark the Remove when finished check box to take completed jobs off the list for housekeeping
purposes.
15. When processing is complete, return to the Live Search tab to review the results.

Right-click on a search result in the Live Search Results pane to display more options. The available
right-click options are as follows:

Option

Description

Create Bookmark

Opens the Create New Bookmark dialog.

Copy to Clipboard

Opens a new context-sensitive menu. Options are:





Export to File

All Hits In Case
All Hits In Search
All Hits In Term
All Hits In File





All File Stats In Case
All File Stats In Search
All File Stats In Term

Opens a new context-sensitive menu. Options are:





All Hits In Case
All Hits In Search
All Hits In Term
All Hits In File





All File Stats In Case
All File Stats In Search
All File Stats In Term

Set Context Data Width

Opens the Data Export Options window. Allows you to set a context width from 32
to 2000 characters within which it can find and display the search hit.

Export Search Term

Select to export a search term list that can be imported into this or other cases.

Delete All Search
Results

Deletes all search results from the Live Search Results pane.

Delete this Line

Deletes only the highlighted search results line from the Live Search Results pane.

Searching before the case has finished processing will return incomplete results. Wait to search until the case
has finished processing and the entire body of data is available.
Note: Search terms for pre-processing options support only ASCII characters.

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Live Hex Search
Hexadecimal (Hex) format includes pairs of characters in a base 16 numeric scheme, 0-9 and a-f. Hex searching
allows you to search for repeating instances of data in Hex-format, and to save Hex-format data search strings to
an XML file and re-use it in this or other cases.
Click the Hex (Hexadecimal) tab to enter a term by typing it directly into the search field, by clicking the
Hexadecimal character buttons provided, or by copying hex content from the hex viewer of another file and
pasting it into the search box. Click Add to add the hex string to the search terms list.
The instructions for conducting a live search on the hex tab are similar to conducting searches on the Pattern
tab. Remember, when searching for hexadecimal values, a single alphabetic or numeric text character is
represented by hex characters in pairs.

To do a Hex search
1.

In the Live Search tab, click the Hex tab.

Add Hex search strings using the keyboard or using the Alpha-numeric bar above the Search Terms
box.

Click Add to add the term to the Search Terms window.

Click Clear to remove all terms from the Search Terms window.

Repeat Steps 2, 3, and 4 as needed until you have your search list complete.

When you have added the search terms for this search, it is a good idea to export the search terms to a
file that can be imported later, saving the time of re-entering every item, and reduces the risk of errors.
This is particularly helpful for customized pattern searches.

In the Max Hits Per File field, enter the maximum number of search hits you want listed per file. The
default is 200. The range is 1 to 65,535. If you want to apply a filter, do so from the Filter drop-down list
in the bar below the Search Terms list. Applying a filter speeds up searching by eliminating items that do
not match the filter. The tab filter menu has no effect on filtering for searches.

Click Search.

Select the results to view from the Live Search Results pane. Click the plus icon (+) next to a search line
to expand the branch. Individual search results are listed in the Live Search Results pane, and the
corresponding files are listed in the File List. To view a specific item, select the file in the search results.
All search results are highlighted in the Hex View tab.

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Live Pattern Search
The more complex Live Pattern “Regex” style search can be used to create pattern searches, allowing forensics
analysts to search through large quantities of text information for repeating strings of data such as:
Telephone
Social

Security Numbers

Computer
Credit

Numbers
IP Addresses

Card Numbers

In the Live Search tab, click the Pattern tab. Each has different options.
The patterns consist of precise character strings formatted as mathematical-style statements that describe a
data pattern such as a credit card or social security number. Pattern searches allow the discovery of data items
that conform to the pattern described by the expression, rather than what a known and explicitly entered string
looks for.
These pattern searches are similar to arithmetic expressions that have operands, operators, sub-expressions,
and a value. For example, the following table identifies the mathematical components in the arithmetic
expression, 5/((1+2)*3).

Regex Pattern Search Components
Component

Example

Operands

5, 1, 2, 3

Operators

/, ( ), +, *

Sub-Expressions

(1+2), ((1+2)*3)

Value

Approximately 0.556

Like the arithmetic expression in this example, pattern searches have operands, operators, sub-expressions,
and a value.
Note: Unlike arithmetic expressions, which can only have numeric operands, operands in pattern searches can
be any characters that can be typed on a keyboard, such as alphabetic, numeric, and symbol characters.

Using Pattern Searches
A pattern search can consists of operands. The search engine searches left to right.
Operators let regular expressions search patterns of data rather than for specific values. For example, the
operators in the following expression enable the search engine to find all Visa and MasterCard credit card
numbers in case evidence files:

\<((\d\d\d\d)[\– ]){3}\d\d\d\d\>

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Without the use of operators, the search engine could look for only one credit card number at a time.

Visa and MasterCard Regular Expressions
Example

Operands

\–, spacebar space

Operators

\, \<, <, ( ), [ ], {3}, \>

Sub-expressions

(\d\d\d\d), ((\d\d\d\d)[\– ])

Value

Any sequence of sixteen decimal digits that is delimited by three hyphens and bound on
both sides by non-word characters
(xxxx–xxxx–xxxx–xxxx).

As the pattern search engine evaluates an expression in left-to-right order, the first operand it encounters is the
backslash less-than combination (\<). This combination is also known as the begin-a-word operator. This
operator tells the search engine that the first character in any search hit immediately follows a non-word
character such as white space or other word delimiter.
Note: A precise definition of non-word characters and constituent-word characters in regular expressions is
difficult to find. Consequently, experimentation may be the best way to determine if the forward slash lessthan (\<) and forward slash greater-than (\>) operators help find the data patterns relevant to a specific
searching task. The hyphen and the period are examples of valid delimiters or non-word characters.
The begin-a-word operator illustrates one of two uses of the backslash or escape character ( \ ), used for the
modification of operands and operators. On its own, the left angle bracket (<) would be evaluated as an operand,
requiring the search engine to look next for a left angle bracket character. However, when the escape character
immediately precedes the (<), the two characters are interpreted together as the begin-a-word operator by the
search engine. When an escape character precedes a hyphen (-) character, which is normally considered to be
an operator, the two characters (\-) require the search engine to look next for a hyphen character and not apply
the hyphen operator (the meaning of the hyphen operator is discussed below).
The parentheses operator ( ) groups together a sub-expression, that is, a sequence of characters that must be
treated as a group and not as individual operands.
The \d operator, which is another instance of an operand being modified by the escape character, is interpreted
by the search engine to mean that the next character in search hits found may be any decimal digit character
from 0-9.
The square brackets ([ ]) indicate that the next character in the sequence must be one of the characters listed
between the brackets or escaped characters. In the case of the credit card expression, the backslash-hyphenspacebar space ([\-spacebar space]) means that the four decimal digits must be followed by either a hyphen or a
spacebar space.
The {3} means that the preceding sub-expression must repeat three times, back to back. The number in the
curly brackets ({ }) can be any positive number.
Finally, the backslash greater-than combination (\>), also known as the end-a-word operator, means that the
preceding expression must be followed by a non-word character.
Sometimes there are ways to search for the same data using different expressions. It should be noted that there
is no one-to-one correspondence between the expression and the pattern it is supposed to find. Thus the
preceding credit card pattern search is not the only way to search for Visa or MasterCard credit card numbers.

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Because some pattern search operators have related meanings, there is more than one way to compose a
pattern search to find a specific pattern of text. For instance, the following pattern search has the same meaning
as the preceding credit card expression:

\<((\d\d\d\d)(\–| )){3}\d\d\d\d\>
The difference here is the use of the pipe (|) or union operator. The union operator means that the next character
to match is either the left operand (the hyphen) or the right operand (the spacebar space). The similar meaning
of the pipe (|) and square bracket ([ ]) operators give both expressions equivalent functions.
In addition to the previous two examples, the credit card pattern search could be composed as follows:

\<\d\d\d\d(\–| )\d\d\d\d(\–| )\d\d\d\d(\–| )\d\d\d\d\>
This expression explicitly states each element of the data pattern, whereas the {3} operator in the first two
examples provides a type of mathematical shorthand for more succinct regular expressions.

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Predefined Regular Expressions
Many predefined regular expressions are provided for pattern searching.

Examples of Predefined Regular Expressions


U.S. Social Security Numbers



IP Addresses



U.S. Phone Numbers



Visa and MasterCard Numbers



U.K. Phone Numbers



Computer Hardware MAC Addresses

Social Security Number
The pattern search for Social Security numbers follows a relatively simple model:

\<\d\d\d[\– ]\d\d[\– ]\d\d\d\d\>
This expression reads as follows: find a sequence of text that begins with three decimal digits, followed by a
hyphen or spacebar space. This sequence is followed by two more decimal digits and a hyphen or spacebar
space, followed by four more decimal digits. This entire sequence must be bounded on both ends by non-word
characters.

U.S. Phone Number
The pattern search for U.S. phone numbers is more complex:

((\<1[\–\. ])?($|\<)\d\d\d[$\.\–/ ] ?)?\<\d\d\d[\.\– ]\d\d\d\d\>
The first part of the above expression,

((\<1[\–\. ])?($|\<)\d\d\d[$\.\–/ ] ?)?,
means that an area code may or may not precede the seven digit phone number. This meaning is achieved
through the use of the question mark (?) operator. This operator requires that the sub-expression immediately to
its left appear exactly zero or one times in any search hits. This U.S. Phone Number expression finds telephone
numbers with or without area codes.
This expression also indicates that if an area code is present, a number one (1) may or may not precede the
area code. This meaning is achieved through the sub-expression (\<1[\–\. ])?, which says that if there is a “1”
before the area code, it will follow a non-word character and be separated from the area code by a delimiter
(period, hyphen, or spacebar space).
The next sub-expression, ($|\<)\d\d\d[$\.\–/ ] ?, specifies how the area code must appear in any search
hits. The \(|\<) requires that the area code begin with a left parenthesis or other delimiter. The left parenthesis
is, of necessity, escaped. The initial delimiter is followed by three decimal digits, then another delimiter, a right
parenthesis, a period, a hyphen, a forward slash, or a spacebar space. Lastly, the question mark (?) means that
there may or may not be one spacebar space after the final delimiter.
The latter portion of this expression, \<\d\d\d[\.\– ]\d\d\d\d\>, requests a seven-digit phone number with a
delimiter (period, hyphen, or spacebar space) between the third and fourth decimal digit characters. Note that
typically, the period is an operator. It means that the next character in the pattern can be any valid character. To
specify an actual period (.), the character must be escaped ( \ .). The backslash period combination is included in
the expression to catch phone numbers delimited by a period character.

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IP Address
An IP address is a 32-bit value that uniquely identifies a computer on a TCP/IP network, including the Internet.
Currently, all IP addresses are represented by a numeric sequence of four fields separated by the period
character. Each field can contain any number from 0 to 255. The following pattern search locates IP addresses:

\<[1-2]?[0-9]?[0-9]\.[1-2]?[0-9]?[0-9]\.[1-2]?[0-9]?[0-9]\.[1-2]?[0-9]?[0-9]\>
The IP Address expression requires the search engine to find a sequence of data with four fields separated by
periods (.). The data sequence must also be bound on both sides by non-word characters.
Note that the square brackets ([ ]) still behave as a set operator, meaning that the next character in the sequence
can be any one of the values specified in the square brackets ([ ]). Also note that the hyphen (-) is not escaped;
it is an operator that expresses ranges of characters.
Each field in an IP address can contain up to three characters. Reading the expression left to right, the first
character, if present, must be a 1 or a 2. The second character, if present, can be any value 0–9. The square
brackets ([ ]) indicate the possible range of characters and the question mark (?) indicates that the value is
optional; that is, it may or may not be present. The third character is required; therefore, there is no question
mark. However, the value can still be any number 0–9.
You can build your own regular expressions by experimenting with the default expressions. You can modify the
default expressions to fine-tune your data searches or to create your own expressions.
Visit the AccessData website, www.accessdata.com, to find a technical document on Regular Expressions.

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Creating Custom Regular Expressions
Create your own customized regular expressions using the following list of common operators

Common Regular Expression Operators
Operator

Description

A period matches any character.

Matches the preceding sub-expression one or more times. For example, “ba+” will find all
instances of “ba,” “baa,” “baaa,” and so forth; but it will not find “b.”

Matches the end of a line.

Matches the preceding sub-expression zero or more times. For example, “ba*” will find all
instances of “b,” “ba,” “baa,” “baaa,” and so forth.

Matches the preceding sub-expression zero or one times.

[]

Matches any single value within the square brackets. For example, “ab[xyz]” will find “abx,”
“aby,” and “abz.”

A hyphen (-) specifies ranges of characters within the brackets. For example, “ab[0-3]” will
find “ab0,” “ab1,” “ab2,” and “ab3.” You can also specify case specific ranges such as [a-r],
or [B-M].

”

(Back quote) Starts the search at the beginning of a file.

‘

(Single quote or apostrophe) Starts the search at the end of a file.

Matches the beginning of a word. In other words, the next character in any search hit must
immediately follow a non-word character.

Matches the end of a word. In other words, the last character in any search hit must be
immediately followed by a non-word character.

Matches the sub-expression on either the left or the right. For example, A|u requires that the
next character in a search hit be “A” or “u.”

Positions the cursor between characters and spaces.

Matches anything not at a word boundary. For example, will find Bob in the name Bobby.

Matches any single decimal digit.

Matches any lowercase letter.

Matches a new line.

Matches a return.

Matches any whitespace character such as a space or a tab.

Matches a tab.

Matches any uppercase letter.

Matches any whole character [a-z A-Z 0-9].

Matches the start of a line.

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Common Regular Expression Operators (Continued)
Operator

Description

[[:alpha:]]

Matches any alpha character (short for the [a-z A-Z] operator).

[[:alnum:]]

Matches any alpha numerical character (short for the [a-z A-Z 0-9] operator).

[[:blank:]]

Matches any whitespace, except for line separators.

{n,m}

Matches the preceding sub-expression at least n (number) times, but no more than m
(maximum) times.

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Chapter 28

Searching Evidence with Index Search

Searching evidence for information pertaining to a case can be one of the most crucial steps in the examination.
Index Search gives instantaneous results, and Live Search supports modes like text and hexadecimal. Search
results are viewed from the File List and File Contents views in the Search tab.

This chapter details the use of the Index Search feature. It includes the following topics
Conducting
Using

an Index Search (page 414)

Search Terms (page 415)

Expanding
Adjusting
Defining

Search Terms (page 415)

the Weighting Criteria for an Index Search Term (page 416)

Search Criteria (page 417)

Exporting

and Importing Index Search Terms (page 417)

Selecting

Index Search Options (page 418)

Viewing
Using

Index Search Results (page 419)

dtSearch Regular Expressions (page 420)

Documenting
Using

Search Results (page 426)

Copy Special to Document Search Results (page 427)

Bookmarking

Search Results (page 428)

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Conducting an Index Search
The Index Search uses the index to find the search term. Evidence items may be indexed when they are first
added to the case or at a later time. Whenever possible, AccessData recommends indexing a case before
beginning analysis.
Index searches are instantaneous. In addition, in the Index Search Results List, the offset of the data in the hit is
no longer listed in the hit. You will see it when you look at the hit file in Hex view.
Running an Index search on large files or Index Searches resulting in a large number of hits may make the scroll
bar appear not to work. However, it will return when the search is complete. For more information about indexing
an evidence item, see Indexing a Case (page 91).
The Search Criteria pane shows a cumulative total of all listed or all selected terms, based on the And or the Or
operator. The cumulative total displays at the bottom of the Search Terms list. This functionality has been added
to match the way the Search Terms list functioned in previous versions.
Select none, one, several, or all search terms from the list, click either And or Or, then click either All or
Selected to see cumulative results. You can see this feature at work in the figure below.
Important: If you start an index search and then refresh the interface before the search finishes, the search will
cancel and restart. This will cause a sizeable delay when searching in large or very large cases.
The Index contains all discrete words or number strings found in both the allocated and unallocated space in the
case evidence.
You can configure how special characters, spaces and symbols are indexed. This is not done by default,
however. One benefit is that you can easily search on an exact email address using username@isp (the
extension, such as COM or NET, is not included automatically because a period (.) is not indexed.
In addition to performing searches within the case, you can also use the index to export a word list to use as a
source file for custom dictionaries to improve the likelihood of and speed of password recovery related to case
files when using the Password Recovery Toolkit (PRTK). You can export the index by selecting File > Export
Word List.
Note: Performing a search using Unicode only works with Live Search, not Index Search.
UTF encoded documents can be searched using dtSearch.
Note: dtSearch has been updated which changes some of the search functionality and results. The search is
now filtering Windows and Linux executables (EXE, BIN, OCF, and ELF). This may reduce the number of
search results and reduce certain items from being shown in the filtered text. For example, the text in a
header of an application may include “This program cannot be run in DOS mode”. Because it is now
filtered it will not longer show in Filtered text.

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Using Search Terms
Type the word or term in the Search Term field. The term and terms like it appear in the Indexed Words column
displaying the number of times that particular term was found in the data. Click Add or press Enter to place the
term in the Search Terms list, or double-click the term in the indexed words column to add it to the Search Terms
list.

Using Unicode Characters in Search Terms
You can search for Unicode characters when performing a search. For example, you can search for the ö
character.

To add Unicode characters
1.
2.

Turn on your keyboard’s Num Lock.
In in the Terms field, enter the Unicode.
For example, do the following:
2a.

Press and hold down the ALT key.

2b.

Using the numeric keypad only, type 148.

2c.

Release the ALT key and the character is entered.

Note: For Windows 7 and earlier you can use a 3-digit unicode number. For Windows 8 and higher you must
use a 4-digit number. See http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315684/en-us.

Expanding Search Terms
When performing an Index Search, you can use the Term Browser to build a search using terms that are related
to one or more keywords. You then select which words you want to include in the search.
To expand terms, a third-party lexical database called WordNet ® is used. When you expand terms, you can use
the following lists: Synonyms, Related, Specific, General.
For example, you may start with a keyword of “delete.” By using the Term Browser, it will suggest synonyms,
such as “erase” and “cancel”. It will also suggest related terms, such as “cut,” “deletion,” and “excision”. It will
also suggest general related terms, such as “censor,” “remove,” “take,” and “withdraw.” It will also suggest
specific related terms, such as “strike,” “excise,” “scratch,” and “expunge”. You can select which of those words
to include in your search.
The first time that you use this feature, the WordNet dictionary must be initialized. This is a one-time event and
can take 5-15 minutes for it to complete. You are prompted before the initialization begins.

To search for terms using related words
1.

In the Examiner, click Index Search.

Enter one or more keywords to the search terms.

Select one or more search terms that you want to expand.

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Click Expand Terms.
A list of synonyms is generated.
To add other related words, select the Include Related, Include Specific, and Include General check
boxes.

You can add terms to the term list, separated by a comma, and click Expand.

Select the words that you want to include in the search.

To build a search including the words that you selected, click Add to Search.

Adjusting the Weighting Criteria for an Index Search Term
It is possible to add a weight to index search terms. This allows for an accurate, weighted percentage when the
index search results populate. These terms can be either global or case-specific.

To adjust the weight of an index search term
1.

Open the desired case. Navigate to Manage > Indexed Search Term Weights.

In the Default Indexed Search Term Weights dialog, add a search term by clicking on the Plus button,
then double-clicking the Term box and typing in your term.

Add a weight by double-clicking the Weight box for the desired term and typing in the desired weight.

Click OK. The term will now be indexed using the entered weight.
Note: It is possible to add a weight while typing in the search term on the Index Tab. To do this, add :##
to the end of the term. For example, to weight the word Crime at a 15, type in the term as
Crime:15. If you prefer not to use the saved weight for a particular search, type in the term with a
:00 at the end. For example, you would type Crime:00.

To make weighted terms global
Select the Shared option at the top of the Default Indexed Search Term Weights dialog.

To make weighted terms case-specific
Select the Local option at the top of the Default Indexed Search Term Weights dialog.

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Defining Search Criteria
Refine a search even more by using the Boolean operators AND and OR. You can specify the terms to use in an
index search by selecting specific entries, or by searching against all entries.
You can also use the NOT operator to force the search criteria to exclude terms. To do this, in the Index Search
tab, in the Terms field, type NOT before the term that you want to exclude from the search criteria and then click
Add.
For example, if you do not want to include files with the term “apple” in your search, enter NOT apple into the
search criteria.
The Search Terms list now shows you a cumulative total for the search terms, individually, combined, or total.
You can use the operators All and Selected to see more specific results. This is helpful when refining lists and
terms to limit the results to a manageable number.
You can import a list of search terms to save having to type them multiple times. This is especially helpful when
the list is long, or the terms are complex. When you create a search terms document, each term begins on a new
line, and is followed immediately by a hard return. Save the file in TXT format in any text editor and save it for
future use.
Important: When creating your search criteria, try to focus your search to bring up the smallest number of
meaningful hits per search.

Exporting and Importing Index Search Terms
You can export a list of search terms you have added to the list of search terms to save for later use.

To export a set of search terms
1.

Highlight the search terms to export to a file.

Click Export.

Provide a filename and location for the file (the TXT extension is added automatically).

Click Save.

To import a saved search terms file
1.

Click Import to import a set of search terms.

Select the search terms file you previously saved.

Click Open.
Note: An imported term cannot be edited, except to delete a term and re-add it to your satisfaction.

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Selecting Index Search Options
To refine an index search, from the Index Search tab, in the Search Criteria area click Options.
Important: The Search Options, Stemming, Phonic, and Synonym cannot be combined. You may choose only
one at a time.

Index Search Options
Option

Result

Stemming

Words that contain the same root, such as raise and raising.

Phonic

Words that sound the same, such as raise and raze.

Synonym

Words that have similar meanings, such as raise and lift.

Index Result Options
Max Files to List

Maximum number of files with hits that are to be listed in the results field. You can change
this maximum number in the field. Searches limited in this way will be indicated by an
asterisk (*) and the text “(files may be limited by “Max files to list” option)” which may be
cut off if the file name exceeds the allowed line length. The maximum number of possible
files with hits per search is 65,535. If you exceed this limit, the remaining hits will be
truncated, and your search results will be unreliable. Narrow your search to limit the
number of files with hits.
Note: Limiting the number of files to display does not work with some images. This is
caused by dtSearch counting the chunks of files as individual files that are coming from
the breaking of large unallocated space files into 10MB chunks. Since Those chunks
are combined back into single files, the resulting file count will be less.

Max Hits per File

Maximum number of hits per file. You can change the maximum number in this field.
Searches limited in this way will be indicated by an asterisk (*) and the text “(files may be
limited by “Max hits per file” option)” which may be cut off if the file name and this text
together exceed the allowed line length. The maximum number of possible hits per file is
10,000.

Max Words to
Return

The maximum number of words to be returned by the search.

Files to Search
All Files

Searches all the files in the case.

File Name Pattern

Limits the search to files that match the filename pattern.
Operand characters can be used to fill-in for unknown characters. The asterisk (*) and
question-mark (?) operands are the only special characters allowed in an index search.
The pattern can include “?” to match any single character or “*” to match an unknown
number of continuous characters.
For example, if you set the filename pattern to “d?ugl*”, the search could return results
from files named douglas, douglass, or druglord.
To enter a filename pattern:
Check the File Name Pattern box.
In the field, enter the filename pattern.
Note: Search by date range is now limited to be between Jan 1, 1970 and Dec 31, 3000.



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Files to Search (Continued)
Files Saved
Between

Beginning and ending dates for the time frame of the last time a file was saved.
Check the Files Saved Between box.
In the date fields, type the beginning and ending dates that you want to search
between.
Note: Search by date range is limited to be between Jan 1, 1970 and Dec 31, 3000.



Files Created
Between

Beginning and ending dates for the time frame of the creation of a file on the suspect’s
system.
Check the Files Created Between box.
In the date fields, enter the beginning and ending dates that you want to search
between.
Note: Search by date range is now limited to be between Jan 1, 1970 and Dec 31, 3000.



File Size Between

Minimum and maximum file sizes, specified in bytes.



Save as Default

Check the File Size Between box.
In the size fields, enter the minimum and maximum file size in bytes that you want to
search between.

Check this box to make your settings apply to all index searches.

Click Search Now when search criteria are prepared and you are ready to perform the search.

Viewing Index Search Results
Index Search results are returned instantaneously. The Index Search Results pane displays the results of your
query in a tree-type view. The tree expands to show whether the resulting items were found in allocated or
unallocated space. Further, when found in allocated space, the results are separated by file category. They are
then sorted by relevancy, a percentage of the hits found per search term.

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Using dtSearch Regular Expressions
You can use regular expression searching capabilities in the dtSearch index search tab. This functionality does
not use RegEx++ that is used in the Live Search tab. dtSearch utilizes the TR1 (Technical Report 1) regular
expressions.
Regular expressions in dtSearch provide a powerful syntax for searching for complicated patterns in text, such
as one of several possible sequences of letters followed by a sequence of numbers. Regular expressions can
also be used to express spelling variations of individual words. Regular expression patterns are arbitrary (i.e.,
supplied by the user dynamically) and cannot be pre-indexed.
Regular expression searching in dtSearch is limited to a single whole word. A regular expression included in the
dtSearch box must be quoted and must begin with ##. An example of this is:
Apple and "##199[0-9]" - will find Apple and 1990 through 1999
Apple and "##19[0-9]+" - will find Apple and 190 through 199
However, if you want to look for Apple Pie, you cannot use "##app.*ie" since this is two words. Only letters and
numbers are searchable. You cannot search for any of the non-indexed characters as defined in the Index
Search Settings in the Detailed Options section of a case creation. Also, dtSearch does not store information
about line breaks so any searches that are made that include the beginning of a line or the end of a line will not
work.
Search considerations using the wildcard character "*" in a regular expression does have an effect on search
speed: the closer to the front of a word the expression is, the more it will slow searching. "Appl.*" will be nearly
as fast as "Apple", while ".*pple" will be much slower.
Note: Advanced searching for Social Security Numbers and Credit Card Numbers and other number patterns
can be achieved, however modifications to the dtSearch engine must be made before processing the
case. For more details, see Advanced Searching on page 7 of this paper.?
For more information, see:
Regular
MSDN:

Expressions - dtSearch Support. http://support.dtsearch.com/webhelp/dtsearch/regular_.htm
TR1 Regular Expressions. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb982727.aspx

TR1 Regular Expressions For Text Patterns
Element Terms
Characters and target sequences are referred to as an Element and can be one of the following:
A

literal character typed as the actual letter or number ( a or 1).

A

'.' (period) is any single character.

An

'*' (asterisk) is a wildcard character.

(a)

is a capture group.

\d

is a decimal character.

For

hex searches, \xhh matches a hex entry (ie - \x0f).

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{2}
A

is a repetition character.

',' (comma) is a minimum character.

(aa?)
An

is a target sequence.

alternation character search is 'this|that'.

A

concatenation sequence is '(a){2,3}(b){2,3}(c)'.

A

back reference is '((a+)(b+))(c+)\3'.

(?:subexpression)

matches the sequence of characters in the target sequence that is matched by the
patter between the delimiters.

(?!:subexpression)

matches any sequence of characters in the target sequence that does not match the
pattern listed in the subexpression)

A

bracket or range expression of the form "[expr]", which matches a value or a range, similar to a "set" in
the Live Pattern Search.

Examples:
"##a"
"##."

matches the target sequence "a" but does not match the target sequences "b", or "c", and so on.
matches a single character such as "a", "b", and "c",and so on.

"##sal*"

matches the target 'sale' and the target "salt' and so on.

"##(a)"

capture group, matches the target sequence "a" but does not match the target sequences "b", or
"c", and so on.

"##\d\d\d\d"
"##aa?"
"##ab"

matches the target sequence of four digits "1234".

or {0,1} matches the target sequence of "aa" and the target sequence of "aaa".

matches the target sequence "ab."

"##[b-z]"

or range, matches the target sequences "b" and "c" but does not match the target sequences

"a".
"##tom|jerry"
"##\d{4}"

matches the target sequence of 'tom' or 'jerry'.

or repetition, matches the target sequence of four digits "1234".

"##(?:aa)"

or target sequence, matches the target sequence of "aa" and the target sequence of "aaa",

and so on.

Ordinary Character
By entering actual ASCII characters, the search will return that set of characters after the element(s) are
entered. By entering ordinary characters, "##nick", you would find said characters. However, if you wanted to
look for Nick Davis, you could not use "##nick davis" since this is two words.

Single "Any" Character and Wildcard
The use of the any character element can be used if a letter or letters may be different, such as difference in
spelling (example 'marijuana' and 'marihuana'). The wildcard is used to find any combination of characters after
an element is entered.
Examples:
"##(a*)"
"##a*"

matches the target sequence "a", the target sequence "aa", and so on.

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"##(a.)"

matches the target sequence "aa", the target sequence "ab", but will not find the target sequence
the target sequence "aaa".

"##a."

matches the target sequence "aa", the target sequence "ab", but will not find the target sequence
the target sequence "aaa".

"##.*ick"

matches the target sequence "nick", the target sequence "click", and so on.

"##mari.uana"

matches the target sequence "marijuana" and the target sequence "marihuana".

Capture Group
A capture group marks its contents as a single unit in the regular expression and labels the target text that
matches its contents. The label that is associated with each capture group is a number, which is determined by
counting the opening parentheses that mark capture groups up to and including the opening parenthesis.
Examples:
"##(ab)*"

matches the target sequence "ab", the target sequence 'abab", and so on.

"##(a+)(b+)"

matches the target sequence "ab, the target sequence "aab", the target sequence "abb",

and so on.
"##ab+"

matches the target sequence "abb" but does not match the target sequence "abab."

"##(ab)+"

matches the target sequence "abab" but does not match the target sequence "abb."

"##((a+)(b+))(c+)"

matches the target sequence "aabbbc" and associates capture group 1 with the
subsequence "aabbb", capture group 2 with the subsequence "aa", capture group 3 with "bbb", and
capture group 4 with the subsequence "c".

Repetition
Any element can be followed by a repetition count.
Examples:
"##(a{2})"

matches the target sequence "aa" but not the target sequence "a" or the target sequence

"aaa".
"##(a{2,})"

matches the target sequence "aa", the target sequence "aaa", and so on, but does not match
the target sequence "a".

A repetition count can also take the following form:
"?"

- Equivalent to "{0,1}".

Examples:
"a?"

matches the target sequence "" and the target sequence "a", but not the target sequence "aa".

"##(aa?)(bbbb?)(c)"

matches the target sequence "aabbbbc" and the target sequence "abbbc".

Decimal Character
You can locate any set of decimals by using the '\d" character element in the expression.
Examples:
"##\d\d\d\d"
"##\d[3}

matches the target sequence "1234".

matches the target sequence "123".

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"##\d{3}\d\d\d\d"
Visa

matches the target sequence '1234567".

and "##\d{4}" will match any files that contain the word 'visa' and any four digits.

Alternation
A concatenated regular expression can be followed by the character '|' and another concatenated regular
expression. Any number of concatenated regular expressions can be combined in this manner. The resulting
expression matches any target sequence that matches one or more of the concatenated regular expressions.
Example:
"##(nick|houston)"

matches the target sequence "nick", or the target sequence "houston".

Concatenation
Regular expression elements, with or without repetition counts, can be concatenated to form longer regular
expressions. The resulting expression matches a target sequence that is a concatenation of the sequences that
are matched by the individual elements.
Examples:
"##(a){2,3}(b){2,3}(c)"
"##(\d{4}){4}"

matches the target sequence "aabbc", the target sequence "aaabbbc".

matches the target sequence of "1234123412341234" (16 digits - no spaces).

Back Reference
A back reference marks its contents as a single unit in the regular expression grammar and labels the target text
that matches its contents. The label that is associated with each capture group is a number, which is determined
by counting the opening parentheses that mark capture groups up to and including the opening parenthesis that
marks the current capture group. A back reference is a backslash that is followed by a decimal value N. It
matches the contents of the Nth capture group. The value of N must not be more than the number of capture
groups that precede the back reference.
Example:
"((a+)(b+))(c+)\3"

matches the target sequence "aabbbcbbb". The back reference "\3" matches the text in
the third capture group, that is, the "(b+)". It does not match the target sequence "aabbbcbb".
The

first capture group is ((a+)(b+))

The

second capture group is (a+)

The

third capture group is (b+)

The

fourth capture group is (c+)

Bracket or Character Range
A character range in a bracket expression adds all the characters in the range to the character set that is defined
by the bracket expression. To create a character range, put the character '-' between the first and last characters
in the range. Doing this puts into the set all characters that have a numeric value that is more than or equal to the
numeric value of the first character, and less than or equal to the numeric value of the last character.

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Examples:
"[0-7]"

represents the set of characters { '0', '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7' }. It matches the target sequences "0",
"1", and so on, but not "a".

"[h-k]"

represents the set of characters { 'h', 'i', 'j', 'k' }.

"[0-24]"
"[0-2]"

represents the set of characters {'0', '1', '2', '4' }.

represents the set of characters { '0', '1', '2' }.

An individual character in a bracket expression adds that character to the character set that is defined by the
expression. If the bracket expression begins with a "^" then this defines that the expression will consider all
characters except for those listed.
Examples:
"[abc]"

matches the target sequences "a", "b", or "c", but not the sequence "d".

"[^abc]"

matches the target sequence "d", but not the target sequences "a", "b", or "c".

"[a^bc]"

matches the target sequences "a", "b", "c", or "^", but not the target sequence "d".

TR1 Regular Expressions For Number Patterns
If order to achieve dtSearch capability in FTK for search strings such as Social Security Numbers, Credit Card
Numbers, Employee Identification Numbers, Telephone Numbers, and so on, where a period or hyphen is
present, certain steps must be done during the pre-processing phase of the case.
Note: NOTE: Currently, you cannot include search patterns with spaces.

Normal dtSearch strings for credit card numbers or social security numbers
The normal dtSearch wildcard string can be utilized as long as the hyphen is set to be indexed as a space:
Social

Security Numbers - === == ====

Returns
Will
Credit

"123-45-6789"

not return "123 45 6789"

Card Numbers (16 digits) - ==== ==== ==== ====

Returns
Will

"1234-1234-1234-1234"

not return "1234 1234 1234 1234"

Number Patterns
You can use dtSearch TR1 Regular Expression to find number patterns as you can in Live Searches for such
things as Credit Card Numbers, Social Security Numbers, xxxxxxxx. Certain pre-processing options MUST be
completed before this function will work.

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Configuring Pre-Processing Options
If you to utilize the dtSearch TR1 Regular Expression functions for looking for number patterns, you must
complete the following pre-processing options:
1.

Start a new case.

Click Custom processing profile.

Click Indexing Options next to dtSearch Text Index.

On the Indexing Options dialog window set the following:
For

Hyphen Treatments - set to Hyphen

In

the Spaces section - remove the period

In

the Spaces section - remove the left and right parenthesis

In

the Letters section - click Add and in all 4 spaces, type a "." period and repeat for the left and right
parenthesis, then click OK.

Process the case.

Examples of TR1 Regular Expressions for Number Patterns
For

Credit Card Numbers:

"##(\d{4}[\.\-])(\d{4}[\.\-])(\d{4}[\.\-])(\d{4})"

The first three groups are composed of - (\d{4}[\.\-]). The expression is looking for four digits followed
by a period, or hyphen. This group is repeated three times and followed by the group looking for the
ending 4 digits.
We can shorten that expression by writing it "##((\d{4})[\.\-]){3}(\d{4})".
This will find 1234-5678-1234-5678 or 1234.5678.1234.5678
For

Social Security Numbers -

"##(\d{3}[\.\-])(\d{2}[\.\-])(\d{4})".
This
For

will find 123-45-6789 or 123.45.6789

U.S. Telephone Numbers -

"##(\d[\-\.])?($?\d{3}[\-\.$])?([\-\.]?\d{3}[\-\.])(\d{4})"

This will find:
567-8901
234-567-8901
1-234-567-8901
(234)567-8901
(234)-567-8901
567.8901
234.567.8901
1.234.567.8901
(234)567.8901
(234).567.8901

Searching Evidence with Index Search

Using dtSearch Regular Expressions

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Documenting Search Results
Once a search is refined and complete, it is often useful to document the results.
Right-click an item in the Search Results list to open the quick menu with the following options:
Create

Bookmark: Opens the Create Bookmark dialog. For more information on creating and using
Bookmarks, see Using the Bookmarks Tab (page 397).

Copy

to Clipboard: Copies the selected data to the clipboard (buffer) where it can be copied to another
Windows application, such as an Excel (2003 or earlier) spreadsheet.
Note: The maximum number of lines of data that can be copied to the clipboard is 10,000.

Export

to File: Copies information to a file. Select the name and destination folder for the information file.
Uses the same criteria as Copy to Clipboard.

Set

Context Data Width: Context data width is the number of characters that come before and after the
search hit.

Delete

All Search Results: Use this to clear all search results from the Index Search Results pane.

Copy or Export Search Results
Option

Description

All Hits in Case

Saves all the current search terms’ hits found from the entire case.

All Hits in Search

Saves all the search hits found in each search branch.

All Hits in Term

(Live search only) saves the instances of individual terms found from the list of search
terms.
For example, if a live search consisted of the list “black,” “hole,” “advent,” and “horizon,”
this option would copy information on each of the terms individually.

All Hits in File

Records the instances of the search term in the selected file only.

All File Stats in Case Creates a CSV file of all information requested in the case.
All File Stats in
Search

Creates a CSV file of the information requested in the search.

All File Stats in Term (Live search only) Creates a CSV file of the instances of individual terms found from the
list of search terms.
After the information is copied to the clipboard, it can be pasted into a text editor or spreadsheet and saved.
Choose Export to File to save the information directly to a file. Specify a filename and destination folder for the
file, and then click OK
Search results can then be added to the case report as supplementary files.
Important: When exporting Index Search result hits to a spreadsheet file, the hits are exported as a CSV file in
UTF-16LE data format. When opening in Excel, use the Text to Columns function to separate the
Index Search hit values into columns.

Searching Evidence with Index Search

Documenting Search Results

| 426

Using Copy Special to Document Search Results
The Copy Special feature copies specific information about files to the clipboard.

Method 1 to copy information about the files in your search results
1.

Click in the search results list.

From the menu bar, select Edit > Copy Special.

Method 2 to copy information about the files in your search results
1.

Find that file highlighted in the File List view.

Right-click on the desired file.

Select Copy Special.

Choose the column settings template to use from the drop-down list. Click Column Settings to define a
new column settings template.
4a.

Modify the column template in the Column Settings Manager. For more information on customizing
column templates, see Customizing File List Columns (page 505).

4b.

Click Apply to return to the Copy Special dialog.

Select the customized column template if you created one.

Choose whether you want to include the header row in the file.

Under File List Items to Copy, select the option that best fits your needs:
All

Highlighted to copy only the items currently highlighted in the list.

All

Checked to copy all the checked files in the case.

Currently
All

Listed to copy all currently listed items, but no others.

to copy all items in the case.

The dialog states the number of files that your selection contains.

Click OK.

Searching Evidence with Index Search

Using Copy Special to Document Search Results

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Bookmarking Search Results
To keep track of particular search results, add them to new or existing bookmarks. Search results in the file list
can be selected and added to a newly-created bookmark, or added to an existing bookmark as with any other
data.

To create a bookmark from the file list
1.

Select the files you want to include in the bookmark.

Right-click any of the selected files and select Create Bookmark.

Complete the Create New Bookmark dialog.

Click OK.
The bookmark appears in the Bookmark tab.

Searching Evidence with Index Search

Bookmarking Search Results

| 428

Chapter 29

Viewing System Information

About Viewing System Information
You can view system information that contains detailed information about disk images in an easy to read format.
You can view several important pieces of information about the target computer and the users of that computer.
You can view this information in the System Information tab.
Not all attributes are available for all disk images, however, the possible attributes that you can see are:
Applications
Prefetch
User

Assist

Installed
Network

Information

Network

Connections

Wireless

Profiles

Owner
Recent

Information
Files

LNK
NT

User

Shortcuts
SAM

Users

USB

Devices

For details about the attributes, see Available System Information Data (page 432).

Viewing System Information

About Viewing System Information

| 429

Populating the Data in the System Information Tab
The System Information tab is not populated with data by default. You must extract data during processing.

To extract data and have it populated in the System Information tab
 You must do one of the following:
When

adding disk images to a case, select the Generate System Information processing option.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.

For

an existing case, use the Generate System Information option in Additional Analysis.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Viewing System Information
After you have processed a disk image, you can view the system information.

To view system information data
1.

Open the Examiner and click the System Information tab.
You can choose one image at a time to review in further detail. On the left hand side, there is a
dropdown list of all of the images that have been processed into the case.

Select the disk image that you want to view.

Select the nodes that you want to view.
A tree of available attributes from the disk appears in the Categories panel.
On the right side of the tab, there are two panels which display additional information about the node
you select on the left. The upper panel is titled Items and the lower panel is titled Provenance.
The Items panel displays lists of the attributes found within the selected node. For example, when
looking at the Applications node, you may want to review a list of applications frequently used by the
users of the target machine. You can select the node User Assist under the Applications node. Once
you select this node from the tree on the left, in the Items panel you see a list of all of the applications
frequently used by the users of the target machine along with the user that used that application, the
number of times that application had been run, and the last time the application was run.
The Item list allows you to sort any column in either ascending or descending order to assist you in
finding the information you need quickly.
In the Provenance panel, you can find the location of the data selected from the Items panel. Using the
previous example of frequently used applications, you may want to review an application used by a
specific user. From the Items list, you select the application you are interested in, and in the
Provenance panel, you see the location from the target machine from which this information was
obtained.

(Optional) In the Provenance panel, you can select the object, right-click, and set a bookmark.

Viewing System Information

Populating the Data in the System Information Tab

| 430

Exporting System Information Data
You can export the content in the Sytem Information tab into an XML file.

To export system information data
1.

From the File Menu, choose Export System Information.

In the Export System Information window, choose All images or Selected image. If you are choosing a
specific image, be sure the image for which you would like to export system information is listed and
highlighted in the Disk Images area. Press OK.

A Save As window will open. Select the directory and enter a file name for the output file. Press Save.

Note: In order to export system information data, the image must have been processed with the Generate
System Information processing option selected during Add/Remove evidence, and the image must
actually contain system information.

Viewing System Information

Exporting System Information Data

| 431

Available System Information Data
This section contains information about the possible data available in the System Information tab. All of the data
is collected from one or more sources, where a source can be a single file or a location within the file. Where
possible, the complete source path is shown in the Provenance pane. Below are the details of the data available
for each category and sub-category.

Possible data available in the System Information tab
Category

Sub-Category

Description

Application Data
Prefetch

Each time you turn on your computer, Windows keeps track of the way your
computer starts and which programs you commonly open. Windows saves
this information as a number of small files in the prefetch folder. The next
time you turn on your computer, Windows refers to these files to help speed
the start process.
The prefetch folder is a subfolder of the Windows system folder. The
prefetch folder is self-maintaining, and there's no need to delete it or empty
its contents. If you empty the folder, Windows and your programs will take
longer to open the next time you turn on your computer.
For each prefetch (.PF) file, in the System Information tab displays the
following information:




User Assist

Complete path to the application executable
Number of times the application was run.
Last time the application was run

UserAssist is a method used to populate a user's start menu with frequently
used applications. This is achieved by maintaining a count of application
use in each users NTUSER.DAT registry file at sub key:
 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist
For each UserAssist entry in the registry, the System Information tab
displays the following information:




Viewing System Information

Complete path to the application executable
Number of times the application was run
Last time the application was run

Available System Information Data

| 432

Possible data available in the System Information tab (Continued)
Category

Sub-Category

Description

Installed

Applications installed on the Windows system are viewable via the Control
Panel -> Programs and Features. By default the list doesn't show updates
or system components unless the user selects to see them. The information
can come from various places in the registry but the feature uses the
HKLM\SOFTWARE registry file under the sub keys:
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
Service packs, hot fixes, updates, or system components are not reported.



For each installed application, the System Information tab displays the
following information:







Application name
Application publisher (if available)
Path to installed application (if available)
Date application was installed (if available)
Size of application install base (if available)
Application version (if available)

Network Data
Network
Shares

A network share is a computer resource made available from one host to
other hosts on a computer network. In this feature, it is specifically the
networks that were accessed using the Universal Naming Convention
(UNC). This information is stored in each user's NTUSER.DAT registry file
at sub keys:
Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Map Network
Drive MRU
 Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\RunMRU
 Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\MountPoints2
For each installed application, the System Information tab displays the
following information:





Viewing System Information

UNC Path
Last connection time

Available System Information Data

| 433

Possible data available in the System Information tab (Continued)
Category

Sub-Category

Description

Network
Connections

A network connection provides connectivity between one computer and the
Internet, a network, or another computer. In every case the connected to
network has an identifying name. Network connections managed by
Windows are stored in the HKLM\SOFTWARE registry file under the sub
key:
 Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\NetworkList
For each network connection, the System Information tab displays the
following information:








Wireless
Profiles

Profile name
First time connecting to the network
Most recent time connecting to the network
Network name
Network category (e.g. Domain, Private, Public)
Gateway MAC address
Whether it is a wireless network (This is only set if for sure it is a wireless
network)

A wireless profile is a set of configuration parameters that allow a system to
connect to a wireless access point. The profiles managed by Windows are
stored in the file C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Wlansvc\Profiles\Interfaces
For each wireless profile, the System Information tab displays the following
information:





Owner Information Data

Profile name
SSID
Authentication (e.g. WPA2PSK, WPAPSK, etc.)
Encryption (e.g. TKIP, AES, none, etc.)

This is basic data about the installed operating system and comes from the
HKLM\SOFTWARE registry file under the sub key:
 Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion
For each registry value, the System Information tab displays the following
information:



Name of the registry value
The contents of the registry value

Recent Files Data

Viewing System Information

Available System Information Data

| 434

Possible data available in the System Information tab (Continued)
Category

Sub-Category

Description

NTUser

Many applications store recently used files in the user's NTUSER.DAT
registry file. The specific applications that are extracted are from Microsoft
Office and Adobe Acrobat. The following sub keys are examined:
Software\Microsoft\Office
Software\Adobe
 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Map Network
Drive MRU
 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU
 Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2
For each recently used file, the System Information tab displays the
following information:






LNK Files

Application name (i.e. Acrobat, Excel, PowerPoint, Word)
Absolute path to the recent file

LNK is a file extension for a shortcut file used by Microsoft Windows to point
to an executable file. LNK stands for LiNK. Shortcut files are used as a
direct link to an executable file, instead of having to navigate to the
executable, LNK files are stored in each users'
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent or Recent directory.
For each LNK file, the System Information tab displays the following
information:





Jump Lists

Absolute path to target file
Date/Time the target file was created
Date/Time the target file was last written to
Date/Time the target file was last accessed

Jump Lists, new in Windows 7, take you right to the documents, pictures,
songs, or web sites you turn to each day. To open a Jump List, just rightclick a program button on the Windows 7 taskbar. (You can also get to
Jump Lists by clicking the arrow next to the program name on the Start
menu.) The files that support this feature are located in each users'
AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\AutomaticDestinations
folder.
For each LNK file inside each Jump List, the System Information tab
displays the following information:





Viewing System Information

Absolute path to target file
Date/Time the target file was created
Date/Time the target file was last written to
Date/Time the target file was last accessed

Available System Information Data

| 435

Possible data available in the System Information tab (Continued)
Category

Sub-Category

SAM Users Data

Description
The Security Accounts Manager (SAM) HKLM\SAM registry file stores
users' passwords in a hashed format either as a LAN hash or NT hash. To
protect the file, Microsoft introduced the SYSKEY function so the on-disk
copy of the SAM is partially encrypted with a key (usually referred to as the
"SYSKEY").
For each user stored in the SAM registry, the System Information tab
displays the following information:







USB Devices

Name of the user
SID
Unencrypted current LAN hash
Unencrypted previous LAN hash
Unencrypted current NT hash
Unencrypted previous NT hash

When USB devices are plugged into a computer for the first time, the
Windows operating installs an appropriate driver and stores information
about the device in the registry and the setupapi log file. On subsequent
device connections, various registry keys are updated to reflect the last
connection time. Details about each USB devices are stored in the following
registry locations:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\\Windows NT\\CurrentVersion\\EMDMgmt
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USBSTOR
 HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\USB
 HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\{53f56307b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}
 HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceClasses\{53f56308b6bf-11d0-94f2-00a0c91efb8b}
 HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
 HKU\\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MountPoints2
For each USB device, the System Information tab displays the following
information:















Viewing System Information

Vendor name
Vendor id
Product name
Product id
Instance id (very similar to serial number)
Revision
First time device was connected
Last time device was connected
Last time a user mounted the device
Drives the device was mounted to
Volume labels

Available System Information Data

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Chapter 30

Examining Volatile Data

This chapter includes the following topics
Using

the Volatile Tab (page 438)

Understanding
Viewing

Memory Dump Data (page 441)

Performing
Killing

Memory (page 440)

File Remediation from the Volatile Tab (page 443)

a Process (page 443)

Wiping

a File (page 444)

Adding

Hashes to KFF Library from the Volatile Tab (page 444)

Adding

Hashes to Fuzzy Hash Library from the Volatile Tab (page 445)

Creating

a Memory Dump File (page 445)

Examining Volatile Data

| 437

Using the Volatile Tab
The Volatile tab provides tools for viewing, finding, and comparing data gathered from the memory of live agent
systems in your network. Other data acquired remotely, such as from a Mounted Image Drive or a Mounted
Device is viewable from other tabs. The Volatile tab is specifically for remote memory data acquired as a
memory dump. It can be added directly to a case upon acquisition, or saved as a dump file to be added to any
case at a later time.
See Working with Live Evidence (page 149).
When you have acquired volatile (Memory) data as a dump file the resulting acquisition data is displayed in the
Volatile tab.

There are three main areas in the Volatile tab:
1.

Tabbed Data View

Detail List View

Detailed Information View

It is important to remember that the views relate clockwise. When an item is selected in the Tabbed Data view,
the related information is displayed in the Detail List view. An item selected in the Detail List view will display
relevant information in the Detailed Information view, within the data tab that relates to the type of item that is
selected.

The Tabbed Data view has three tabs:
Snapshot
Find
Difference

Examining Volatile Data

Using the Volatile Tab

| 438

Each Tabbed Data View displays a summary of acquired volatile data.

Data View Sort Options
Button

Description
Sort acquired volatile data by Operation Type, such as those selectable from the Evidence > Add
Remote Evidence > Selection Information dialog box. Found on Snapshot, Find, and Difference
tabs.
Sort acquired volatile data by the Time of Acquisition, displayed in the local machine’s time. Found
on Snapshot, Find, and Difference tabs.
Sort acquired volatile data by the Source Machine or Agent. Found on Snapshot, Find, and
Difference tabs.
Display saved comparisons. When a comparison of found data is done, the results can be saved
and viewed later. Found only on the Difference tab

Geolocation. This button on the Volatile tab that will launch Geolocation for volatile data.
See Viewing Geolocation IP Locations Data on page 499.
The Detail List View provides information specific to the item currently selected in the Data View. The content of
the Detail List changes as different items are selected.
The Detailed Information View shows more specific information about the item in the Data View, and its selected
component in the Detail List view.

Examining Volatile Data

Using the Volatile Tab

| 439

Understanding Memory
Memory can include the physical “sticks” of memory that we put into the machine, commonly referred to as
physical memory. However, video cards, network cards, and various other devices use memory that the
Operating System (OS) must be able to access in order for the devices to work properly. Both physical memory
and device memory are organized by the OS in a linear address map. For 32-bit operating systems, the linear
address map is naturally 4GB. Traditionally the OS will put physical memory at the bottom of this map and the
device memory at the top.
When a system has a full 4GB of physical memory, using all 4GB wouldn’t leave any room to address the device
memory.
Since the OS can’t function without access to the device memory, it simply doesn’t use all 4GB of physical
memory. Evidence of this fact can be seen on the main Properties window of My Computer. If you have a 32-bit
Windows XP system with 4GB of physical memory, you may notice that the Properties window will show that you
have only 3.25GB of physical RAM. That limitation allows for addressing of devices within the 4GB address
space.
Most acquisition products check how much physical memory is available (4GB using our example above), open
a handle to the OS’s memory map (referred to as \Device\PhysicalMemory) and start reading, one page at a
time. Thus, in an attempt to read all of the physical memory, what they are actually reading is the OS’s linear
address map of both physical and device memory. However, some device memory is not meant to be read and
the simple act of reading it could cause system instability. In fact, if the OS is 64-bit, this algorithm would miss
the physical memory that was placed beyond the 4GB range.
The approach AccessData takes is to query the OS’s memory map for the regions that correspond to physical
memory and only acquire those regions - filling the other regions with zeros. This method not only avoids any
issue with system instability but also guarantees that it acquires all the physical memory that the OS is able to
use — the memory that anyone would normally be interested in.

Examining Volatile Data

Understanding Memory

| 440

Viewing Memory Dump Data
A Memory Dump file includes all the Processes, DLLs, Sockets, Drivers, Open Handles, Processors, System
Descriptor Tables and Devices in use at the time of the acquisition. The Volatile tab provides a view of all this
data by type.
Right-click on any dump file in the Snapshot view to choose View Memory or Search Memory.

Viewing Hidden Processes
Hidden processes are automatically detected. There is no way to disable or turn off this feature. The detection
compares a list of processes in memory to the operating systems’s processes list to determine whether any
running processes do not belong. These are the processes that are highlighted in yellow.
Hidden processes, when detected in a Memory Dump file, and found only in the Process List. Click on a dump
file in the Process List, then scroll down the Detail List to locate any lines highlighted in yellow.
Click on a yellow-highlighted line in the Detail List to display related information in the Detailed Information list.
Scroll across the columns list to see all the data.

Viewing Input/Output Request Packet Data
Input/Output Request Packet (IRP) data, also known as memory hooks, when detected in a memory dump file,
are indicated in the Snapshot view by a yellow warning indicator. Memory hooks can be used for both legitimate
and non-legitimate purposes.
In the Detail list, the items that contain memory hooks are highlighted in pink. Click on a pink-highlighted item to
open that item in the Detailed Information view. The IRP tab shows the items and properties that are related to
the IRP data that was detected. This data does not identify whether the IRP was bad or good, only that it was
there, so you can determine its nature.
Tabs in the Detailed Information list provide additional related data for the selected data type. Some data types
have several tabbed pages, and some have only a few. Each tabbed page contains different information related
to the selected item, and each displays properties specific to the tabbed page for that information type. The
property column headings are sortable to make it easier to locate critical information.
In addition to the IRP data view, access is provided to Service Descriptor Tables (SDT), and System Service
Descriptor Tables (SSDT).
Up to four SSDT tables are available. The four tabs are placeholders only; their existence does not indicate nor
guarantee they will be populated. Notice that the names of the populated tables’ tabs are longer than those that
are not populated. Only the data that is found in the evidence can be displayed.

Viewing Virtual Address Descriptor (VAD) Data
In the Windows operating system, every object opened by a program (example files, screens, sections of
memory, etc.) is assigned a handle that the process in which the program is running can use. These handles are
stored in a table that is managed by the process. This table is called the virtual address descriptor table (VAD).

Examining Volatile Data

Viewing Memory Dump Data

| 441

A single process normally contains many VADs. Each VAD describes a range of virtual pages and tells the
Memory Manager what those virtual pages represent. For example, a typical process will consist of an
executable image (the program) and a set of dynamic link libraries (DLLs) that are used within that process, as
well as data that is unique to the program. Each of these separate items exists somewhere within the address
space of the program.
When each component is first loaded into the address space, the Memory Manager creates a new VAD entry for
each such range of addresses. These VAD entries are in turn linked together in a binary tree that optimizes
access to the most recently accessed VAD. This representation makes it is easy to describe a sparse address
space using a tree of VADs, it is fast to find entries within the VAD tree, and it is easy to reorganize VAD entries
as necessary.
Investigating the VAD tree lets you view resources allocated by a program. The VAD tree constantly changes
during execution of a program. Each time the VAD tree is read, the results are different.

To view Virtual Address Descriptor (VAD) Data
1.

In the Examiner, select the Volatile tab.

In the Snapshot tab, expand Process List.

Expand the date of the snapshot.

Select the computer name.

In the upper-right pane, under Detail List, select a process.

In the lower-right pane, under Detailed Information, click the VAD tab.

The Virtual Address Descriptor (VAD) information is displayed in the Detailed Information pane.

Examining Volatile Data

Viewing Memory Dump Data

| 442

Performing File Remediation from the Volatile Tab
Certain file remediation tasks are available for specific data types in the Volatile tab. After a remote volatile data
acquisition is completed, click to expand the data type in the Snapshot tabbed view, then right-click on the item in
the Detail List to choose from the available file remediation options.

Volatile Tab File Remediation Options

Volatile Data Type

Kill Process

Wipe File

Add
Hashes to
KFF Lib

Add
Hashes to
Fuzzy Lib

Dump

Process List

DLL List

Sockets

Driver List

Open Handles

Processors

System Descriptor Table

Devices

Killing a Process
Kill Process ends a process running on the remote computer the data was acquired from.

To kill a process
1.

In the Snapshot view, click and expand the Process List.

In the Detail List, highlight or mark the check boxes of the processes to be killed.

Right-click in the Detail List and select Kill Process.

In the Select Source dialog box, select either Highlighted Detail List items, or Checked items.

Click OK.

Examining Volatile Data

Performing File Remediation from the Volatile Tab

| 443

Wiping a File
Wipe File completely removes a file from the remote computer the file was acquired from.

To wipe a file
1.

In the Snapshot view, click and expand the Process List.

In the Detail List, highlight or mark the check boxes of the file to be wiped.

Right-click in the Detail List and select Wipe File.

In the Select Source dialog box, select either Highlighted Detail List items, or Checked items.

Click OK.

Adding Hashes to KFF Library from the Volatile Tab
Hashes can be added directly to the KFF Library directly from the Volatile tab.

To add hashes to the KFF Library
1.

In the Detail List, highlight or mark the check boxes of the hashes to add to the KFF Library.

Right-click in the Detail List, and click Add Hashes to KFF.

Provide a name for the set.

Click Add all hashes to add the hashes of all displayed items, or Add only checked hashes in the
current Detail List.

Select either Alert or Ignore.

Choose whether or not to Activate in [the current] case.

Click OK.

Examining Volatile Data

Wiping a File

| 444

Adding Hashes to Fuzzy Hash Library from the Volatile Tab
Hashes can be added directly to the Fuzzy Hash Library directly from the Volatile tab.

To add hashes to the Fuzzy Hash Library
1.

In the Detail List, highlight or mark the check boxes of the file(s) hashes to add to the Fuzzy Hash
Library.

Right-click in the Detail List, and click Add Hashes to Fuzzy.

Provide a name for the set.

Click Add all hashes to add the hashes of all displayed items, or Add only checked hashes in the
current Detail List.

Select either Alert or Ignore.

Assign a Threshold Value.

Choose whether or not to Activate in [the current] case.

Click OK.

Creating a Memory Dump File
A dump file can be created and added to the case directly from the Volatile tab.

To create a Dump file
1.

In the Snapshot view, click and expand the Process List or the DLL List.

In the Detail List, highlight or mark the check boxes of the files to be dumped.

Right-click in the Detail List and select Dump to file.

In the Dump a file dialog box, mark Include DLLs with processes, and/or Include parent process
with DLLs.

Browse to and select a destination path for the dump file.

Click OK.

Examining Volatile Data

Adding Hashes to Fuzzy Hash Library from the Volatile Tab

| 445

Chapter 31

Analyzing Document Content

Depending on your license, you can analyze the content of documents in your evidence in the following ways:
Using

Document Content Analysis (page 450)

Performing
Using

Cluster Analysis (page 452)

Entity Extraction (page 446)

Using Entity Extraction
About Entity Extraction
You can extract entity data from the content of files in your evidence and then view those entities.
You can extract the following types of entity data:
Credit

Card Numbers

Phone

Numbers

Social

Security Numbers

The data that is extracted is from the body of documents, not the meta data.
Using entity extraction is a two-step process:
1.

Process the data with the Entity Extraction processing options enabled.
You can select which types of data to extract.

View the extracted entities in the Examiner.

The following table provides details of the type of data that is identified and extracted:

Entity Extraction Details
Type
Credit Card
Numbers

Examples
Numbers in the following formats will be extracted as credit card numbers:

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Entity Extraction Details
Type

Examples
16-digit numbers
used by VISA,
MasterCard, and
Discover in the
following formats.

For example,



Not:



15-digit numbers
used by American
Express in the
following formats.

1234-5678-9012-3456 (segmented by dashes)
1234 5678 9012 3456 (segmented by spaces)

1234567890123456 (no segments)
12345678-90123456 (other segments)

For example,



1234-5678-9012-345 (segmented by dashes)
1234 5678 9012 345 (segmented by spaces)

Notes:
Other formats, such as 14-digit Diners Club numbers, will not
be extracted as credit card numbers
Phone Numbers

Numbers in the following formats will be extracted as phone numbers:
Standard 7-digit

For example:




123-4567
123.4567
123 4567

Not: 1234567 (not segmented)
Standard 10-digit

For example:







(123)456-7890
(123)456 7890
(123) 456-7809
(123) 456.7809
+1 (123) 456.7809
123 456 7809

Not 1234567890 (not segmented)
Note: A leading 1, for long-distance or 001 for international, is
not included in the extraction, however, a +1 is.

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Entity Extraction Details
Type

Examples
International

Some international formats are extracted, for example,





+12-34-567-8901
+12 34 567 8901
+12-34-5678-9012
+12 34 5678 9012

Not 12345678901 (not segmented)
Other international formats are not extracted, for example,





123-45678
(10) 69445464
07700 954 321
(0295) 416,72,16

Notes:
Be aware that you may get some false positives.
For example, a credit number 5105-1051-051-5100 may also
be extracted as the phone number 510-5100.

Social Security
Numbers

Numbers in the following formats will be extracted as Social Security Numbers:



123-45-6789 (segmented by dashes)
123 45 6789 (segmented by spaces)

The following will not be extracted as Social Security Numbers:



Analyzing Document Content

123456789 (not segmented)
12345-6789 (other segments)

Using Entity Extraction

| 448

Enabling Entity Extraction
To enable entity extracting processing options:
1.

You can enable entity extracting processing options at one of two times:
When

creating a case or adding new evidence and configuring processing options.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 85.

When

running Additional Analysis on existing evidence.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Viewing Entity Extraction Data
To view extracted entity data
1.

In the Examiner, click the Overview tab.

Expand the Document Content node.

Expand a Document Content type, such as Credit Card Numbers or Phone Numbers.

Click an item to show the file in the File List that contains the extracted data.

Analyzing Document Content

Using Entity Extraction

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Using Document Content Analysis
You can use Document Content Analysis to group document data together for quicker review.
Note: If you activated Document Content Analysis as an Evidence Processing option when you created the
project, Document Content Analysis will automatically run after processing data and will not need to be
run manually.

To perform Document Content Analysis on a new case
1.

From Case Manager, click Manage > Evidence Processing Profiles.

In the Manage Evidence Processing Profiles dialog, create a new profile or edit an existing profile.
See Configuring Default Processing Options for a Case on page 78.
See Using Processing Profiles on page 79.

From the Detailed Options dialog, click the Evidence Processing tab from the left menu and select
Document Content Analysis.

(Optional) Click DCA Options and change the Analysis Threshold, if needed, and click OK.
Analysis

Threshold — Sets the level of similarity (in a percentage) that is required for documents to
be considered related or near duplicates. The higher the percentage, the more similar the
documents need to be in order to be considered similar.

Click Save As and follow the screens to save and/or replace the profile.

To perform Document Content Analysis on an existing case
1.

In Evidence Explorer, click Evidence > Add/Remove.

From the Manage Evidence dialog, highlight the evidence you want to process using Document Content
Analysis.

Click Refinement Options.

Select Document Content Analysis and change the DCA options, if needed. See Evidence
Processing Options on page 85.

Filtering Documents by Document Content Analysis
Documents processed with Document Content Analysis can be filtered by the content of the documents in the
evidence. The Cluster Topic container is created in Evidence Explorer in the Overview > Case Overview tab and
is created from data processed with Document Content Analysis. Data included in the Cluster Topic container is
taken from documents, including Word documents, text documents, and PDF documents.
In order for the application to filter the data and display the Cluster Topic container, the following must occur:
Prerequisites
How

for Cluster Topic (page 451)

Document Content Analysis Works (page 451)

Filtering

with Cluster Topic (page 451)

Considerations

of Cluster Topic (page 451)

Analyzing Document Content

Using Document Content Analysis

| 450

Prerequisites for Cluster Topic
Before the Cluster Topic container can be created, the data in the project must be processed by Document
Content Analysis. The data is processed automatically when Document Content Analysis is selected in the
Evidence Processing options or you can process the data manually by selecting Document Content Analysis
in the Refinement Options > Evidence Processing dialog.
Evidence Processing Options (page 85)
Configuring Evidence Refinement (Advanced) Options (page 104)

How Document Content Analysis Works
The application uses an algorithm to cluster the data. The algorithm accomplishes this by creating an initial set
of cluster centers called pivots. The pivots are created by sampling documents that are dissimilar in content. For
example, a pivot may be created by sampling one document that may contain information about children’s books
and sampling another document that may contain information about an oil drilling operation in the Arctic. Once
this initial set of pivots is created, the algorithm examines the entire data set to locate documents that contain
content that might match the pivot’s perimeters. The algorithm continues to create pivots and clusters
documents around the pivots. As more data is added to the project and processed, the algorithm uses the
additional data to create more clusters.
Word frequency or occurrence count is used by the algorithm to determine the importance of content within the
data set. Noise words that are excluded from Document Content Analysis are also not included in the Cluster
Topic pivots or clusters.

Filtering with Cluster Topic
Once data has been processed by Document Content Analysis and categories are created under the Cluster
Topic container, you can view the data in the Overview > File List.
Using the Overview Tab (page 328)
Cluster Topic Container (page 331)
The topics of the categories available are terms created during the Document Content Analysis. Documents
containing these terms are included in the category and are displayed in the File List when selected. Categories
are comprised of two word phrases that occur in the documents. This is to make the category more legible.
The UNCLUSTERED category contains any documents that are not included under a Cluster Topic Container.

Considerations of Cluster Topic
You need to aware the following considerations when examining the Cluster Topic categories:
Not

all data will be grouped into categories at once. The application creates categories in an incremental
fashion in order to return results as quickly as possible. Since the application is continually creating
categories, the Cluster Topic container is continually updated.

Duplicate

documents are grouped together as they match a specific category. However, if a category is
particularly large, duplicate documents may not be included as part of any category. This is to avoid

Analyzing Document Content

Using Document Content Analysis

| 451

performance issues. You can examine any duplicate documents or any documents not included in a
category by highlighting the UNCLUSTERED category of the Cluster Topic container.
Cluster

Topic results can vary when performed on different databases and/or different computers. This is
due to the analytic behavior of the Document Content Analysis process. Since limits have been set on the
algorithm to allow for efficient collection of data, large amounts of content can thus produce varying
results.

Performing Cluster Analysis
Depending on the license you own (an AD Lab license or a AD Summation license), you can perform an analysis
of files to determine related documents and email threads. If there are files that are similar, one document is
identified as the pivot, and then the other related files are given a score that shows how closely they are related
to the Pivot. If a score is 100, it is a perfect match.
Note: With an FTK, FTK PRO, or AD Enterprise license, you can perform Cluster Analysis on a documents only
using the Document Content Analysis feature.
See Using Document Content Analysis on page 450.
You perform the Cluster Analysis by enabling the Cluster Analysis processing option.
See Identifying Processing-Generated Data on page 351.
See Relating Generated Files to Original Files on page 351.
When you enable Cluster Analysis, you have the following options:
Document

Types to process - You can select to process the following file types:

Documents
Presentation
Spreadsheets
Email
Similarity

Threshold - Determines the level of similarity required for documents to be considered related
or near duplicates.

After processing is complete, you can add the Review Set Pivot and the Distance to Pivot columns in the File List
in the Examiner. You will also use the standard Item # column to identify the Pivot file.
See Managing Columns on page 505.

To Perform Cluster Analysis
1.

When either adding evidence to a case or performing Additional Analysis, access the processing
options.
See Selecting Lab/eDiscovery Options on page 108.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 138.

Select the option for Cluster Analysis.

Click NDA Options.

Select the document types to process and the similarity threshold.

Process your data.

Analyzing Document Content

Performing Cluster Analysis

| 452

To view Cluster Analysis data using columns
1.

In the examiner, view the file types that you selected.

Click the Column Settings icon.
See Managing Columns on page 505.

Either create a new column template or edit an existing one.

Add the following columns to the template.
Item

Review

Set Pivot

Distance

to Pivot

Click OK.

Select the template name you just configured.

Click Apply.
This applies the template to the File List.

Click Close.
The Review Set Pivot shows the Item # of the Pivot file, or the file that other files are compared to.
If a file was identified as being a near duplicate, it will show a Distance to Pivot score. A perfect match
has a score of 100.

Words Excluded from Cluster Analysis Processing
Noise words, such as if and or, are excluded from Cluster Analysis processing. The following words are
excluded in the processing:
a, able, about, across, after, ain't, all, almost, also, am, among, an, and, any, are, aren't, as, at, be,
because, been, but, by, can, can't, cannot, could, could've, couldn't, dear, did, didn't, do, does, doesn't,
don't, either, else, ever, every, for, from, get, got, had, hadn't, has, hasn't, have, haven't, he, her, hers,
him, his, how, however, i, if, in, into, is, isn't, it, it's, its, just, least, let, like, likely, may, me, might, most,
must, my, neither, no, nor, not, of, off, often, on, only, or, other, our, own, rather, said, say, says, she,
should, shouldn't, since, so, some, than, that, the, their, them, then, there, these, they, they're, this, tis,
to, too, twas, us, wants, was, wasn't, we, we're, we've, were, weren't, what, when, where, which, while,
who, whom, why, will, with, would, would've, wouldn't, yet, you, you'd, you'll, you're, you've, your.

Analyzing Document Content

Performing Cluster Analysis

| 453

Chapter 32

Using Visualization

About Visualization
Visualization is a component that provides a graphical interface to enhance understanding and analysis of files
and emails in a case. You view data based on file and email dates. Visualization provides dashboards with chats
and lists that quickly show information about the data in the specified date range. Visualization helps you identify
files and emails that you label and bookmark as part of your investigation.
Note: The Visualization feature is available as an add-on license. Please contact your AccessData sales
representative for more information.
Visualization can only display data that has an associated date. If a file or an email does not contain a valid
Created, Modified, Last Accessed, Sent or Received date, it is not displayed. For example, carved files do not
have an associated date so they are not displayed in Visualization.
You can also take screen captures of the Visualization pages to have a record of the data.
Visualization supports the following data types:
File

Data: You can view file data from either the Explore tab or the Overview tab in the Examiner
interface.
For more information see Visualizing File Data (page 461).

Email

Data: You can view email data from the Email tab in the Examiner interface.
For more information see Visualizing Email Data (page 468).

Internet

Browser History: You can view internet browser history data.
For more information see Visualizing Internet Browser History Data (page 480).

Visualization also has the following components:
Using

Visualization Heatmap (page 481)

Using

Visualization Social Analyzer (page 483)

Using

Visualization Geolocation (page 489)

Using Visualization

About Visualization

| 454

Launching Visualization
To launch visualization
1.

Use the Explore, Overview, or Email tabs to specify a set of data.
For example, in the Overview tab, you can view everything under File Extension or drill down to just
DOC files.

When you have specified the data that you want to view in the Visualization pane, click the following pie
chart icon:

The data that you have displayed in the File List pane is the data that you can send to the visualization
module.
The visualization module opens in a separate window from the Examiner that you can minimize,
maximize, and select in the Windows task bar.
3.

On the time line, specify the date range for the base time line that you want to view data for.
See Setting the Base Time Line on page 459.

Important: The dashboard and data list displays information only for the data that exists in the base time
line. If specified dates have no files, the dashboard displays the text “No Data Series.” To properly
use Visualization, you must specify the base time line that you want to view data for.

Using Visualization

Launching Visualization

| 455

About the Visualization page
The Visualization page includes three main components:
Time

line pane - Provides a time line pane with graphics representing the available data. This is the top
part of the page.

Dashboard
Data

- Provides graphical chart panes about the data. This is the middle part of the page.

list pane- Provides a list of the data items. The is the lower part of the page.

You can resize each pane.

Using Visualization

About the Visualization page

| 456

About Visualization Time Line Views
You can use one of the following two time line views:
Basic

- The basic view lets you specify a base time line that you want to view data for. For example, you
can select a specific year or month, or you can specify a custom date range. Any data that falls in that
date range will be represented in the charts and data list.
See About the Base Time Line on page 457.

Detailed

- The detailed time line view shows a graphical representation of each file or email message. If
you have a lot of data in a given date range, you can narrow your view to days, hours, minutes, and
milliseconds.
See About the Detailed Visualization Time Line on page 474.

About the Base Time Line
The top portion of the visualization page is the time line. The time line displays a graph with a representation of
that data that is visualized. The data is displayed from the oldest date on the left to the most current date on the
right.
The span of the time line is automatically configured based on the dates of the data that you specified for
visualization. For example, if the data that you specified has creation dates that range from 8/15/2003 to 9/11/
2003, it will build a time line with those dates as the start and end.

The vertical gray bars represent where the data files are on the time line. The gold text in the lower left corner of
the time line details the full timespan.
In the Basic time line view, you configure the base time line. The base time line is the specific range of dates that
you want to work with. This may be a smaller date range than the full timespan (dates in yellow).
The base time line is represented by the blue selection box with sliding vertical bars. You can modify the base
time line to be any range within the full timespan.
Important: The dashboard and data list displays information only for the data that exists in the base time line. If
specified dates have no files, the dashboard displays the text “No Data Series.” To properly use
visualization, you must specify the base time line that you want to view data for.

Using Visualization

About Visualization Time Line Views

| 457

When you first launch visualization, a limited default base time line is specified, starting with the oldest data that
is in the data set. For example, if you are viewing files, the default base time line is the first month starting with
the creation date of the oldest file.

In the example in the graphic shown above, there are four files in the default base time line of one month and
those four files are shown in the list and represented in the dashboard.
In the email visualization, the time line is displayed in weeks, with vertical gray bars representing the emails.

Time Line Selection Tools

Using Visualization

About the Base Time Line

| 458

Setting the Base Time Line
You adjust the range and the location of the base time line by adjusting the blue selection box. The information in
the visualization dashboard and data list change when you adjust the selection box.
See About the Base Time Line on page 457.

To adjust the full timespan
1.

Below the time line, you can zoom in on the view of the total timespan (yellow full timespan bar) by
clicking and dragging the end of the bar.

You can also slide the yellow bar left or right to adjust the range.

To adjust the base time line
1.

You change the base time line of the data set by adjusting the blue selection box.

You can do one of the following options:
Select

a period that is on the top of the time line, for example, a specific month like June.

Drag

the sliders of the blue selection box to make it bigger or smaller.

Drag

the selection box to a different position.

Use

the mouse scroll wheel to move the selection box left or right.

Using Visualization

About the Base Time Line

| 459

Changing the View of Visualization
You can change the way that visualization looks. You can modify the way that bar charts in visualization appear.
You can also change the color scheme of the visualization windows.

Modifying the Bar Chart Displays
You can use the radio buttons below the time line to change the appearance of bar charts in visualization.

Option

Description

Log (default)

The Log (logarithmic) view makes visualization adjust the bars or lines to raise the low
points and lower the highs so that both are easier to view on a chart. This view smooths
the peaks and valleys in the chart.

Linear

The Linear view returns the view from Log to an unadjusted representation of the data.
Changing from the Log view to the Linear view shows more of the variance and spikes in
the data.

Bars (default)

The Bars option makes Visualization show evenly-spaced bars to represent the data.

Line

The Line view makes Visualization show the data as an unbroken line with peaks and
valleys, representing increases and decreases in the amount of data over time.

Changing the Theme of Visualization
You can modify the appearance of the Visualization windows. You can choose from nine different color schemes.

To change the theme of Visualization
1.

In the Case Manager, click Tools > Preferences.

In the Preferences dialog, under Theme to use for Visualization, choose from the following:
Office

Blue (default)

Metro
Office

Black

Office

Silver

Vista
Windows

Summer
Expression

Dark

Transparent

Using Visualization

Changing the View of Visualization

| 460

Visualizing File Data
The file data dashboard lets you view bar graphs, pie charts, and details about the files in the data set.

When visualizing files data, you can do the following:
Configuring

Visualization File Dates (page 461)

Visualizing

File Extension Distribution (page 462)

Visualizing

File Category Distribution (page 463)

Using

the File Data List (page 464)

Configuring Visualization File Dates
When you view file data in the Visualization page, you can view data based on the following file data:
Created
Modified
Last

date
date

accessed date

If a file contains a Created date but not a Modified date, and you change the pane to display the file by Modified
date, the file is no longer displayed in the visualization pane.
If a file’s Created date, Modified date, or Last Accessed date is prior to the year 1985, visualization displays a
dialog box. The dialog box asks you if you want to include the files with these dates in the visualization display. If
you select the option to Do not ask me again, Visualization will remember your preference the next time the
dates precede 1985.

Using Visualization

Visualizing File Data

| 461

Configuring the file date type
1.

On the Visualization page, click the file date type drop-down menu.

By default, it displays the Created setting.

Select Created, Modified, or Last Accessed.

Visualizing File Extension Distribution
The extension distribution chart lets you view the data for the selected date range.
You can view selected data by the following ways:
File

extension counts

File

sizes

File counts and sizes are rounded to two decimal places. You can select a bar in the extension distribution chart
to further refine the data that is displayed in the file data list.
You can select an extension in the legend to select or un-select extensions.

File Extension Distribution Pane

Using Visualization

Visualizing File Data

| 462

Visualizing File Category Distribution
The category distribution chart displays a pie chart of the data set. It is organized according to the categories of
the Overview tab and displays the percentages of each category in the data set. The percentages are displayed
as the nearest whole number. For example: 10%. However, if a section in a category represents less than 1
whole percent, then the percentage is displayed to the hundredth percent. For example,56%.

Visualization Category Distribution Chart

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Visualizing File Data

| 463

If several categories are displayed very closely together, they may overlap and it can be difficult to read the
percentages. You can click the Show Connectors option to expand the percentages further from the pie chart
and include a connecting line to the pie section that correlates to the percentage.
You can select a category in the pie chart to further refine that data that is displayed in the file data list.

Using the File Data List
The file data list displays detail about the files in the data set. The pane is similar to the File List pane in the
Examiner interface. The information that is displayed in the file data list is generated based on the data that you

Using Visualization

Visualizing File Data

| 464

refine through the use of the time line pane, the file extension distribution chart, and the categories distribution
chart.

Visualization File Data List

Within the file data list you can sort, group, and sub-group, items according to columns including; ID, Name,
Category, Date, and Size. To sort, drag and drop the desired column heading onto the blue bar. Any column
heading that includes a filter icon can be used to sort the file list data set.

Important: If you want to filter for a specific date, include the day of and the day after. The filter uses midnight as
the time frame. So if you only want files with a date of January 27, 2013, include January 27 and Jan
28. That will include files from midnight on the 27th to midnight on the 28th.

Using Visualization

Visualizing File Data

| 465

You can perform several actions on selecting the files and then clicking the Mark Selected Items button.
You can do the following:
Label

the item

Create
Clear

a bookmark from the item

a check mark if you have checked it.

Check

the item.

You can use the Filter icon on any of the column headings to create custom filters in the file details list.

When you select the filter icon, a filter dialog is displayed that lets you select items that apply to the column
where you add filtering expressions. There are many various was in which you can filter to refine the data that is
displayed.
Note: You can filter and sort by file sizes such as bytes, KB, and MB. However, note that when you enter an
operator to filter by size, you must enter the size according to its byte value. You cannot enter the value in
KB or MB. For example, instead of entering 100 KB, you must enter 102400 for the filter to work properly.

File Data List Filtering Tool

Using Visualization

Visualizing File Data

| 466

Using Visualization

Visualizing File Data

| 467

Visualizing Email Data

The email visualization dashboard consists of the following items:
Email

Time Line
See Narrowing the Scope with the Email Time Line on page 468.

Mail

Statistics Graph
See Viewing Mail Statistics on page 470.

Email

Details List
See Using the Email Details List on page 470.

Social

Analyzer Chart
See Using Visualization Social Analyzer on page 483.

Narrowing the Scope with the Email Time Line
The time line provides an aggregate view of email items sent and received in the data set. You can scale and
refocus the scope of the time line to a specific data range. You can change the scope and scale of the data set
by adjusting the gray slider tool. You can change the focus of the data set by adjusting the blue slider tool.

Visualization Email Date Pane

Using Visualization

Visualizing Email Data

| 468

See also Setting the Base Time Line (page 459).

Using History Items in the Email Time Line
In the Email Visualization pane, when you alter the selection in the time line, a history item, also called a “bread
crumb,” is added to the top of the time line. Each history item is labeled according to the date range that you
have selected in the time line. You can use these history items to move forward or backward through different
views that you have created.

Visualization History Items

Using Visualization

Visualizing Email Data

| 469

Viewing Mail Statistics
The mail statistics graph displays the sent and received mail statistics in a bar chart. The data contained within
the date range, in the email time line, determines the data that is displayed in the mail statistics graph.
You can select a bar in the statistics graph to further refine the data that is displayed below in the Email details
list.

Visualization Mail Statistics Chart

Using the Email Details List
The email details list displays custodian-level sent and received statistics for email items. The list contains a
column for the custodian's name, a column for the custodian’s sent mail, and a column for the custodian’s
received mail.
You can sort group and subgroup the emails according to the columns including: Sender, Address, Traffic Count,
Sent Mail, and Received Mail. To group the list of emails, you can drag and drop the column headers onto the
table heading of the details list. The list sorts first by the first columns that you drop, and then in the order of any
preceding columns that you drop into the table heading.

Visualization Email Details List

Using Visualization

Visualizing Email Data

| 470

You can use the Filter icon on any of the column headings to create filters in the Email Details List.

When you select the Filter icon, a filter dialog is displayed that lets you select items that apply to the column and
add filtering expressions.

Email Details List Filtering Tool

In visualization, Email addresses that are similar but not exactly the same are displayed as two different
addresses, even though they may be the same address. For example, the quotation marks for 'John Doe' and
“John Doe” are not the same. These slight changes in text can happen from different email servers/software
during email transit, and the program cannot discern duplicate email addresses.

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If an email item is sent to multiple recipients, it is counted as a single item in the email details pane. In the Traffic
Details chart, you can see when the same email was sent to multiple recipients. To view specific information
about the recipients of that email item, you can click the Traffic Details button.
You can check specific emails in the examiner from the email details list by selecting the emails and then
choosing one of the Check Selected Items options, Sent, Received, or Both.

When you expand a specific email item, you can run additional functionality. This functionality includes the Social
Analyzer chart. The buttons to open the Social Analyzer chart are located on the right side of a custodian’s email
item in the list.
For more information see the following:
Using Visualization Social Analyzer (page 483)

Analyzing Email Domains in Visualization
Once you have you opened the Social Analyzer pane, you can isolate and examine individual email domains.
Note: Social Analyzer is very graphics-intensive. In order to avoid server issues, you should cull the data with
facets and other filters to isolate the information that you want to examine before viewing it in Social
Analyzer.

To analyze email domains in Visualization mode
1.

Open Social Analyzer.

Click the domain bubbles to select the domain(s) that you want to view.

(optional) If you want to view the top ten domains in terms of received emails. click

. Each time you

click this icon, the next top ten bubbles will be selected, and so forth.
4.

(optional) You can zoom in and zoom out of the Social Analyzer panel. If you hover over a domain
bubble, the full display name and address, as well as the count, is displayed in the tool tip.

You can expand selected email domains and examine individual emails in a domain. See Analyzing
Individual Emails in Visualization on page 472.

Analyzing Individual Emails in Visualization
You can expand email domains to display individual emails and the traffic between those emails.

To analyze individual emails within selected email domains
1.

Open Social Analyzer.

Click the domain bubbles to select the domain(s) that you want to view.

(optional) If you want to view the top ten domains in terms of received emails. click

. Each time you

click this icon, the next top ten bubbles will be selected, and so forth.

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(optional) You can zoom in and zoom out of the Social Analyzer panel. If you hover over a domain
bubble, the full DisplayName and address, as well as the count, will be displayed in the tool tip.

Click

to expand the domain names to display the individual emails.

Posting Email Results Back to the Examiner
After you have identified emails that are relevant to your investigation, you can post them back to the Examiner
for further review. For example, you may drill down to an certain individual that had sent 25 emails to various
domains. You can do the following:
Add

the 25 emails to a Label

Add

the 25 emails to a Bookmark

Check
Clear

the 25 emails in the File List

all other checked emails in the File List and check only these 25 emails.

To post email results
1.

In the Social Analyzer, identify emails that you want to post.

Click Post Results Back.

Select the desired option.

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About the Detailed Visualization Time Line
You can use the Detailed view of the visualization time line to get a more granular view of the files and emails in
your data set. This helps you use the time line to identify the files and emails that are important in your
investigation. The detailed view provides the following time bands that you can turn on or off to get a more or
less granular view of the files:
Years
Months
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Milliseconds

Different file types are represented by different colors to assist in identifying relevant files.

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Using the Detailed Visualization Time Line
You can use the Detailed view of the time line to get a more granular view of the files and emails in your specified
time line. You can change the Time Line View option to switch between the Basic view and the Detailed view.
Important: Before you launch the Detailed time line view, you must specify a base time line in the basic view that
includes the data that you want to look at. Otherwise, you will only be able to see the files that are in
the default base time line.
See About the Base Time Line on page 457.

To use the detailed visualization time line
1.

Select a data set that you want to view.

Launch the visualization panel.
See Launching Visualization on page 455.

Specify the base time line for the data that you want to view.
See Setting the Base Time Line on page 459.

For the Time Line View, click Detailed.

Understanding How Data is Represented in the Detailed Time Line
In the detailed view, each file, or group of files, is represented with a flag with a circle. Each flag displays the file’s
name, item number, category, size, and date. If you click a flag, the item it represents is selected in the file list
pane at the bottom of the visualization interface.
The color of each flag and circle represents the type of data. For example, the color blue represents Graphics
files. To the right of the time line, there is a Legend that displays what each color represents.
The span of the files depends on the base time line that you selected previously in the basic view.
See Setting the Base Time Line on page 459.

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About Time Bands
If several items fall within a particular time frame, it can be difficult to see all of them. This is because their flags
can overlap in the limited amount of interface space that is available.
You can manipulate the time line by giving the time line a greater or less granular view by using different time
bands. You can use one or more of the following time bands to change your view:
Years
Months
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Milliseconds

When you first open visualization, it will determine which time bands to enable based on the date range of the
base time line.
You can choose to display or hide a time band. The bands are displayed at the bottom of the time line. The more
time bands that you turn on, the more granular the data becomes.

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For example, suppose you turn on the Year, Month, and Day time bands.

The Year time band is on the bottom, with the Month time band above that, and the Days time band (1-31) is
above that. There are green dots in the bands. The green dots represent files or groups of files. Also in the
example, there is a box in the center of the bands. That box is the view window. The view window is always in
the center of the time line. You will only see the files that are in the view window. You can slide the time line to the
left and right to place files into the view window.
If there are large clusters of files, you can turn on more time bands to get a more granular view of the files.

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Modifying the Time Line Using Time Bands and Zoom
You can select different time bands to get a greater or less granular view of your data.

To change the time bands of the detailed time line
1.

To display or hide a time band, in the top left corner, click a band to toggle it on or off.
When a band is on, it is shadowed with a dark box.
Be aware that when you change time bands, the focus box of that time band will be centered in the time
line, and there may not be any files in the focus area. You will need to slide the time line to put the green
dots back into the focus area.

Slide the time line to place the data in the view window.
You can do one of the following options:
Click

the right or left arrows in the upper-right corner.

Click

the time line and drag it left or right.

Use

the mouse scroll wheel to move it left or right.

You can also use the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons (top-right corner) to modify the view.
The zoom feature does not change the time bands or the selected date range. It simply displays more
or less of the data.

Understanding How Grouping Works in the Detailed Visualization Time
Line
If there are more than 500 items that all within a particular time period, the items are grouped together under a
single grouped flag that represents all of the items. Grouping helps you to still use the detailed time line without
having to view an overwhelming amount of data flags in a small amount of space.
You can have the data grouped by the following two methods:
Selected

Time - (Default) Items are grouped by a specific time period, for example Days. For example,
you could have 25 items on the 5th, 200 items on the 6th, and 1100 items on the 7th. There would be a
single group for each day.

Fixed

Number - Items are grouped into by a maximum group size of 500. Using the previous example, if
there were 1325 total items, they would displayed in three groups of 441 files.

The group flag includes a Details button. Click the Details button to display a list of all of the items that are
grouped under that flag.
You can also click a group to get a more granular view of the files in the group. When you click a group additional
time bands are enabled to give you a more detailed view.
Be aware that multiple flags may be staked vertically. You may need to make the time line pane taller by
dragging the bottom border of the pane down.

Example of grouping

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Visualizing Internet Browser History Data
You can view internet browser history files in the detailed visualization timeline. You can view browser history
from the following browsers:
Internet

Explorer

Firefox
Chrome
Safari
Opera

In order to view internet browsing history files in the detailed visualization timeline, you must first process the
browser history files. By default, the option to process browser history files is disabled. You must enable the
Process Internet Browser History for Visualization option in either the processing options or additional analysis
options.
See Evidence Processing Options on page 90.
See Using Additional Analysis on page 141.

To view internet browser history files in the detailed visualization timeline
1.

If you have browser history files, in the File List Overview tab, browse to File Category > Internet Chat
Files > browser name > History.

Right-click one or more browser history files and select Visualize Browser History...
View browser history files from only one manufacturer at a time.
If the Visualize Browser History... option is grayed-out, then either the file has not been processed
with the Process Internet Browser History for Visualization option enabled, or the file type is not
supported.
If it is a supported file, the detailed visualization timeline is opened.
You may need to adjust the blue selection box to include the data that you want to see.
For information on viewing the visualization timeline, see About the Visualization page (page 456).

Visualizing Other Data
You can process specific file types so that they can be viewed in the visualization timeline.
EVTX
IIS

files - See Viewing Data in Windows XML Event Log (EVTX) Files (page 310)

Log files - See Viewing IIS Log File Data (page 312)

Registry
CSV

data files - See Viewing Registry Timeline Data (page 314)

files that are in the Log2Timeline format - See Viewing Log2Timeline CSV File Data (page 316)

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Chapter 33
Using Visualization Heatmap

Heatmap allows you to view a visual representation of file categories and file volume within a project. Information
displays in a grid comprised of squares of different colors and sizes. Each color represents a different file
category, and the relative size of the square represents the file volume within the category. You can view each
file category for more details about the files within that category (similar to a file tree) and navigate between file
categories.
You can also switch between viewing the file volume by the physical size of each file and the file count. This
allows you to see any discrepancies in the size of the files. For example, if someone were trying to hide a file by
renaming the file extension, you could easily see the size discrepancy in the heatmap, and then investigate that
particular file further.

To access Heatmap
1.

In Fornesics products, do the following:
1a.

Open the Examiner.

1b.

In the File List panel, click

(Heatmap).

In other products, do the following:
2a.

Click Project Review.

2b.

In the Item List panel, click Options > Visualization >

Heatmap.

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Heatmap Options Panel
The following table defines the tasks from the Heatmap panel.

Heatmap Panel Options
Element

Description
Cancels the heatmap filters and exits out of Visualization.
Apply the visualization graph filters to the Item List grid. Once applied, only those
items filtered with visualization appear in the Item List grid.

Options
Category



Metric




Using Visualization Heatmap

Files - Allows you to view files by the file category. You can view the files in
each category:
By double-clicking that particular file category’s square, or
By clicking the menu from the upper left side and choosing the file category that you want to view in the heatmap.
Folders - Allows you to view files by the folders contained within the project.
You can view the files in each folder:
By double-clicking that particular folder’s square.
By clicking the menu from the upper left side and choosing the folder that
you want to view in the heatmap.
Extensions - Allows you to view files by the file extension.
By Size - Allows you to view file types by size of the files. The larger the files,
the larger the represented square in the heatmap.
By Count - Allows you to view file types by quantity. The more files of a particular type that are in the project, the larger the represented square in the heat
map.

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Chapter 34

Using Visualization Social Analyzer

About Social Analyzer
The Social Analyzer shows a visual representation of email volume contained in the data set. Social Analyzer
will display all of the email domains in a project, as well as individual email addresses within the email domains.
Social Analyzer Map

The Social Analyzer map displays emails in the data set group by domain name. These domain names appear
on the map in circles called “bubbles.” The larger the bubble, the more emails are contained within that domain.
The bubbles in the map are arranged in a larger sphere according to how many emails were sent to that domain.
The center bubble in the sphere will have the most emails sent from this domain, while domains radiating
clockwise from the center will have fewer and fewer emails in their domain bubble. If you want to examine email
domains with the most sent emails, concentrate on examining the bubbles in the center of the map.
Email data in the Social Analyzer map can be examined on two different levels. On the first level, you can get an
overall view of communications between domains. You can then select domains that you want to examine in a

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more detailed view and expand those domains to view communications between specific email addresses from
the domain. For example, if you search for high email traffic between two domains, you can see which two
domains have the highest amount of traffic between them. Select the two domains, and expand them to view the
email traffic between individual users from those two selected domains.
See “Analyzing Email Domains in Visualization” on page 487.
See “Analyzing Individual Emails in Visualization” on page 487.

Elements of the Social Analyzer Map
Element

Description
This map presents the overall view of the social analyzer data. The orange
rectangle indicates the area displayed in the main social analyzer map. Black
dots in the overall view show domains that are either selected or communicating.
You can either expand or collapse the overall view by clicking on the triangle in
the upper right corner.

When you select a domain bubble, it is surrounded by a colored double ring. The
ring may be colored blue, black, purple, or red. The different colors allow you to
distinguish between different selected domains, but they do not have any
significant meaning.
Domain bubbles that are not selected, but have sent emails to the selected
domain bubble, are surrounded by a single colored ring that is the same color as
the selected domain bubble. This allows you to easily tell which domains have
been communicating with the selected domain bubble. Domain bubbles that do
not connect to any selected domains are greyed out.

Lines connect other domain bubbles to the selected domain bubble. These lines
represent emails sent to the selected domain from other domains. The more
emails that have been sent to the domain, the thicker the line between domain
bubbles are. You can also see emails sent from the selected domain. Select
Show Reversed Connections in the Social Analyzer panel to show visual
representations of emails sent from the selected domain.
A domain bubble with an orange ring indicates that a domain has been
connected to from another domain multiple times. This allows you to pinpoint
domains that have heavy communication between them.

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Accessing Social Analyzer
To navigate throughout the Social Analyzer pane, click and drag inside the pane. Hover over an email domain
bubble to view the total number of emails that were sent from the domain.
Note: Expansion of large datasets may result in slow server speeds and slow rendering the Social Analyzer
visualization data.

To access Social Analyzer
1.

Click Project Review.

In the Item List panel, click Options > Visualization > Social Analyzer.

Social Analyzer Options Panel

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Social Analyzer Options
The following table identifies the tasks that you can perform from the Social Analyzer panel.

Social Analyzer Options
Element

Description

Apply Visualization

Applies the visualization graph filters to the Item List grid. Once
applied, only those items filtered with visualization will appear in
the Item List grid.

Cancel Visualization

Cancels the visualization graph filters and exits out of
Visualization.
Refreshes the Social Analyzer pane.

Refresh
Clear Selections

Clears the selected bubbles in the Social Analyzer pane.

Select Most Connected Items

Selects the ten bubbles that have been most connected to in the
Social Analyzer pane. Each time you click this icon, the next top
ten bubbles will be selected, and so forth.

Expand Selected Domains

Expands selected domains in the Social Analyzer pane. You can
drill down to a second level to examine the email data. See
“Analyzing Individual Emails in Visualization” on page 487.

Zoom In

Zoom Out

Zooms into the Social Analyzer pane. If you are unable to view
the social analyzer data, click Zoom In to locate the data. You can
also zoom in by expanding the slider bar located at the bottom of
the Social Analyzer pane, by using the + key on the keyboard, or
by scrolling the mouse wheel up.
Zooms out of the Social Analyzer pane. You can also zoom out
by expanding the slider bar located at the bottom of the Social
Analyzer pane, by using the - key on the keyboard, or by scrolling
the mouse wheel down.
Expands and collapses the overall map of the data set. Dots that
appear in black in the overall map are domains/emails that are
connected to the selected domain/email. The orange rectangle on
the map shows where the expanded location is on the map.

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Social Analyzer Options
Element

Description

View






Stats

Show Reversed Connections - Select to show all reversed
connections in the pane. Reversed connections are emails
sent from a particular email or email domain.
Show Connections - Select to show the connections between
domains in the pane. Connections are emails sent to a particular email or email domain.
Preview Connections on Hover - Select to view connections
between domains when you hover over them. This option is
not selected by default to speed rendering of the map.
Email Display - Display email domains either by the display
name or address.
Bubble Limit - You can choose a display limit of either 2,500,
5,000, or 10,000 domains. Server issues may occur with larger
display limits.

Displays the statistics of either the first or second level of the
email domain data. You can view:
The total number of domains, emails, and bubbles in the pane.
The total number of selected domains, emails, and bubbles in
the pane.
 The total number of domains, emails, and bubbles that have
been expanded.
You can access the second level of data by clicking Expand
Selected Data.



To analyze email domains in Visualization mode
1.

Click Project Review.

In the Item List panel, click Options > Visualization > Social Analyzer.

Click the domain bubbles to select the domain(s) that you want to view.

(optional) If you want to view the top ten domains in terms of received emails. click

. Each time you

click this icon, the next top ten bubbles will be selected, and so forth.
5.

(optional) You can zoom in and zoom out of the Social Analyzer panel. If you hover over a domain
bubble, the full display name and address, as well as the count, is displayed in the tool tip.

You can expand selected email domains and examine individual emails in a domain. See “Analyzing
Individual Emails in Visualization” on page 487.

Analyzing Individual Emails in Visualization
You can expand email domains to display individual emails and the traffic between those emails.

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To analyze individual emails within selected email domains
1.

Click Project Review.

In the Item List panel, select Options > Visualization > Social Analyzer.

Click the domain bubbles to select the domain(s) that you want to view.

(optional) If you want to view the top ten domains in terms of received emails. click

. Each time you

click this icon, the next top ten bubbles will be selected, and so forth.
5.

(optional) You can zoom in and zoom out of the Social Analyzer panel. If you hover over a domain
bubble, the full DisplayName and address, as well as the count, will be displayed in the tool tip.

Click

to expand the domain names to display the individual emails.

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Chapter 35

Using Visualization Geolocation

About Geolocation Visualization
Geolocation allows you to view a map with real-world geographic location of evidence items that have
geolocation information associated with them. This lets you understand where certain activities/actions took
place.
See “Using Visualization” on page 232.
Geolocation supports the following data types:
Photos

with GPS information in the EXIF data. If you have photos in the evidence that have GPS data in
the EXIF data, you can see where those photos were taken.

IP

location data after gathering Volatile data (Forensics products only). When using Forensic products
and processing volatile/RAM data, you can see the lines of communication (both sent and received)
between addresses, showing the location of all parties involved.
Using Geolocation Visualization with Forensics Products to View Security Data (page 497)
Note: Then using Forensic products, Geolocation IP address data may take up to eight minutes to

generate, depending upon other jobs currently running in the application.

About Viewing Geolocation Data
When viewing Geolocation data, you can use the following components in Review:
Maps

When viewing geolocation data, you can use any of the following maps:
OpenStreetMaps
Offline

Maps (See “General Geolocation System Requirements” on page 490 and “Using Offline
Maps” on page 490)

Geolocation

Grid
Below the map, you can view a grid that shows details about the items in the map.
See “Using the Geolocation Grid” on page 495.

Geolocation

Data in columns in the Item List
You can view geolocation data for files in the Item List.
See “Using Geolocation Columns in the Item List” on page 496.

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Important: When you launch the Geolocation view in Review, it will display all relevant files currently in the item
list. You can cull the data using filters and other tools in the item list to limit the data that is displayed
in Geolocation.

General Geolocation System Requirements
As a minimum prerequisite, you must have the following:
Internet

access to view web-based maps.
By default, online maps are used to display map data for the Geolocation view.
If you do not have internet access, you can download and use offline maps.
See “Using Offline Maps” on page 490.

Using Offline Maps
If you do not have internet access, you will not have access to the default online maps. You can download and
use offline maps for Geolocation. You can use the offline maps with either Summation, FTK, Lab, or Enterprise.
For more information, see:
https://support.accessdata.com/hc/en-us/articles/205757007-Geolocation-Maps-for-Offline-Use

Processing Geolocation Data
For

Forensic products (FTK, FTK Pro, Lab, and Enterprise)

The

File Signature Analysis option must be selected when processing the evidence.

The

geolocation data is automatically processed, there is not processing option to select.

For

Summation, when you create a project, on the Processing Options tab, under Miscellaneous Options,
you must select the Geolocation option.
See “Evidence Processing and Deduplication Options” on page 265.

Viewing Geolocation EXIF Data
When your evidence has photos with GPS information in the EXIF data, you can view photo locations.

To view EXIF data in Forensic products (FTK, FTK Pro, Lab, and Enterprise):
1.

In FTK, open the Examiner.

In the File List panel, click

You can filter the items displayed and see item details.
See “Using the Geolocation Grid” on page 495.

Using Visualization Geolocation

(Geolocation).

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To view EXIF data in Summation
1.

Click Project Review.

In the Item List panel, click Options > Visualization >

You can filter the items displayed and see item details.
See “Using the Geolocation Grid” on page 495.

Geolocation.

Geolocation Panel - EXIF data

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Using Geolocation Tools
The Geolocation Map Panel
Points of data in a particular area on the map are represented by large dots called clusters. The number on each
cluster show how many points of data (known as pins) are represented by the cluster. Clicking a particular
cluster on the map zooms in on a group of pins.
The general location of the clusters are determined by a central point on the map. The clusters radiate from this
central point. When you zoom in and out of the map, your central point on the map moves as well, and clusters
will shift position on the map. However, as you zoom into a cluster, the cluster rendered will more closely align
itself with the location of the individual pins.
When viewing IP data, the connections between two pins display on the map as lines between clusters/pins. The
width of the lines represent the amount of traffic between two IP address. The thicker the lines, the more traffic
has occurred. Green lines represent traffic originating from the pin and red lines represent traffic entering the pin.
When you select a cluster and zoom in on a particular pin, you can select one or more pins. When a pin is
selected, the outline and shadow of the selected pin turns orange. If you zoom out of the map, the cluster with
one or more selected pins has an orange ring.
Hovering over the cluster displays the following icons:


Selects all of the pins in a cluster.



Clears all of the selected pins in a cluster.

The following table describes the Geolocation panel options.

Geolocation Panel
Element

Description
After filtering data by selecting one or more pins, this applies the selected
geolocations to the Item List grid. Once applied, only those geolocations filtered
with visualization appear in the Item List grid.
For network data, you will see any communication from those pins to any other
location. This may include one or more items.
If you enter the Geolocation view again, only those geolocation will be displayed
in the map.
To reset the items in the Item List, click the Project Explorer’s Reset and Apply
icons.
Cancels any new geolocation filters and exits out of Visualization
If you previously saved a filter, this will not clear the filter. You must clear filters in
the Item List.

Pins displayed

Shows the number of spins that are displayed and the number selected.

Clear

Clears and selected pins.

Options

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Geolocation Panel
Element

Description
Displays the number of pins selected in the map versus the number of pins
available in the data.
Expands or collapses the overall view map.
Displays the latitude and longitude where the mouse pointer resides. To view the
position of a particular pin, hover the mouse over the pin. To view the exact
coordinates of the pin, select the pin and right-click.
Turns the connections between the pins/clusters either on or off.
Displays all of the pins on the map.
Zooms in or out on the map. A slide bar displays, allowing you to control the
zoom feature.

View All/View Selected
Filter

Displays either EXIF data or network connection data. You can also view both
types of data at the same time.

Right-clicking a pin displays more information about the pin.

Detail of Pin

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In the pin dialog, you can:
Add

any notes

View

the exact coordinates and status of the pin

View

the IP Address of the pin

Note: To save processing time and to ensure data accuracy, the host name does not populate in the

Geolocation pin. However, the host name does populate in the Item List.
Change

the color and shape of the pin

If you make any changes to the pin, a warning icon

displays that notifies you that changes were made to

the pin and need to be saved. You can do the following in the pin dialog:
Click

to save the changes that you have made to the pin

Click

to reset the pin. If changes have been saved previously to the pin, this action resets the pin to
the saved version

Click

to close the dialog

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Using the Geolocation Grid
When you open Geolocation, you can view a grid that shows details of the items on the map.
The Geolocation Grid shows the following:
Exif:

This shows the following Exif data from photos

Capture

Data column

File

Name column

File

Size Coordinate column

When you click an item in the grid, the map will be centered to reflect the location of the selected item.
You can minimize the grid so that the whole map is visible.

Filtering Items in the Geolocation Grid
When you first launch Geolocation, all of the items on the map are shown in the grid.
You can filter the contents of the grid in the following ways.
In

the map, if you select a pin, only that item is displayed. You can click (and select) multiple pins.

In

the map, if you right-click a cluster and click
, that selects all of the pins in a cluster. This will filter
the grid to those clustered pins. You can add multiple clusters to the grid.

In

the grid, the columns in the Geolocation Grid can be filtered to cull the items in the grid. For Network
Communication data, the data in the bar chart is filtered as well when columns are filtered.

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| 495

Using Geolocation Columns in the Item List
The data that the Geolocation filter uses to render the information is also available in columns in the Item List.
You can find the following columns in the Item List, depending upon the data that has been collected. These
columns can be sorted and filtered.
See “General Geolocation System Requirements” on page 490.

Geolocation EXIF Data Columns
When your evidence has photos with GPS information in the EXIF data, you can view data using the following
columns.

Geolocation Columns: EXIF data
Column

Display name

Description

Geotagged Area Code:

Area Code

Area code location of geotagged photo or object.

Geotagged City:

City

City location of geotagged photo or object.

Geotagged Country Code:

Country Code:

ISO country code location of geotagged photo or object,
such as USA, FRA, MEX, HKG, and EST.

Geotagged Direction:

Direction

Direction geotagged photo or object.

Geotagged Latitude:

Latitude

Latitude of geotagged photo or object.

Geotagged Longitude:

Longitude

Longitude of geotagged photo or object.

Geotagged Postal Code:

Postal Code

Postal code of geotagged photo or object.

Geotagged Region:

Region

Regional or State location of geotagged photo or object,
such as NY, DC, IL, FL, and UT.

Geotagged Source:

Source

Source used to resolve geotagged GPS location to locality
information.

Note: The following columns are not used with exif data: GeoTagAreaCode, MetroCode, or Postal Code.

Using Geolocation Column Templates
When using AD Forensics products, you can use the following Column Templates to help you quickly display
Geolocation-based columns in the File List:
Geolocation
GeoEXIF
GeoIP

- Displays all available Geolocation columns.

- Displays all columns that contain EXIF-related Geolocation data.

- Displays all columns that contain IP-related Geolocation data.

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Using Geolocation Visualization with Forensics Products to
View Security Data
When using AD Forensics products, after gathering Volatile data, you can use geolocation to view IP location
data to discover where in the world a computer is communicating. You can view IP locations data when using the
following products:
The Geolocation view will display lines that trace internet traffic sent and received between IP addresses,
indicating the physical location of all parties involved. You can drill into geographic regions to see multiple
evidence items. You can then select specific data to post back to the case, where they can view information in
the examiner or include it in reports.

Geolocation Panel - IP Locations To view IP data in Geolocation viewer

Note: For data collected by Geolocation Visualization, the To Domain Name, To ISP, To Netspeed, and To
Organization columns do not populate in the Item Grid. If you require this data, you need to purchase a
MaxMind Premier database license.

Prerequisites for Using Geolocation Visualization to View Security Data
For

FTK or Enterprise:

For

examining network acquisition and volatile data, enable the Geolocation option in the Web Config
file. To enable this option, contact AccessData’s support.

Also

for examining network acquisition and volatile data, you need to generate a text file of your IP
locations and place the text file in the GeoData directory. For more information, contact AccessData’s
support.

Configuring the Geolocation Location Configuration File
When using AD Forensics products, and when working with network acquisition and volatile data, some data
may come from a private network where the physical location of the IP address is not known. For example, you
may need to provide the location of your own network and any satellite offices that you interact with.
Normally you would start with block of IPs in your local network.

Using Visualization Geolocation

Using Geolocation Visualization with Forensics Products to View Security Data | 497

To set this information, you need to populate a configuration file for the KFF server.
The filename is iplocations.txt.

Geolocation Configuration Page Options
The table below lists the various Geolocation Configuration Page options.

Geolocation Configuration Page Options
Option

Description

Ip Address

The IP address. The IP addresses must be written in CIDR format and need to
be IPv4 addresses.

ID
Country Code

The two letter country code for a country, such as HK for Hong Kong or US for
the United States.

Country Code 3

The three letter country code for a country, such as RUS for Russia or DEU for
Germany.

Country

The full country name, such as United States or Argentina.

Region

The state or province of the geolocation data, such as NY for New York or ON for
Ontario.

City

The city of the geolocation data, such as Beijing or San Francisco.

Postal Code

The postal code or zip code of the geolocation data.

Latitude

The latitude of the geolocation data.

Longitude

The longitude of the geolocation data.

Metro Code

The metro code of the geolocation data.

Area Code

The area code of the geolocation data.

Continent Code

The continent code of the geolocation data. For example, NA for North America
and AS for Asia.

Source

The source of the geolocation information. This field is optional.

Configuring the Location Configuration File Manually
You can manually create and edit the iplocations.txt text file for the KFF server. It has the following requirements:
The

text file needs to be saved with the filename iplocations.txt.

The

IP addresses must be written in CIDR format and need to be IPv4 addresses.

Each

comment line in the file must start with the character #. List only one address/network per line.

The

network line must contain the following information in the following order: address (in CIDR format),
Id, CountryCode, CountryCode3, CountryName, Region, City, PostalCode, Latitude, Longitude,
MetroCode, AreaCode, ContinentCode, Source.

Using Visualization Geolocation

Using Geolocation Visualization with Forensics Products to View Security Data | 498

The

iplocations.txt file must be placed in the Geodata folder of the kffdata folder on the server.

The following is an example of an iplocations.txt file:

#this file goes in the \GeoData directory
#address (in cidr
form),Id,CountryCode,CountryCode3,CountryName,Region,City,PostalCode,Latitude,Longitud
e,MetroCode,AreaCode,ContinentCode,Source
#192.168.0.0/24,1,,USA,United States,Utah,Taylorsville,84129,40.6677,-111.9388,,801,,
#10.10.200.252/30,1,,USA,United States,Utah,Orem,84042,40.2969,-111.6946,,801,NA,
#10.10.200.48/32,1,,USA,United States,Utah,Orem,84042,40.2969,-111.6946,,801,NA,
10.10.200.0/24,1,,USA,United States,Utah,Orem,84042,40.2969,-111.6946,,801,NA,

Viewing Geolocation IP Locations Data
To view IP location data in FTK
1.

Open the Examiner.

Click the Volatile tab.

In the Volatile tab, click

You can filter the items displayed and see item details.
See “Using the Geolocation Grid” on page 495.

(Geolocation).

Using the Geolocation Network Information Grid
When

viewing network acquisition and volatile data connection information, you can now view a grid that
displays the following information:
Process

Start Time

Machine
User

Name

Process

Name

Path
Host
IP

Name

Address

Coordinates
Ports

You can show the communication between multiple pins.

Using Visualization Geolocation

Using Geolocation Visualization with Forensics Products to View Security Data | 499

Chapter 36

Customizing the Examiner Interface

This chapter includes the following topics
About
The

Customizing the Examiner User Interface (page 500)

Tab Layout Menu (page 501)

Moving

View Panels (page 502)

Creating

Custom Tabs (page 504)

Managing

Columns (page 505)

Customizing

File List Columns (page 505)

Creating

User-Defined Custom Columns for the File List view (page 506)

Deleting

Custom Columns (page 508)

Navigating

the Available Column Groups (page 508)

About Customizing the Examiner User Interface
You can use the View menu to control the pane views displayed in each tab. There are several tabs by default,
but you can create an interface view that best suits your needs.
Add or remove panes from the current tab using the View menu. Click View and click the unchecked pane to add
it to the current view, or click a checked item on the list to remove that pane from the current view.

To save the new arrangement
Click View > Tab Layout > Save.

The View menu lets you do the following:
Refresh
View

the current view’s data.

the Filter Bar

Display

the Time Zone for the evidence.

Choose

the display size for graphic thumbnails.

Manage

Tabs.

Select
Open

Trees and viewing panes to include in various tabs.

the Progress Window.

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About Customizing the Examiner User Interface

| 500

The Tab Layout Menu
Use the options in the Tab Layout menu to save changes to tabs, restore original settings, and lock settings to
prevent changes.
The following table describes the options in the Tab Layout menu.

Tab Layout Menu Options
Option

Description

Save

Saves the changes made to the current tab.

Restore

Restores the Examiner window to the settings from the last saved layout. Custom
settings can be restored.

Reset to Default

Sets the window to the setting that came with the program. Custom settings will be lost.

Remove

Removes the selected tab from the window.

Save All Layouts

Saves the changes made to all tabs.

Lock Panes

Locks the panes in place so that they cannot be moved until they are unlocked.

Add New Tab
Layout

Adds a new tab to the window. The new tab will be like the one selected when this
option is used. Customize the tab as needed and save it for future use.

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The Tab Layout Menu

| 501

Moving View Panels
Move view panes on the interface by placing the cursor on the title of the pane, clicking, dragging, and dropping
the pane on the location desired. Holding down the mouse button undocks the pane. Use the guide icons to dock
the pane in a pre-set location. The pane can be moved outside of the interface frame.

Moving View Panels

To place the view panel at a specific location on the application
1.

Place the mouse (while dragging a view pane) onto a docking icon. The icon changes color.

Release the mouse button and the panel seats in its new position.
The following table indicates the docking options available:

Docking Icons
Docking
Icon

Description
Docks the view panel to the top half of the tab.

Docks the view panel to the right half of the tab.

Docks the view panel to the left half of the tab.

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Moving View Panels

| 502

Docking Icons (Continued)
Docking
Icon

Description
Docks the view panel to the bottom half of the tab.

Docks the view panel to the top, right, left, bottom, or center of the pane. When docked to
the center, the new pane overlaps the original pane, and both are indicated by tabs on the
perimeter of the pane.
Docks the view panel to the top, right, left, or bottom of the tree pane. The tree panes cannot
be overlapped.

Locks the panels in place, making them immovable. When the lock is applied, the blue box
turns grey. This button is found on the toolbar.

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Moving View Panels

| 503

Creating Custom Tabs
Create a custom tab to specialize an aspect of an investigation, add desired features, and apply filters as
needed to accommodate conditions specific to a case.

To create a custom tab
1.

Click on the tab that is most like the tab you want to create.

Click View > Tab Layout > Add New Tab Layout.

Enter a name for the new tab and click OK. The resulting tab is a copy of the tab you were on when you
created the new one.

From the View menu, select the features you need in your new tab.
Note: Features marked with diamonds are mutually exclusive; only one can exist on a tab at a time.
Features with check marks can coexist in more than one instance on a tab.

Choose from the following:
Click

Save to save this new tab’s settings

Click

View > Tab Layout > Save.

Click

View > Tab Layout > Save All to save all changes and added features on all tabs.

To remove tabs
1.

Highlight the tab to be removed

Click View > Tab Layout > Remove.

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Creating Custom Tabs

| 504

Managing Columns
Shared Columns use the same familiar windows and dialogs that Local Columns use.

To create a Shared Column Template
1.

In Case Manager, click Manage > Columns.
The Manage Shared Column Settings dialog opens.

Highlight a default Column Template to use as a basis for a Custom Column Template.

Click New.

Enter a new name in the Column Template Name field.

Select the Columns to add from the Available Columns pane, and click Add >> to move them to the
Selected Columns pane.

Select from the Selected Columns pane and click Remove to clear an unwanted column from the
Selected Columns.

When you have the new column template defined, click OK.

Customizing File List Columns
The Column Settings dialog box allows the modification or creation of new definitions for the file properties and
related information that display in the File List, and in what order. Columns display specific information about, or
properties of, the displayed files.
Column settings are also used to define which file information appears in case reports. Use custom column
settings in defining reports to narrow the File List Properties information provided in the Bookmark and File List
sections.
Additional states have been added to keep track of users’ Label selections. For example, if the user has already
checked a Label name, that filename and path will turn red, and it remains red as long as it remains different
from the original status. Clicking it again will cycle it back to its original status and its color will return to black.
Note: Checking the Label name before choosing Apply Labels To, unchecks the Label name. Choose Apply
Labels To first, then check or select the files to apply the Label to.
Column Settings can be customized and shared.

To define or customize Column Settings
1.

From the File List, click Column Settings to open the Manage Column Settings dialog.
From the Manage Column Settings dialog you can do any of the following tasks:

Button

Action

New

Create a new column template. This option opens a blank template you can use to
create a new template from scratch.

Edit

Edit existing custom column templates. Use this option to make changes to an
existing custom column template. You cannot edit default templates.

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Managing Columns

| 505

Button

Action

Copy
Selected

Copy existing default or custom column templates. Start with the settings in an
existing template to customize it to your exact needs without starting from scratch.

Delete

Delete existing custom column templates. You cannot delete default templates

Import

Import custom column templates XML files from other cases. Use Import to utilize
a template from another source or that was created after you created your case.

Export

Export custom column templates to XML files for others to use. Export a custom
column to use in another system.

Make Shared

Case Administrators can Share custom column templates to the database so they
are available to all new cases. Once custom columns are Shared, the Application
Administrator manages them. However, the original remains in the case so the
Case Administrator has full control of it. Case Reviewers do not have sufficient
permissions to create custom column templates.

Apply

Apply the selected column template

To define column settings using a new or copied template, click New, Edit, or Copy Selected to open
the familiar Column Settings dialog.

In the Column Template Name field, type a name for the template.

In the Available Columns list, select a category from which you want to utilize a column heading.
You

can add the entire contents of a category or expand the category to select individual headings.

You

can move any item in the list up or down to position that column in the File List view. The top
position is the first column from left to right.

When you are finished defining the column setting template, click OK to save the template and return to
the Manage Column Settings dialog.

Highlight the template you just defined, and click Apply to apply those settings to the current File List
view.

Creating User-Defined Custom Columns for the File List view
You can define your own custom columns for use in the File List view. You must first export a file list to a TSV or
a CSV file from a case, then populate the spreadsheet with custom column names and your own data as it
relates to items that are listed by the ObjectID. To add the resulting custom columns to the File List view, you
simply import the TSV or CSV file that you created, add the custom columns to the template, and apply the
template.
If you import a custom column sheet that contains a column that you do not want to import, but you do not want
to delete the column, you can type IGNORE in the first row of the column.
Files saved as TSV or CSV are encoded UTF-8.

To define custom columns for the File List view
1.

Open CCExample.CSV in a spreadsheet program. The default path to the file is

C:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\[version_number]
Use this example file to help you create your own custom columns.

Customizing the Examiner Interface

Managing Columns

| 506

In the File List, select the files that you want to add to your custom columns settings template.

From the File List, click Export File List

In the Save in text box, browse to and select the destination folder for the exported file.

In the File name text box, type the first name of the file, but do not specify the extension.

Note: You can overwrite user created column setting files by giving the column template the same
name as an existing user created template. Be sure you provide a file name that is unique if you
don’t want to overwrite the original or existing column template file.
6.

In the Save As type text box, click the drop-down and choose CSV (Comma delimited) (*.CSV)

In the File List items to export group box, click All Highlighted.

Click Column Settings.

In the Column Settings dialog box, ensure that Item Number is in the Selected Columns list. If
desired, you can move it to the top of the list, or remove all other columns headings that are listed in the
Selected Columns list.

10. Click OK.
11. In the Choose Columns drop-down, select the Column Setting you just created or modified.
12. Click Save.
13. Open the CSV file that you just created with the Export File List.
14. Copy the item numbers in the Item Number column.
15. In the opened CCexample.CSV file, paste the item numbers in the OBJECTID column.
16. Edit the column headings the way you want them.

For example, the spreadsheet column, “MyCustomInt:INT” displays as the column heading
“MyCustomInt” in the File List view.
Edit

“MyCustomInt” to be whatever you want:

The

INT portion allows integer values in the column

MyCustomBool:BOOL
CustomStr:STRING

column allows true or false values

heading allows text values.

17. Save the CCExample.CSV file with a new name, and in a place where you have rights to save and

access the file as needed.
18. Close the FileList.CSV (or whatever name you gave the Export File List file.
19. On the Evidence menu, click Import Custom Column File.
20. Navigate to the CSV file that you just saved, then click Open.
21. In the “Custom column data imported” dialog box, click OK.
22. On the Manage menu, click Column > Manage Columns, or click Column Settings on the File List

toolbar.
23. Choose a column template to copy, or create a new one.
24. Add the custom column headings to a new or existing template.
25. In the Column Settings dialog box, click OK.
26. In the Manage Column Settings dialog box, select the template that contains the custom headings, and

then click Apply.

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Managing Columns

| 507

Deleting Custom Columns
You can remove and delete custom columns that you have added to any column templates. You can delete
custom columns even if the File List view is turned off.
Note: The data is not deleted; only the custom columns that allowed you to see that specific data are deleted.

To delete custom column data
1.

On the Evidence menu, click Delete Custom Column Data.

Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Navigating the Available Column Groups
The Column Settings dialog box groups column settings according to the following:

Available Column Groups


Common Features



Custom Columns (When a custom column template has been created or
imported.)



Disk Image Features



Email Features



Entropy Stats



File Status Features



File System Features



Mobile Phones (When an MPE AD1 or
other cell phone image has been processed.)



ZIP-specific Features



Office-specific Features



Cerberus Static Analysis Features



Microsoft IIS Internet Server



Log2t



Internet Data



Geolocation



All Features

Within each grouping, you can choose from a list of various column headings that you want to add. You can also
delete selected columns or arrange them in the order you want them to appear in the File List view.

To view the name, short name, and description of each available column
1.

On the Manage menu, click Columns > Managed Shared Columns.

Do one of the following:
Select
Open

a category.

a category and select an individual column setting name.

Do either of the following:
Click

Add >> to move your selection to the Selected Columns list.

Double-click

your selection to add it to the Selected Columns list.

Do either of the following.
Use

standard Windows column sizing methods to resize the column margins, thereby allowing you to
read each description.



Click anywhere in the Select Columns list box, and then hover over a column description to see the
entire description.

Click OK.

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Managing Columns

| 508

Note: The following information may be useful when navigating or viewing Available Columns and Groups.
When

you view data in the File List view, use the type-down control feature to locate the information you
are looking for. Sort on the Filename column, then select the first item in the list.
Type the first letter of the filename you are searching for. As you continue to type, next filename that
matches the letters you have typed will be highlighted in the list.
If at some point you see the file you are looking for displayed in the list, simply click on it. You may type
the entire file name for the exact name to be fully highlighted in the list.

A

new column has been added, “Included by Filters” within the All Features group. This column tells you
which filter caused a file to display in the File List pane. The Included by Filters column is not sortable.

In

the past, the “Processed” column was able to display only two states, Yes, and No. It has been
changed to display different states, such as the following:
P = Default (may be a null value)
C = Complete
Note: M = User’s manually carved items

Customizing the Examiner Interface

Managing Columns

| 509

Chapter 37

Working with Evidence Reports

You can create a case report about the relevant information of a case any time during or after the investigation
and analysis of a case. Reports can be generated in different formats, including HTML and PDF. The PDF report
is designed specifically for printing hard copies with preserved formatting and correct organization. The HTML
report is better for electronic distribution.
This chapter includes the following topics
Creating

a Case Report (page 511)

Adding

Case Information to a Report (page 512)

Adding

Bookmarks to a Report (page 513)

Adding

Graphics Thumbnails and Files to a Report (page 515)

Adding

a File Path List to a Report (page 517)

Adding

a File Properties List to a Report (page 518)

Adding

Registry Selections to a Report (page 519)

Adding

Screen Captures from Examiner (page 520)

Selecting
Creating
Viewing

the Report Output Options (page 521)

a Load File (page 522)

and Distributing a Report (page 525)

Modifying

a Report (page 526)

Exporting

and Importing Report Settings (page 526)

Writing

a Report to CD or DVD (page 527)

Working with Evidence Reports

| 510

Creating a Case Report
You can use the Report Wizard to create a report. The the settings that you specify in the Report Wizard are
persistent, and remain until they are changed by the user. You do not need to click OK until all the report creation
information is entered or selected. If you inadvertently close the Report Wizard, you can re-open it by clicking
File > Report.

To Create a Case Report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report to run the Report Wizard.

Define your requirements for the following:

Option

Description

Case Information

See Adding Case Information to a Report (page 512)

Bookmarks

See Adding Bookmarks to a Report (page 513)

Graphics

See Adding Graphics Thumbnails and Files to a Report (page 515)

Videos

See Adding a Video to a Report (page 516)

File Path List

See Adding a File Path List to a Report (page 517)

File Properties
ListSee

See Adding a File Properties List to a Report (page 518)

Registry
Selections

See Adding Registry Selections to a Report (page 519)

When you have completed defining the report, click OK to open the Report Output options dialog.
See Selecting the Report Output Options (page 521)

Working with Evidence Reports

Creating a Case Report

| 511

Adding Case Information to a Report
The Case Information dialog lets you add basic case information to a report, such as the investigator and the
organization that analyzed the case.
For information about other items you can define for a report, See Creating a Case Report (page 511).

To Add Case Information to a Report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the left pane, under Report Outline, highlight Case Information to display the Case Information
options in the right pane.
You can select the Case Information check box to include a case information section in the report. You
can deselect the Case Information check box to exclude a case information section from the report.

In the Default Entries pane, deselect any entries that you do not want to include in the report.
If you inadvertently remove a default entry that you require, close and reopen the case to have the
default entries displayed again.

Double-click the Value field to enter information.

Add and remove entries with the Add and Remove buttons under the Default Entries section.

Provide a label (Name) and a value (Information) for the included entries.

(Optional) Select the Include File Extensions option to include a file extensions list and count in the
File Overview portion of the report.
The list of file extensions appears in the report under Case Information, after File Items and File
Category, and before File Status. The File Extensions List can be very long and may span many pages.
If you intend to print the report, this may not be desirable.

Working with Evidence Reports

Adding Case Information to a Report

| 512

Adding Bookmarks to a Report
The Bookmarks dialog lets you create a section in the report that lists the bookmarks that were created during
the case investigation. Each bookmark can have a unique sorting option and a unique column setting.
For information about other items you can define for a report, See Creating a Case Report (page 511).

To add Bookmarks to a Report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the left pane, under Report Outline, highlight Bookmarks to display the Bookmarks options in the
right pane.
You can select the Bookmarks check box to include bookmarks in the report. You can deselect the
Bookmarks check box to exclude bookmarks from the report.

In the right pane, click Filter to open the filters list.

Select one the filters from the list. The empty line at the top of the list lets you apply no filter to the
bookmarks.

Select the options to indicate which bookmarks you want to include. Choose Shared and/or User
bookmarks by group, or individually.

For each bookmark you choose to include, you can choose options from the Bookmark section on the
right. Options include:
Include

email attachments
setting applies to all email children, not only common attachments.
 Selecting this setting activates the Export Options button.
 This

Export

files & include links
 Selecting this setting activates the Export Options button.

Export

Cerberus analysis html files

Include

thumbnail for each object

Choose a Thumbnail Arrangement option for each bookmark or bookmark group as follows:
Number
Include
Group

of thumbnails per row

all thumbnails at end of each bookmark section

all file paths at the end of thumbnails

Specify if you want to export the bookmarked files and include links to them in the report when it is
generated.

Specify if you want to include graphic and video thumbnails that may be part of any bookmarks. If you
want to create links to original files in the report, choose both to export the original files and to include
graphic and video thumbnails when the report is generated.

10. In the Report Options dialog, click Bookmarks.
11. Click Sort Options and do the following:
Click

the plus (+) to add a criterion, or click minus (-) to delete a criterion.

Click

the down arrow button on the right side of each line to open the drop down of available sort
columns.

Click

OK to save the selected Sort Options and close the dialog.

Note: The sort options you see are determined by the Columns Template you have selected
For more information on customizing columns, see Customizing File List Columns (page 505).

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12. Specify if you want to apply all settings for this bookmark to child files.

Bookmark Export Options
The Bookmark Export Options dialog contains the following three options:
Link

to exported email attachments and filter out attachments in bookmark

When

selected, this option creates links to exported email attachments and filters out the attachments
in the bookmark.

Include

re-constructed web pages

When

selected, this option exports all of the files necessary to view re-constructed web pages. The
files are stored in the Report_Files folder in a sub folder called reconstructedpage.

Export

selections as their own file

When

selected, this option saves each bookmark selection as an individual file.

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Adding Graphics Thumbnails and Files to a Report
The Graphics section in the Report Options dialog lets you define whether-or-not to create a section in the report
that displays thumbnail images of the case graphics. You can also link the thumbnails to a full sized version of
the original graphics if desired.
For information about other items you can define for a report, See Creating a Case Report (page 511).

To add graphics thumbnails and files to a report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the left pane, under Report Outline, highlight Graphics to display the Graphics options in the right
pane.
You can select the Graphics check box to include graphics in the report. You can deselect the
Graphics check box to exclude graphics from the report.

To apply a filter to any included graphics files in a report, click Filter and select a filter to apply to the
graphics.

To export and link full-sized graphics in the report, click the Export and link full-size graphics to
thumbnails option.

Select one of the following options
Include

checked graphics only

Include

all graphics in the case

To sort the graphics by name or by path, click Sort Options. In the Sort Options dialog, use the Plus (+)
and Minus (-) buttons to add and remove sort options. Click the drop-down arrow on the right side of the
line to select either Name or Path.

Specify the number of graphics thumbnails to display per row and choose whether-or-not to Group all
filenames at end of report.

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Adding a Video to a Report
The Video section in the Report Options dialog lets you define lets you define whether-or-not to create a section
in the report that displays the thumbnail images and/or the rendered MP4 files of the case videos. You can also
choose to include a link to the original full sized version of the video. These thumbnails and MP4 videos are
created during evidence processing or during additional analysis.
See Generating Thumbnails for Video Files (page 345).
See Creating Common Video Files (page 346).

To add video thumbnails and files to a report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the left pane, under Report Outline, highlight Videos to display the Video options in the right pane.
You can select the Videos check box to include videos in the report. You can deselect the Videos check
box to exclude videos from the report.

To apply a filter to any included video files in a report, click Filter and select a filter to apply to the
videos.

To export and link the original videos in the report, click the Export and link original videos option.

To include a link to the rendered MP4 videos that were created during evidence processing or during
additional analysis, check Export rendered videos.

To include the thumbnails of the videos in the report that were created during evidence processing or
during additional analysis, check Export rendered thumbnails.

Select one of the following options
Include

checked videos only

Include

all videos in the case

To sort the videos by name or by path, click Sort Options. In the Sort Options dialog, use the Plus (+)
and Minus (-) buttons to add and remove sort options. Click the drop-down arrow on the right side of the
line to select either Name or Path.

Specify the number of video thumbnails to display per row in the Rendered Thumbnail Arrangement
group box.

10. Click Columns. In the Manage Column Settings dialog, select the Settings Template to copy or edit.

For detailed information on creating and modifying Columns Templates, see Customizing File List
Columns (page 505).

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Adding a File Path List to a Report
The File Paths dialog lets you create a section in the report that lists the file paths of files in selected categories.
The File Paths section displays the files and their file paths; it does not contain any additional information.
For information about other items you can define for a report, See Creating a Case Report (page 511).

To add a File Path List to a Report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the left pane, under Report Outline, highlight File Path to display the File Path options in the right
pane.
You can select the File Path check box to include a file path section in the report. You can deselect the
File Path check box to exclude a file path section from the report.

Select a filter from the Filter drop-down, to apply a filter to the items you want to include a file path list.
You can leave the filter option empty to not apply a filter.

Select from the Available Categories list to include the category or categories in the report by dragging
the category to the Selected Categories list.

To also export and link to the selected files in the File Path list, select the check-boxes box next to the
items in the Selected Categories box.
If you do not select a check-box Selected Categories list, the File Path is included in the report, but the
files themselves are not exported and linked to the File Path in the report.

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Adding a File Properties List to a Report
The File Properties dialog lets you create a section in the report that lists the file properties of files in selected
categories. Several options let you make the File Properties List in the report as specific or as general as you
want it to be.
For information about other items you can define for a report, See Creating a Case Report (page 511).

To Add a File Properties List to a Report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.
In the left pane, under Report Outline, highlight File Properties to display the File Properties options in
the right pane.
You can select the File Properties check box to include a file properties section in the report. You can
deselect the File Properties check box to exclude a file properties section from the report.

Either click the Filter drop-down arrow and selecting the desired filter, or choose no filter by selecting
the blank entry at the top of the filter drop-down list.

Drag and drop the categories that you want to include from the Available Categories window into the
Selected Categories window.

Check a category in the Selected Categories window to export related files and link them to the File
Properties list in the report.
Checking an item automatically selects the files and folders under it. If you do not want to include all
sub-items, expand the list and select and deselect each item individually.

In the Report Options dialog, click File Properties.

In the File Properties options area, click Columns.

In the Manage Column Settings dialog, select the Settings Template to copy or edit.
For detailed information on creating and modifying Columns Templates, see Customizing File List
Columns (page 505).

When you are done defining the columns settings, click OK.
You might want to define how the data is sorted, according to column heading. In the File List view you
are limited to a primary and secondary search. In the Report wizard, you can define many levels of
sorting.

In the Report Options dialog, click File Properties.

10. In the File Properties options area, click Sort Options and do the following:
Click

the plus (+) to add a criterion, or click minus (-) to delete a criterion.

Click

the down arrow button on the right side of each line to open the drop down of available sort
columns.

Click

OK to save the selected Sort Options and close the dialog.

Note: The sort options you see are determined by the Columns Template you have selected
For more information on customizing columns, see Customizing File List Columns (page 505).

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Adding Registry Selections to a Report
If your drive image contains Registry files, you can include them in your report.
When creating a Report that includes Registry files, a DAT extension is being added to the link. If the link does
not open in the report, it can be exported and opened in Notepad.
For information about other items you can define for a report, See Creating a Case Report (page 511).

To Add Registry Selections to a Report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.
In the left pane, under Report Outline, highlight Registry Selections to display the registry selections
options in the right pane.
You can select the Registry Selections check box to include a Registry Selections section in the
report. You can deselect the Registry Selections check box to exclude a Registry Selections section
from the report.

In the Registry File Types window, check the file types for which you want to include headings for in your
report.

In the right window, check the registry file paths that you want included in your report.

Mark the box Include user generated reports (if any) if you have generated Registry Reports using
Registry Viewer, and you want to include them in this report.
Note: User-generated reports must exist in the case before generating the report, otherwise, this option
is disabled. These reports are generated in Registry Viewer and can be collected from the
Registry data found on the source drive.

Mark the box Select Auto Reports, to view and select which registry reports to include in the report
from those that were generated automatically based on the registry reports selection in Case Manager
> Case > New > Detailed Options > Evidence Refinement.
Note: If you did not select this option during pre-processing, this option is disabled in the Report
Options dialog.

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Adding Screen Captures from Examiner
You can now capture screen shots within the Examiner interface. You can include the screen captures when
creating reports. You can use screen captures to include information that is not easy to export or include in
reports, such as:
The

contents of the Natural view (File Content pane)

The

contents and information in the File List

The

contents of visualization pages

These UI elements can include information that is useful as evidence, but there is no way to present it outside of
the UI.
When you create a screen capture, the following occurs:
file is saved in the case folder under a Screenshots sub-folder. (Do not manually rename the
captured files, otherwise the Report dialog will not find them.)

The

file is saved in the original size and in a smaller size that may be needed to fit in a report.

The

name and description of the file is saved in the database so that they can be displayed in the Report
Options dialog.

To create a screen capture
1.

In the Examiner, click the screen capture icon.

Click and drag the + cursor to select the area that you want to capture.

In the Screen Capture Info dialog, give the screen capture file a name.

Enter a description.
This is recorded with the filename in the database.

Click Save.

To cancel a screen capture, click Esc.

To include a screen capture in a report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the Report Options, click Screen Capture.

Select the screen captures that you want to include in the report.

(Optional) You can edit the description of the files, but not the filename.

Configure the other options for the report.
When the report is created, the image files are copied to the report folder.

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Selecting the Report Output Options
The Report Output dialog lets you select the location, language, report formats, and other details of the report.
You can also recreate the directory structure of exported items.
For information about other items you can define for a report, See Creating a Case Report (page 511).

To select the report output options
1.

When you have completed defining the report, from the Report Options dialog, click OK to open the
Report Output options dialog.

Type the destination folder name for the saved report, or use the Browse button to locate and select a
location.

Use the drop-down arrow to select the language for the written report. Available languages are as
follows:
Arabic (Saudi Arabia)

Chinese (Simplified, PRC)

English (United States)

German (Germany)

Japanese (Japan)

Korean (Korea)

Portuguese (Brazil)

Russian (Russia)

Spanish (Spain, Traditional Sort)

Swedish (Sweden)

Turkish (Turkey)
4.

Indicate the formats for publishing the report. You can choose any or all of the output formats.
To view a report made in any of the supported formats, you must have the appropriate application
installed on your computer. Options are as follows:
PDF (Adobe Reader)

HTML (Windows Web Browser)

XML (Windows Web Browser)

RTF (Rich Text Format: Most Text Editors)

WML (Unix Web Browser)

DOCX (MS Office Word 2007)

ODT (Open Document Interchange: Sun Microsystems OpenOffice Documents)
Load File
Note: Some report output formats require J#, either 1.1 or 2.0. If you select RTF format, for example, and J# is
not installed, you will see an error.
5.

Under Export Options do the following:
Check

the Use object identification number for filename to shorten the paths to data in the report.
Links are still created for proper viewing of the files.

The

unique File ID numbers, when used in a report, keep the pathnames shorter. This makes burning
the report to a CD or DVD more reliable.

Check

the Append extension to filename if bad/absent box to add the correct extension where it is
not correct, or is missing.

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Under HTML Report Customization, choose from the following:
If

you wish to use your own custom graphic or logo, mark the Use custom logo graphic box, then
browse to the file and select it. Use GIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, or BMP file types.

If

you wish to use a custom CSS file, mark the Use custom CSS box. Select the folder where the
custom CSS files have been saved. Click OK. The folder you selected displays in the “Use Custom
CSS” text box.

Click OK to run the report.
If the report folder you selected is not empty, you will see the following error message:
Choose to Delete or Archive the contents of the folder, or to Cancel the report. Delete the contents of
the current destination folder, or change to a different destination folder, then recreate the report or
import it if you saved it during creation.

Creating a Load File
It is possible to create a load file, which enables you to export data from an existing or new case and import it
into litigation document management applications such as AccessData Summation and eDiscovery.

To Create a Load File
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the left pane, under the Report Outline, select the check boxes for the options you would like to
include in your load file. Be sure to highlight each item selected and fill out the appropriate information.
You can add information to these areas using the methods described in the previous segments. When
finished, press OK.

In the Report Output dialog, enter the path to the Report Folder. This is where your report will be
located.

Select the appropriate Language and Time Zone.

Select the correct Export Option. Options include:
Use

object identification number for filename
setting makes it so the object identification number used in the existing or new case is
also used as the filename in the load file.

 This
Append

extension to filename if bad/absent
this setting will append the correct or assigned filename to a file if none is present or
if the current one is bad.

 Selecting

In the Formats area, check the box next to Load File and click the Options button.

In the Load File Export Options dialog, enter a Load File Name.

Select a Format for your load file. Options include:
Browser

Briefcase
 This option generates an HTML format that provides links to the native documents, images,
and text files. You can have multiple links for image, native, and text documents. You can also
work with production sets exported previously in iBlaze Browser Briefcase format. This allows
you to have greater control over the production set.

CaseVantage
 This

option generates a DII file specifically formatted for use with the AD Summation
CaseVantage program.

Concordance
 This

option generates a DAT file that can be used in Concordance.

EDRM

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 This

option generates an XML file that meets the EDRM v1.2 standard.

Generic
 This

option generates a standard delimited text file.

iCONECT
 This

option generates an XML file formatted for use with the iConect program.

Introspect
 This

option generates an IDX file specifically formatted for use with the Introspect program.

Relativity
 This
Ringtail

option generates a DAT file that can be used in Relativity.

(MDB)
option generates a delimited text file that can be converted to be used in Ringtail.

 This

Summation

eDII
option generates a DII file specifically formatted for use with the AD Summation iBlaze or
Enterprise programs.

 This

Note: If you are outputting a Concordance, Relativity, or Generic load file, and include rendered images, you will
also get an OPT and LFP file in the export directory.
9.

Choose an Encoding option for your load file from the following:
ANSI
UTF-8
UTF-16

10. If you are creating a Concordance, Generic, Introspect, or Relativity load file, you need to specify the

following options:
Choose

whether to Include a Header Row by clicking on the checkbox.

Select

the Multi-Entry Separator.

Select

the Field Mapping.

Select

the Text Identifier.

Select

the Newline.

11. For the Browser Briefcase, CaseVantage, EDRM, iConect, Ringtail, or Summation eDII options, select

only the Multi-Entry Separator.
12. In the Available Fields pane, select the options you want to appear in your report. Highlight each field

you would like to include and click the >> button to move it to the Selected Fields pane. If you would
like to change the order of appearance for these items in the report, highlight the item you would like to
move in the Selected Fields pane and click on the Up or Down button until it is in the right place.
13. The Files To Include tab contains the following three options:
Export

Native Files
When selected, this option allows you to export the emails contained in PST/NSF in one of three
different ways:
 OUtput a reduced version of the original PST/NSF file
 Output messages as individual HTML/RTF files
 Output messages as individual MSG files

Export

Rendered Images
When selected, this option allows you to select how rendered images appear in the load file. You can
export using one or both of the following options:
 Use existing image

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 Use SWF image
You can also select the File Format and Page Size for displaying these images.
Export

Text
When selected, this option allows you to choose the Export Priority from the following options:
 Export extracted text over OCR text
 Export OCR text over extracted text
 Export both extracted text and OCR text

14. When finished selecting these options, click OK in both the Load File Export Options and Report Output

dialogs.
15. The progress of load file generation will appear in the Data Processing Status dialog. Once the load file

is generated, you can find it in the folder entered in Step 3. This folder will contain the load file as well as
the original files for any items included in the report.
Note: Best results occur when you select the Summation defaults and the Enable Standard Viewing feature
during processing when creating the case.

Customizing the Report Graphic
When you select HTML as an output format, you can add your own graphic or logo to the report.

To add your own graphic or logo
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report to open the Report wizard.

From the Report Options dialog, after you are done making selections for the Report Outline, click OK.

In the Report Output dialog, under Formats, mark HTML. This activates the HTML Report
Customization options.

Under HTML Report Customization, mark Use custom logo graphic.

Click the Browse button to open the Windows Explorer view and browse to the graphic file to use for
the report. The file format can be JIF, JPG, JPEG, PNG, or BMP.

Click Open.

When all Report options have been selected, click OK.
The progress bar dialog indicates the progress of the report.
Note: When selected, the finished HTML and/or PDF reports open automatically.
You can process only one set of reports at a time. If you select the options to create several different
report formats before clicking OK to generate the report, all will process concurrently. However, if you
start that process and then decide to create a new report, you will not be able to until the current report
is finished generating.
If you start another report too soon, you will be prompted to wait, if you chose to create either HTML or
PDF format for the report, it will automatically open when creation is complete. Otherwise, to view the
report, click Yes when prompted.

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Using Cascading Style Sheets
The formatting of reports can be customized with Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). Reports stores a file path you
select (default or custom) to the folder containing the custom CSS files. When CSS is not selected, Reports use
the default settings.
For reports to utilize the cascading style sheets, three CSS files are necessary, and must all be located in the
specified CSS folder:
Common.CSS
Bookmarks.CSS
Navigation.CSS

The original CSS files are found in the following path if no changes were made to the default:

C:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\\bin\ReportResources
Copy the *CSS files to a different directory before making changes to any of these files. Do not make changes to
the original files.
To utilize the customized CSS files, click Use custom CSS, and select the path to the folder where the
customized CSS files are stored.
When CSS is selected, Reports checks for those files in the specified directory. If any of the three files is missing
you are notified and the report does not proceed.
Note: The UI option consists of a check box and a text path string. The path string points to the path directory
that contains the three needed CSS files.

Note: The UI options settings are persistent per Windows login user. Thus, your selections will be persistent
across the Case List for the currently authenticated user.
Important: In versions, the cascading style sheets have been updated for a better user experience. Updates
include persistent highlighting on the navigation tree (so examiners know which item they are
viewing) and better organization of data within the report.
However, if you have created personalized templates in previous versions, you will need to re-create
them for 5.1.

Viewing and Distributing a Report
The report contains the information that you selected in the Report Wizard. When included in the report, files
appear in both raw data and in the report format.

To view the report outside of Examiner
1.

Browse to the report file

Click on the report file:
Click

on index.htm to open an HTML document in your Web browser.

Click

on the file [report].PDF to open the report in a PDF viewer.

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Modifying a Report
Modify the report by changing the report settings, and recreating it. Add the new evidence or change report
settings to modify the report to meet your needs.
Change the report settings for each report as needed.
All previously distributed reports should be retracted to keep all recipients current.
Note: If you want to keep a previous report, save the new report to a different folder that is empty.

Exporting and Importing Report Settings
Report settings are automatically saved whenever you generate a report. You can export the settings that you
used as an XML file. You can then later import and reapply those same settings to use with new reports that you
generate.

To export report settings
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the Report Options dialog box, click Export.

In the Export Sections dialog, select the sections that you want to export.

Click OK.

Click Browse to select a folder to save the settings.

You can accept the default name for the report settings file, or you can type a name for the settings file.
An XML extension is automatically added when the report is created.

Click Save for each item you have selected in the Report Outline list.

Click OK.

To import saved settings for a new report
1.

In the Examiner, click File > Report.

In the Report Options dialog, click Import.

Browse to a settings XML file that you want to apply, and select it.

Click Open to import and apply the settings file to your current report.

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Writing a Report to CD or DVD
You can write a report to a CD or DVD, depending on the report’s size. It is recommended that you select Use
object identification number for filename, in the Report Output options dialog. This option keeps paths
shorter, so they do not exceed the limits of the media format.
After you create the report, write only the contents from the root of the report folder, and not the report folder
itself. The autorun automatically launches the report’s main page (index.htm) using the default browser when the
CD is read on a Windows computer.
Note: The following information pertains to burning reports to a CD or DVD.
When

burning some reports to a CD, some Registry Viewer Auto Reports links may be broken, where
they work when viewing on the computer. To avoid this issue, make sure that longer Joliet filenames are
enabled when burning report to a CD.

To

launch the report, the computer must be configured to automatically execute autorun files.

If

you burn the folder that contains the report to the CD or DVD, the autorun will not be at the root of the
disk, and will not work properly.

To

prevent broken links to report files, use File Item numbers instead of names to keep paths short, and /
or use the Joliet file naming to allow longer file paths.

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Part 6

Reference

This part contains additional reference information and contains the following appendices
Working

with Windows Registry Evidence (page 546)

Supported

File Systems and Drive Image Formats (page 555)

Recovering
Managing

Deleted Material (page 558)

Security Devices and Licenses (page 560)

Configuring

a Multi-box Setup (page 579)

AccessData

Distributed Processing (page 583) AccessData Oradjuster (page 579)

Reference

| 528

Chapter 38

Installing the AccessData Elasticsearch
Windows Service

About the Elasticsearch Service
The AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service is used by multiple features in multiple applications, including
the following:
KFF

(Known File Filter) in all applications (versions 5.6 - 6.2)

Visualization

Geolocation in all applications (versions 5.6 - 6.2)

The AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service uses the Elasticsearch open source search engine.

Prerequisites
For

best results with eDiscovery products and AD Lab and Enterprise, you should install the AccessData
Elasticsearch Windows Service on a dedicated computer that is different from the computer running the
application that uses it.
For single-computer installations such as FTK, you can install the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows
Service on the same computer as the application.
A single instance of an AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service is usually sufficient to support
multiple features. However, if your network is extensive, you may want to install the service on multiple
computers on the network. Consult with support for the best configuration for your organization’s
network.

You
16

can install the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service on 32-bit or 64-bit computers.

GB of RAM or higher

Microsoft

.NET Framework 4
To install the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service, Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is required. If
you do not have .NET installed, it will be installed automatically.

If

you install the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service on a system that has not previously had an
AccessData product installed upon it, you must add a registry key to the system in order for the service to
install correctly.

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Installing the Elasticsearch Service
Installing the Service
To install the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service
1.

Click the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service installer.
It is available on the KFF Installation disc by clicking autorun.exe.

On the welcome page, click Next.

Accept the License Agreement and click Next.

If you do not have Java installed, a message is displayed stating that you must install Java and the
installation will end. See Prerequisites on page 529.

If you have upgraded your Java, you will get a Path Mismatch dialog. This asks you if you want to
change the path of the JAVA_HOME variable to you new Java version. Click Yes.

On the Destination Folder dialog, click Next to install to the folder, or click Change to install to a
different folder.
This is where the Elasticsearch folder with the Elasticsearch service is installed.

On the Data Folder dialog, click Next to install to the folder, or click Change to install to a different
folder.
This is where the Elasticsearch data is stored.
Note: This folder may contain up to 10GB of data.

Configure User Credentials.
(For use with KFF) In the User Credentials dialog, you can configure credentials that the Elasticsearch
service uses to access network shares. This is used when either importing KFF Data files, or when
exporting KFF binary files.
You have two options:
Local

System Account - This option uses the Local System account. If you select this account, you
can import files from and export files to a share that is accessible only to this local account. For
example, with this option selected, you could export a binary only to a local share that this account
can access. If you select the Local System Account, do not enter any domain value, such as
localhost. Leave it blank instead.

Specified

User Account - This option lets you specify a specific domain user account. If you select
this account, you can import files from and export files to a network share that is available to the
user. For example, with this option, you could export a binary to a share on a different computer. To
use this option, enter the user name, the domain name, and the password.
After installation, you can view and modify this setting by doing the following:
Open

the Services window. The services window shows you the account that the service is logged in
as. If the window doesn't show the column, you can add the column to the window.

You

can right-click the service and select properties to have the option to change the account that the
service has logged in as. The service has to be stopped first, and the restarted, in order to make a
change.

In the Allow Remote Communication dialog, you can scale Elasticsearch by adding more machines.
(Optional) Select Enable Remote Communication.
Note: If Enable Remote Communication is selected, a firewall rule will be created to allow
communication to the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service service for every IP address

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added to the IP Address field. If no IP addresses are listed, then ANY IP address will be able to
access the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service.
Either leave blank or add machines and click Next.
10. Configure ports for Elasticsearch to use and click Next.
HTTP

Port

Transport

Port
You can use the default ports or specify your own.
Using the defaults, whenever you click Next, the system will determine if the ports are available. If one
is in use, a new value will automatically be entered. Click Next again to verify the ports and continue.

11. The Configuration 1 dialog contains the following fields:
Cluster
Node

name - This field automatically populates with the system’s name.

Note: If installing the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service on more than one system, allow

the first system to install with the system’s name in the cluster and the node fields. In the second and subsequent systems, enter the first system’s name in the cluster field, and in the node
field, enter the name of the system to which you are installing.
Heap

size - This is the memory allocated for the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service.
Normally you can accept the default value. For improved performance of the AccessData
Elasticsearch Windows Service, increase the heap size.

12. The Configuration 2 dialog contains the following options:
Discovery

- Selecting the default of Multicast allows the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service
search to communicate across the network to other Elasticsearch services. If the network does not
give permissions for the service to communicate this way, select Unicast and enter the IP
address(es) of the server(s) that the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service is installed on in
the Unicast host names field. Separate multiple addresses with commas.

Node

- The Master node receives requests, and can pass requests to subsequent data nodes. Select
both Master node and Data node if this is the primary system on which the AccessData
Elasticsearch Windows Service is installed. Select only Data node if this is a secondary system on
which the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service is installed. Click Next.

13. In the next dialog, click Install.
14. If the service installs properly, a command line window appears briefly, stating that the service has

installed properly.
15. At the next dialog, click Finish.

Troubleshooting the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service
Once installed, the AccessData Elasticsearch Windows Service service should run without further assistance. If
there are issues, go to C:\Program Files\Elasticsearch\logs to examine the logs for errors.

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Chapter 39

Installing the Windows Agent

This chapter covers the manual installation of the agent in a Windows environment.
This chapter includes the following topics:
See

Supported Hashing Algorithms on page 532.

See

Manually Installing the Windows Agent on page 532.

See

Using Your Own Certificates on page 538.

Running the AccessData Agent on Windows 8 and 10 is now supported.
Important: The following FTK and Enterprise features are not supported for target computers running Windows
8, 10, Windows Server 2012, or 2016:
Memory
Import

Analysis

Memory Dump

Volatile

Memory

Supported Hashing Algorithms
The certificates used by agent and site server can use either the SHA-1 or SHA-256 hashing algorithm. These
do not require any “Key Usage” or other special fields.

Manually Installing the Windows Agent
Perform the following steps to manually install the Enterprise Agent in Windows:
Specific

Instructions for eDiscovery (page 532)

Specific

Instructions for AD Enterprise (page 533)

Installing

the Agent (page 534)

Configuring

Execname and Servicename Values (page 536)

Specific Instructions for eDiscovery
Follow these instructions if installing the Windows agent for use in eDiscovery.
A certificate (both a public certificate and a private certificate) is required for secure communication with agents.

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Configuring the Work Manager for the private certificate to use with Site Server
1.
2.

Navigate to %\Program Files\AccessData\eDiscovery\Work Manager

In Notepad or some other text editor, open Infrastructure.WorkExecutionServices.Host.exe.config.

Go to the line:

Enter the path of your file.

Go to the line:

Enter the path of your file.

Save the file.

Specific Instructions for AD Enterprise
Follow these instructions if installing the Windows agent for use in AD Enterprise.

Preparing the AD Enterprise Agent Certificate
About Enterprise Security Certificates:
When installing AccessData Enterprise Examiner, you need a security certificate. Enterprise Management
Server creates Enterprise security certificates, the CRT public key and the PEM public and private key pair files.
However, the Enterprise Configuration Management Tool now also accepts PKCS#12 certificates.
If you have a third-party certificate chain in the PKCS#12 format, the Enterprise Configuration Management Tool
reads the PKCS#12 certificate and asks for the user password. The certificate is decrypted only long enough to
gather the information necessary for the Enterprise installation, then re-encrypts the private key. The public key,
regardless of source, must be in standard binary or base-64 encoding.
If the Agent is installed, or pushed, to the workstations using Enterprise, the certificate information will
automatically be read from the Enterprise Configuration Management Tool. If the Agent is pushed out, the
certificate information (paths and filenames) must be re-entered. The public certificate itself must be in an area
of the network where it can be accessed by the Agent machine during installation, but does not need to be
stored on the Agent machine.
In addition, the Agent uses only a public key. As long as that public key is in binary or base-64 format, it will
automatically be read by the Agent. For more information, see Using Your Own Certificates (page 538).

To prepare the certificate
1.

Prepare the Agent Certificate.

Copy the needed certificate from the Management Server to your deployment location.
Management Server creates certificates during the setup in:

[Drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\AccessData Management Server\certificates.
The certificate name is the ManagementServer.crt.

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Copy ManagementServer.crt to a folder of your choice where it can be accessed while installing the
Agent.

Installing the Agent
To install the Agent
1.

Run AccessDataAgent.msi or AccessDataAgent(64bit) using msiexec.
Note: These .msi files are located in the Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\5.1\Bin\Agent\
folder after installation.
There are several command line parameters available to use with this .msi as documented below. Here
is an example command line that will install with the defaults:
If AccessDataAgent.msi resides in the folder C:\enterprise and ManagementServer.crt resides in
[Drive]:\certificates, type the following command line to install the agent with defaults:

msiexec /i [Drive]:\enterprise\AccessDataAgent.msi
CER=[Drive]:\certificates\ManagementServer.crt.
The following table lists the command line options available for use with this AccessDataAgent.msi:

Command Line Options
Option

Action

/i (i or x required)

Specifies install.

/x (i or x required)

Specifies un-install.

/qn (optional)

Allows you to install in quiet mode with no user interaction.

(required)

If running from the folder where the .msi is located you do not have to
include path, only the filename.

CER= (required)

Specifies the certificate the agent uses.

ALLUSERS=

Configures the installer to be available to all users. The default option
varies per operating system.
The options are:

Always include the path, regardless of location.




allusers=1 configures the installer to be available to all users.
allusers=0 configures the installer to be available to only the user

who is installing the agent.
INSTALLDIR= (optional)

Allows you to change the install location from the default folder:
(C:\Program Files\AccessData\Agent).

PORT= (optional)

Allows you to change the port from the default port (3999).

LIFETIME= (optional)

Allows you to configure the life cycle of the agent. The “d” value
equals the Time To Live (TTL) measured in days. Adding a number
preceded by a dash measures the TTL in minutes. For example: <-d >.

CONNECTIONS=

Allows you to configure the number of maximum connections for the
agent.

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Command Line Options (Continued)
Option

Action

STORESIZE=

Allows you to configure the size of the data store.

TRANSIENT=1

Allows you to configure the agent as a Transient Agent. Transient
Agents have no protected storage and remove themselves when the
agent machine is restarted.

FOLDER_STORAGE=1

Allows you to configure the agent as a Persistent Agent. Persistent
Agents use a “local” file system based storage and not protected
storage. Persistent Agents also remain on the agent machine after the
machine is restarted.
This allows for local logical disc space to store the results of Public Site
Server jobs operating while the Agent is not on the WAN or can get to
the Public Site Server.

SERVICELESS=1

Allows you to configure the agent to install with no protected storage
and no installed service. The agent removes itself when the agent
machine restarts or when the lifetime option expires, whichever comes
first.

PCD= (optional)

Enterprise Only: Allows you to configure the Proxy Cycle Delay
(PCD). The PCD is the time interval at which the agent attempts to
connect to proxy to check if any work has been assigned. The PCD “x”
value is measured in seconds. The default is 1200 (20 minutes).

PROXY= (see example below)
(optional)

Enterprise Only: Allows you to configure a proxy-able agent.
PrimaryIP should refer to the IP address to which the agent should try
to communicate. (Usually this will be the internal private network IP of
the proxy server.)

,:~,:

The “SecondaryIP” should refer to the IP address to which the agent
should try to connect when the attempts to connect to the “PrimaryIP”
have failed. (Often this IP will represent the public IP of the proxy
server.)
PrimaryIP2 and SecondaryIP2 should refer to an additional proxy
server address and is delimited by a tilde (~). Additional proxy servers
can be added by following this same pattern.

MAMA=

eDiscovery Only: Allows you to configure the IP Address of the Site
Server to which the agent reports.
For example, 10.32.41.113:54545
This parameter is used so that the Agents know which Site Server to
check into for the first time. Additionally, after that first check-in, the
Agents will learn the Site Servers that has its CIDR and check there
next time. It will update based on movement of the physical IP of the
node.

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Command Line Options (Continued)
Option

Action

PUBSS=

eDiscovery Only: Allows you to configure the agent to connect to a
Public Site Server (PUBSS). See About Site Servers on page 551.
For example, pubss=192.192.192.192:5432
The Agent in Public Site Server (PUBSS) mode will check-in to the
original PUBSS value that was part of the install. After that first checkin, it will receive a list of other Public Site Servers in the DMZ and then
ping around to find the closest/fastest connection.
For example, if the user is in New York and a job starts there, and then
the user goes to Los Angeles, the user will go from the NYC PUBSS to
the LA PUBSS and the collection should resume and support
interruption. This is all completed based on the resolution of the IP
address for the target and assignment in a proper CIDR range on Site
Server config.
See Site Server Configuration on page 554.
This list will also get updated whenever it might change. This list
comes from the Site Server configuration parameters you setup on
your internal servers and not specifically some additional data entry. It
comes from the virtue of having any Public Site Servers deployed.
See MAMA= on page 535.

PUBSS_DELAY=

eDiscovery Only:
This can be used to delay the default check-in interval (30 minutes).
You may want to alter this value if you have a lot of Agents on the
PUBSS system.

Example Command Line Install
msiexec /i "C:\AgentInstall\AccessData Agent (64-bit).msi” cer=”C:\AgentInstall\AccessData E1.crt”
mama=10.10.35.32:54545 TRANSIENT=1 Persistent=1 Serviceless=1 lifetime=1 or lifetime=-5
pubss=192.192.192.192 5432

Configuring Execname and Servicename Values
The Execname and Servicename values change the names of the agent executable and agent service
respectively. These values are added to the MSI using an MSI editor (such as ORCA.exe — a free MSI editor).

Changing the Execname Value
To make changes to the execname value
1.

Run Orca.EXE.

Click File > Open.

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Browse to the folder containing the “AccessData Agent.msi” or “AccessData Agent (64-bit).msi” file
and open the file. The default path is:

[Drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\3.2\Bin\Agent\x32 (or x64)\
4.

In the Tables list, select File...

In the FileName column, double-click “u4jwdc7h.exe|agentcore.exe”.
5a.

Enter the filename to use for the agent core executable.

Note: Replace the entire string with the filename.
6.

Press Enter.

Click File > Save.

Note: Do not close Orca if you are also changing the service name.

Changing the Servicename Value
To make changes to the Servicename value
If you closed Orca, begin with Step 1. Otherwise, skip to Step 4.
1.

Run Orca.EXE.

Click File > Open.

Browse to the folder containing the “AccessData Agent.msi” or “AccessData Agent (64-bit).msi” file
and open the file. The default path is:

[Drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\Forensic Toolkit\3.2\Bin\Agent\x32 (or x64)\
4.

In the Tables list, select “ServiceControl”.

In the Name column, double-click “AgentService”.
5a.

Enter the name to use for the AgentService and press Enter.

Note: Use the same value in steps 5a, 7a and 8a.
6.

In the Tables list, select “ServiceInstall”.

In the Name column, double-click “AgentService”.
7a.

In the DisplayName column, double-click “AgentService”.
8a.

Enter the name to use for the AgentService (use the same value entered in step 5a) and press
Enter.
Enter the name to use for the AgentService (use the same value entered in steps 5a and 7a) and
press Enter.

Click File > Save.

10. Click File > Close.

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Using Your Own Certificates
Use this information if you are using your own of the following certificates:
PKCS#12:

Standard certificate packaging to securely transfer public/private key pairs

PKCS#7:

Standard certificate package to store certificates for S/MIME encryption--used for storing sets
of public key chains.

Important:
A

CER/CRT public certificate must be in Base64 format (not binary DER).

A

P7B public certificate must be in binary DER (not Base64) format.

If

using a P7B, make sure it includes the top-level certificate. (It may be easiest to just make sure it
includes the full certificate path.)

To export the public certificate when using a PFX (PKCS#12) key
1.

Using the PKCS#12 provided by the Certificate Administrator, double-click PKCS#12 to open it.

Install the certificate into a local Microsoft certificate store by following the wizard supplied when you
double-click the certificate file.

View the public certificate of the installed certificate by opening the local machine’s certificate store.
(This can be done with Microsoft Management Console or in Internet Explorer under Tools > Internet
Options > Content > Certificates)

Find the bottom level certificate and double-click the certificate to view it.

Click the Certification Path tab to verify that the certificate has a full verification path, meaning that
nothing is missing from the top of the chain to the bottom.

Click the Details tab and click Copy to File.

Click Next and click Cryptographic Message Syntax Standard - PKCS #7 Certificates.

Select Include all certificates in the certificate path if possible.

Click Next and enter a file export path.

10. Click Next.
11. Click Finish.
12. Double-click the exported PKCS#7 and verify that all of the public certificates in the chain are in the

PKCS#7.
The exported file you created will be used as the certificate for the agent installation.

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Controlling Consumption of the CPU
You can edit a registry key that allows you to control what percentage of the CPU is used for the agent. This
gives you the ability to throttle the CPU and insure that the agent does not consume all of the CPU available.

To add a throttling registry key
1.

In the Registry Editor, expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE hive and locate the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Shared folder.

Add a new DWORD (32-bit) value to the Shared
folder.(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Shared\throttling)

The data value of the DWORD should be the maximum percentage of the CPU allowed to be used by
the module. For example, if you want the maximum percentage of the CPU used to be 25 percent,
modify the DWORD data value and enter 25 in the Edit DWORD dialog. The value should be from 0100. If the data value is left at 0, the CPU will not be throttled when the agent is started.

In the Edit DWORD dialog, select the Decimal radio button and click OK.

After applying the registry key changes, restart the agent service.

For more information on adding and editing registry keys, see Microsoft’s documentation.

Important Information
The following information is important to know about installing and executing an agent:
The

ADMON module does not run on low resource priority. The ADMON module must run on Normal
priority or higher in order to maintain connection to the system drivers.

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Chapter 40

Installing the Unix / Linux Agent

This chapter discusses the Unix Agent Installer. It includes the following topics:
See

Installing The Enterprise Agent on Unix/Linux on page 540.

Installing The Enterprise Agent on Unix/Linux
The AccessData Agent is available for Unix-, Linux-, and Mac-based operating systems as well as for Windows.
This appendix discusses the specific installation files to use for supported Unix and Linux platforms.

Supported Platforms
The Unix Agent Installer supports the following platforms:

Unix Agent Supported Platforms
Installer

OS
Red Hat Linux 6.x and 7.x
The 6.2 Linux Agent requires GLIBC 2.17 or newer. Collection from
a system running an older GLIBC version can be attempted using
the 6.1 version of the Agent, which can be obtained by contacting
AccessData Support. A system's GLIBC version can be determined
by running the following command: ldd -version.

agent-rh5.sh or agent-rh5x64.sh

RedHat 5 (32- & 64-bit)
SLED 11 (Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop) (32- & 64-bit)
CentOS Enterprise 5 (32- & 64-bit)

Ubuntu 9 (and newer) (64-bit)
agent-rh3.sh or agent-rh3x64.sh

RedHat 3 (32- & 64-bit)
Novell Linux Desktop (NLD) 9 (32-bit)
SLED 10 (Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop) (32- & 64-bit)

Be sure to use the correct installer file for your 32- or 64-bit architecture/OS)
To install the Unix Agent

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Execute the following command as root, and provide the appropriate information:

agent-.sh [-installpath| -i ]
where is the operating system agent that is being used, and where is the location of the public
certificate to be used for identification, and where [-i | -installpath] indicates the directory to install the agent in.
This defaults to:

/usr/AccessData/agent
Enterprise Unix/Linux Agent Install Parameters and Options
Option

Result

-installpath, -i

The destination path for installing the agent. Default: /usr/
AccessData/agent/.

-lifetime, -l

The lifetime of the agent. Default: 0.
If ==0, it will never uninstall itself.
If >0 it is days before uninstall.
If <0 it is in minutes before uninstall.

-port, -p

The port the agent listens on. Default: 3999.

-connections, -c

The maximum number of concurrent connections allowed by the
agent. Default is 10.

-size, -s

The protected storage area size. Default is 16777216 (16 MB)

Uninstallation
To uninstall the Unix Agent, execute the following command as root:

# ./agent.sh -rf

Configuration
The configuration file is located in the install path and is named ADAgent.conf. It supports the following
parameters:
Port:

Port on which to listen for activity.

MinThreadCount:
MaxThreadCount:

Minimum number of threads to have ready, waiting for connections.
Maximum number of threads servicing connections.

CertificatePath:

Fully qualified network path or local path to the certificate. The installer, by default, puts
the certificate in the installation path.

Starting the Service
To start the Unix Agent service, execute the following command as root:

/etc/init.d/adagentd start

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Stopping the Service
To stop the Unix Agent service, execute the following command as root:

/etc/init.d/adagentd stop

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Chapter 41

Installing the Mac Agent

This chapter discusses the Agent Installer for Apple Macintosh. It includes the following topics:
See

Configuring the AccessData Agent installer on page 543.

See

Installing the Agent on page 545.

See

Uninstalling the Agent on page 545.

Configuring the AccessData Agent installer
The AccessData Agent requires an X.509 certificate in order to establish a secure network connection to the
server or for AD Enterprise, the computer running Examiner. The package installer has been provided to aid in
the distribution efforts of these certificates by allowing an Administrator to modify the AccessDataAgent package
installer prior to installation of AccessData Agent software for Apple Macintosh. In addition to certificate
distribution, the port used by the Agent can be configured.
The following instructions allow an Administrator to configure the AccessData Agent package installer.

Bundling a Certificate
The AccessData Agent installer requires that a certificate (or certificate tree) is bundled with the installer. The
following is the sequence of steps that must be followed to bundle a certificate file into the installer.
1.

Create a folder named Configure.

Create a single file, named adagent.cert that contains one or more X.509 certificates to be distributed
to each installation of the Agent, and place it in the Configure folder.

Right-click the AccessDataAgent package installer file on the install disc,
([Drive]:\Enterprise\Agents\agent-Mac.dmg).

Select Show Package Contents popup menu item.

Drag the Configure folder from the Package Contents into the folder opened in Step 4 (alongside the
Contents folder).

Configuring the Port
The AccessDataAgent installer allows an Administrator to (optionally) configure the port the Agent will use to
communicate with an Examiner when installed. This is done by adding a file containing the port number to the

AccessDataAgent package installer. The following is a set of instructions an Administrator will use to configure

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the AccessData Agent package installer. To do so, complete Steps 1-5 under Bundling a Certificate, then
continue with Step 1 here. If you do not need to do a custom configuration of the port, skip to Step 6 below.
1.

Create a text file named adagent.port that contains the port number the Agent is to use; this file is to
be distributed to each installation of the Agent.

Place the adagent.port file into the Configure folder (previously created to contain the X.509
certificate).

Right-click the AccessDataAgent package installer file.

Select Show Package Contents popup menu item.

Ensure that the Configure folder is located in the same folder opened in Step 4 (alongside the
Contents folder).

Close the window.
Note: The installer will not run successfully if all of the above steps are not already completed. The
folder and file names must be exactly as documented

Additional Configuration Options
The Mac installer now supports the same settings as the Unix installer. Each setting should be added to the
.mpkg file in a directory called Configure.

Enterprise Mac Agent Configuration Options
Option

Result

- adagent.cert

Specifies the certificate file used for communication

- adagent.port

Specifies the port the agent will listen on. The setting should contain nothing more
than a number. The default port number is 3999

- adagent.lifetime

Specifies the amount of time before the agent dissolves. Again the file should contain
nothing more than a number. Same rules as for the Linux agent about sign and value.
The default is 0.

adagent.connection
s

Sets the maximum number of concurrent connections allowed by the agent. The file
should contain only a number. The default is 10.

- adagent.size

Sets the protected storage area size. The file should contain only the number. The
default is 16777216. (16 MB).

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Installing the Agent
When the certificate is bundled and the port configuration file is complete and saved, distribute the

AccessDataAgent package installer to each target computer and run it locally.

Uninstalling the Agent
The AccessData Agent can be uninstalled by double-clicking the uninstall utility located in /Library/

Application Support/AccessData. You will be required to enter your password; you must have administration
rights for the uninstall to complete correctly.
Note: The account must have a password assigned to it.

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Chapter 42

Working with Windows Registry Evidence

This appendix contains information about the Windows Registry and what information can be gathered from it for
evidence. It includes the following topics:
Understanding
Windows

the Windows Registry (page 546)

XP Registry Quick Find Chart (page 551)

Understanding the Windows Registry
For forensic work, registry files are particularly useful because they can contain important information such as
the following:
Usernames
A

and passwords for programs, email, and Internet sites

history of Internet sites accessed, including dates and times

A

record of Internet queries (i.e., searches performed on Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo,
etc.)

Lists
A

of recently accessed files (e.g., documents, images, etc.)

list of all programs installed on the system

AccessData Registry Viewer allows you to view the contents of Windows operating system registries. Unlike the
standard Windows Registry Editor, which only displays the current system’s registry, Registry Viewer lets you
examine registry files from any Windows system or user. Registry Viewer also provides access to a registry’s
protected storage, which contains passwords, usernames, and other information not accessible from within
Windows Registry Editor.
The files that make up the registry differ depending on the version of Windows. The tables below list the registry
files for each version of Windows, along with their locations and the information they contain.

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Windows 9x Registry Files
The following table describes each item on the Windows 9x registry files.

Windows 9x Registry Files
Filename

Location

system.dat

\Windows

Contents





user.dat

\Windows

If there are multiple user
accounts on the system,
each user has a user.dat file
located in
\Windows\profiles\user
account





Protected storage for all users on the system. Protected Storage is an
access-restricted area of the registry that stores confidential user information including usernames and passwords for Internet web sites, email
Internet passwords for Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, and a
record of queries (i.e., searches performed on Internet search engines
like Google, Yahoo, etc.), including the time and date when they were
performed.
Lists installed programs, their settings, and any usernames and passwords associated with them.
Contains the System settings.

MRU (Most Recently Used) list of files. MRU Lists maintain
a list of files so users can quickly re-access files. Registry
Viewer allows you to examine these lists to see what files
have been recently used and where they are located. Registry Viewer lists each program’s MRU files in order from most
recently accessed to least recently accessed.
User preference settings (desktop configuration, etc.).

Windows NT and Windows 2000 Registry Files
The following table describes each item in the Windows NT and Windows 2000 registry files.

Windows NT and Windows 2000 Registry Files
Filename

Location

NTUSER.DAT

\Documents and
Settings\[user account]

Contents


If there are multiple user
accounts on the system,
each user has an ntuser.dat
file.



default

Protected storage for all users on the system. Protected Storage is an
access-restricted area of the registry that stores confidential user information including usernames and passwords for Internet web sites, email
passwords for Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, and a record of
Internet queries (i.e., searches performed on Internet search engines like
Google, Yahoo, etc.), including the time and date when they were performed.
All installed programs, their settings, and any usernames and passwords
associated with them.
User preference settings (desktop configuration, etc.).

\Winnt\system32\config

System settings.

SAM

\Winnt\system32\config

User account management and security settings.

SECURITY

\Winnt\system32\config

Security settings.

software

\Winnt\system32\config

All installed programs, their settings, and any usernames and
passwords associated with them.

system

\Winnt\system32\config

System settings.

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Windows XP Registry Files
The following table describes each item in the Windows XP registry files.

Windows XP Registry Files
Filename

Location

Contents

NTUSER.DAT

\Documents and
Settings\[user account]



If there are multiple user
accounts on the system,
each user has an ntuser.dat
file.



Protected storage for all users on the system. Protected Storage is an
access-restricted area of the registry that stores confidential user information including usernames and passwords for Internet web sites, email
passwords for Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express, and a record of
Internet queries (i.e., searches performed on Internet search engines like
Google, Yahoo, etc.), including the time and date when they were performed.
All installed programs, their settings, and any usernames and passwords
associated with them.
User preference settings (desktop configuration, etc.)

default

\Winnt\system32\config

System settings.

SAM

\Winnt\system32\config

User account management and security settings.

SECURITY

\Winnt\system32\config

Security settings.

software

\Winnt\system32\config

All installed programs, their settings, and any usernames and
passwords associated with them.

system

\Winnt\system32\config

System settings.

The logical registry is organized into the following tree structure:
The top level of the tree is divided into hives. A hive is a discrete body of keys, subkeys, and values that is rooted
at the top of the registry hierarchy. On Windows XP systems, the registry hives are as follows:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

(HKCR)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

(HKCU)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
HKEY_USERS

(HKLM)

(HKU)

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG
HKEY_DYN_DATA

(HKCC)

(HKDD)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_USERS are the root hives. They contain information that is used to
create the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, HKEY_CURRENT_USER, and HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG hives.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is generated at startup from the system.dat file and contains all the configuration
information for the local machine. For example, it might have one configuration if the computer is docked, and
another if the computer is not docked. Based on the computer state at startup, the information in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE is used to generate HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.
HKEY_USERS is generated at startup from the system User.dat files and contains information for every user on
the system.
Based on who logs in to the system, the information in HKEY_USERS is used to generate

HKEY_CURRENT_USER, HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG, and HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.
Keys and sub-keys are used to divide the registry tree into logical units off the root.

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When you select a key, Registry Editor displays the key’s values; that is, the information associated with that
key. Each value has a name and a data type, followed by a representation of the value’s data. The data type tells
you what kind of data the value contains as well as how it is represented. For example, values of the

REG_BINARY type contain raw binary data and are displayed in hexadecimal format.

Possible Data Types
The following table lists the Registry’s possible data types.

Registry Data Types
Data Type

Name

Description

REG_BINARY

Binary Value

Raw binary data. Most hardware component information is stored as
binary data and is displayed in hexadecimal format.

REG_DWORD

DWORD Value

Data represented by a number that is 4 bytes long (a 32-bit integer).
Many parameters for device drivers and services are this type and are
displayed in binary, hexadecimal, or decimal format. Related values are
REG_DWORD_LITTLE_ENDIAN (least significant byte is at the lowest
address) and REG_DWORD_BIG_ENDIAN (least significant byte is at the
highest address).

REG_EXPAND_SZ

Expandable
String Value

A variable-length data string. This data type includes variables that are
resolved when a program or service uses the data.

REG_MULTI_SZ

Multi-String
Value

A multiple string. Values that contain lists or multiple values in a format
that people can read are usually this type. Entries are separated by
spaces, commas, or other marks.

REG_SZ

String Value

A text string of any length.

REG_RESOURCE_LI Binary Value
ST

A series of nested arrays designed to store a resource list used by a
hardware device driver or one of the physical devices it controls. This
data is detected by the system and is displayed in hexadecimal format
as a Binary Value.

REG_RESOURCE_
Binary Value
REQUIREMENTS_LIS
T

A series of nested arrays designed to store a device driver’s list of
possible hardware resources that it, or one of the physical devices it
controls, can use. This data is detected by the system and is displayed
in hexadecimal format as a Binary Value.

REG_FULL_RESOUR Binary Value
CE_
DESCRIPTOR

A series of nested arrays deigned to store a resource list used by a
physical hardware device. This data is displayed in hexadecimal format
as a Binary Value.

REG_NONE

None

Data with no particular type. This data is written to the registry by the
system or applications and is displayed in hexadecimal format as a
Binary Value.

REG_LINK

Link

A Unicode string naming a symbolic link.

REG_QWORD

QWORD Value

Data represented by a number that is a 64-bit integer.

Additional Considerations
If there are multiple users on a single machine, you must be aware of the following issues when conducting a
forensic investigation:

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there are individual profiles for each user on the system, you need to locate the USER.DAT file for the
suspects.

If

all the users on the system are using the same profile, everyone’s information is stored in the same
USER.DAT file. Therefore, you will have to find other corroborating evidence because you cannot
associate evidence in the USER.DAT file with a specific user profile.
Windows 9x systems, the USER.DAT file for the default user is used to create the USER.DAT files for
new user profiles. Consequently, the USER.DAT files for new profiles can inherit a lot of junk.

On

To access the Windows registry from an image of the suspect’s drive, you can do any of the following:
Load

the suspect’s drive image and export his or her registry files to view them in Registry Editor.

Mount

a restored image as a drive, launch Registry Editor at the command line from your processing
machine, export the registry files from the restored image, then view them in a third-party tool.
Note: The problem with this method is that you can only view the registry as text. Registry Editor

displays everything in ASCII so you can’t see hex or binary values in the registry.
Use

Registry Viewer. Registry Viewer integrates seamlessly with the Examiner to display registry files
within the image and create reports.

Important: Registry Viewer shows everything you normally see in live systems using the Windows Registry
Editor. However, unlike Registry Editor and other tools that use the Windows API, Registry Viewer
decrypts protected storage information so it displays values in the Protected Storage System Provider
key (PSSP). Registry Viewer also shows information that is normally hidden in null-terminated keys.

Seizing Windows Systems
Information stored in the registry— Internet Messenger sessions, Microsoft Office MRU lists, usernames and
passwords for internet Web sites accessed through Internet Explorer, and so forth—are temporarily stored in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER. When the user closes an application or logs out, the hive’s cached information is
pulled out of memory and written to the user’s corresponding USER.DAT.
Note: Passwords and MRU lists are not saved unless these options are enabled.
Important: Because normal seizure procedures require that there be no alteration of the suspect’s computer in
any way, you must be able to articulate why you closed any active applications before pulling the plug
on the suspect’s computer. Sometimes it is better to simply pull the plug on the computer; other times,
it makes more sense to image the computer in place while it is on. It may depend on what is the most
important type of data expected to be found on the computer.
For example, Windows updates some program information in the registry when the changes are
made. Other information is not updated until a program is closed. Also, if the computer’s drive is
encrypted and you cannot decrypt it or don’t have the Key or password, you may have no choice
except to image the live drive.
The Registry Quick Find Chart shown below gives more information.

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Windows XP Registry Quick Find Chart
The following charts describe common locations where you can find data of forensic interest in the Windows
Registry.

System Information
Windows XP Registry System Information
Information

File or Key

Location

Description

Registered Owner

Software

Microsoft\Windows NT\
CurrentVersion

This information is entered during
installation, but can be modified later.

Registered
Organization

Software

Microsoft\Windows NT\
CurrentVersion

This information is entered during
installation, but can be modified later.

Run

Software

Microsoft\Windows\Current
Version\Run

Programs that appear in this key run
automatically when the system boots.

Logon Banner
Message

Software

Microsoft\Windows\Current
Version\Policies\System\Legal
NoticeText

This is a banner that users must click
through to log on to a system.

Mounted Devices

System

MountedDevices

Database of current and prior mounted
devices that received a drive letter.

Current Control Set System

Select

Identifies which control set is current.

Shutdown Time

System

ControlSetXXX\Control\Windows System shutdown time.

Event Logs

System

ControlSetXXX\Services\Eventlo Location of Event logs.
g

Dynamic Disk

System

ControlSetXXX\Services\DMIO\
Boot Info\Primary Disk Group

Identifies the most recent dynamic disk
mounted in the system.

Pagefile

System

ControlSetXXX\Control\
Session Manager\Memory
Management

Location, size, set to wipe, etc.

Last User Logged In Software

Microsoft\Windows NT\
CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Last user logged in - can be a local or
domain account.

Product ID

Software

Microsoft\Windows NT\
CurrentVersion

O\S Version

Software

Microsoft\Windows NT\
CurrentVersion

Logon Banner Title

Software

Microsoft\Windows\Current
Version\Policies\System\Legal
NoticeCaption

User-defined data.

Logon Banner
Message

Software

Microsoft\Windows\Current
Version\Policies\System\Legal
NoticeCaption

User-defined data.

Time Zone

System

ControlSet001(or002)\Control\
TimeZoneInformation\Standard
Name

This information is entered during
installation, but can be modified later.

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Networking
Windows XP Registry Networking Information
Information

File or Key

Location

Description

Map Network Drive
MRU

NTUSER.DA
T

Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Map
Network Drive MRU

Most recently used list of mapped
network drives.

TCP\IP data

System

ControlSetXXX\Services\
TCPIP\Parameters

Domain, hostname data.

TCP\IP Settings of a
Network Adapter

System

ControlSetXXX\Services\
adapter\Parameters\TCPIP

IP address, gateway information.

Default
Printer

NTUSER.DA
T

Software\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Windows

Current default printer.

Default
Printer

NTUSER.DA
T

\printers

Current default printer.

Local Users

SAM

Domains\Account\Users\
Names

Local account security identifiers.

Local Groups

SAM

Domains\Builtin\Aliases\
Names

Local account security identifiers.

Profile list

Software

Microsoft\Windows NT\
CurrentVersion\ProfileList

Contains user security identifiers (only
users with profile on the system).

Network Map

NTUSER.DA
T

Documents and
Settings\username

Browser history and last-viewed lists
attributed to the user.

User Data
Windows XP Registry User Data
Information

File or Key

Location

Description

Run

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Run

Programs that appear in this key run
automatically when the user logs on.

Media Player
Recent List

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\Media
Player\Player\ RecentFileList

This key contains the user's most
recently used list for Windows Media
Player.

O\S Recent
Docs

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\
RecentDocs

MRU list pointing to shortcuts located in
the recent directory.

Run MRU

NTUSER.DAT

\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
MRU list of commands entered in the
CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMR “run” box.
U

Open And Save As NTUSER.DAT
Dialog
Boxes MRU
Current Theme

NTUSER.DAT

\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\
ComDlg32

MRU lists of programs\files opened with
or saved with the “open” or “save as”
dialog boxes.

Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Themes

Desktop theme\wallpaper.

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Windows XP Registry User Data (Continued)
Information

File or Key

Location

Description

Last Theme

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Themes\Last
Theme

Desktop theme\wallpaper.

File Extensions\
Program
Association

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\
FileExts

Identifies associated programs with file
extensions.

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User Application Data
Windows XP Registry User Application Data
Information

File or Key

Location

Description

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\office\
version\Common\UserInfo

This information is entered during
installation, but can be modified later.

Software\Microsoft\office\
version\Common\Data

Microsoft word recent documents.

NTUSER.DAT

Data entered into the URL address bar.

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\
Explorer\TypedURLs

NTUSER.DAT

\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Internet Explorer\IntelliForms

Web page auto complete passwordencrypted values.

NTUSER.DAT

\Software\Microsoft\Protected
Storage System Provider

Lists Web pages where auto complete
was used.

Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer

Default download directory when
utilizing Internet Explorer.

Word User Info
Word Recent Docs
IE Typed URLs
IE Auto- Complete
Passwords
IE Auto-Complete
Web Addresses

IE Default
Download Directory NTUSER.DAT
Outlook Temporary
Attachment
Directory

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\office\
version\Outlook\Security

NTUSER.DAT

Software\America Online\AOL
etc.
Instant Messenger\
CurrentVersion\Users\username

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\office\
version\Common\UserInfo

This information is entered during
installation, but can be modified later.

NTUSER.DAT

\Software\Mirabilis\ICQ\*

IM contacts, file transfer information,
etc.

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Microsoft\MSN
Messenger\ListCache\.NET
MessngerService\*

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Kazaa\*

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Yahoo\Pager\ Profiles\* etc.

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Google\NavClient\
1.1\History

NTUSER.DAT

Software\Adobe\*

AIM

IM contacts, file transfer information,

Word User Info
ICQ
MSN Messenger

Kazaa
Yahoo
Google Client
History
Adobe

Location where attachments are stored
when opened from Outlook.

IM contacts, file transfer information,
etc.
Configuration, search, download, IM
data, etc.
IM contacts, file transfer information,

Working with Windows Registry Evidence

Acrobat, Photo deluxe, etc.

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| 554

Chapter 43

Supported File Systems and Drive Image
Formats

This appendix lists the file systems and image formats that are analyzed. It includes the following topics:
File

Systems (page 555)

Whole
Hard
CD

Disk Encrypted Products (page 556)

Disk Image Formats (page 556)

and DVD Image Formats (page 557)

File Systems
The following table lists AccessData identified and analyzed file systems.

Identified and Analyzed File Systems


FAT 12, FAT 16, FAT 32



NTFS



Ext2FS



HFS, HFS+



Ext3FS



CDFS



Ext4FS



exFAT



ReiserFS 3



Windows 8 and Server 2012 ReFS



VxFS (Veritas File System)



Windows 10

Supported File Systems and Drive Image Formats

File Systems

| 555

Whole Disk Encrypted Products
The following table lists identified and analyzed Whole Disk Encryption (WDE) decryption products (these all
require the investigator to enter the password, AccessData forensic products don’t “crack” these).

Recognized and Analyzed Whole Disk Encryption Formats


AFF (Advanced Forensic Format)



Utimaco Safeguard Easy



PGP®



Utimaco SafeGuard Enterprise



Credant



Guardian Edge



SafeBoot



EFS



JFS



LVM



VMWare



LVM2



UFS1



UFS2



Apple FileVault



Apple FileVault 2

Hard Disk Image Formats
The following table lists identified and analyzed hard disk image formats.

Supported Hard Disk Image Formats


Encase, including ‘incomplete’ Tableaucreated files



SnapBack



Safeback 2.0 and under



Expert Witness



Linux DD



ICS



Ghost (forensic images only)



SMART



AccessData Logical Image (AD1)



MSVHD (MS Virtual Hard Disk)



DMG (Mac)



Lx0, Lx01

Supported File Systems and Drive Image Formats

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| 556

CD and DVD Image Formats
The following table lists identified and analyzed CD and DVD image formats.

Identified and Analyzed CD and DVD File Systems and Formats


Alcohol (*.mds)



IsoBuster CUE



PlexTools (*.pxi)



CloneCD (*.ccd)



Nero (*.nrg)



Roxio (*.cif)



ISO



Pinnacle (*.pdi)



Virtual CD (*.vc4)



CD-RW,



VCD



CD-ROM



DVD+MRW



DVCD



DVD-RW



DVD-VFR



DVD+RW Dual Layer



DVD-VR



BD-R SRM-POW



BD-R



BD-R SRM



BD-R DL



HD DVD-R



HD DVD-RW DL



SVCD



HD DVD



HD DVD-RW



DVD-RAM,



CD-ROM XA



CD-MRW,



DVD+VR



DVD+R



DVD+R Dual Layer



BD-RE



DVD-VRW



BD-ROM



HD DVD-R DL



BD-R RRM



BDAV



Virtual CD (*.vc4)



HD DVD-RAM



DVD+RW



CD-R



VD-R



SACD



DVD-R Dual Layer



DVD-ROM



BD-R SRM+POW



DVD-VM



BD-RE DL



DVD+VRW



Supported File Systems and Drive Image Formats

CD and DVD Image Formats

| 557

Chapter 44

Recovering Deleted Material

You can find deleted files on supported file systems by their file header.
This appendix includes the following topics:
FAT

12, 16, and 32 (page 558)

NTFS

(page 559)

Ext2

(page 559)

Ext3

(page 559)

HFS

(page 559)

FAT 12, 16, and 32
When parsing FAT directories, deleted files are identified by their names. In a deleted file, the first character of
the 8.3 filename is replaced by the hex character 0xE5.
The file’s directory entry provides the file’s starting cluster (C) and size. From the size of the file and the starting
cluster, the total number of clusters (N) occupied by the file are computed.
The File Allocation Table (FAT) is examined and the number of unallocated clusters are counted, starting at C
(U). The recovered file [min (N, U)] clusters starting at C are then assigned.
If the deleted file was fragmented, the recovered file is likely to be incorrect and incomplete because the
information that is needed to find subsequent fragments was wiped from the FAT system when the file was
deleted.
If present, the long filename (LFN) entries are used to recover the first letter of the deleted file’s short filename. If
the LFN entries are incomplete or absent, it uses an exclamation mark (“!”) as the first letter of the filename.
The volume free space for deleted directories that have been orphaned are searched with a meta-carve process.
An orphaned directory is a directory whose parent directory or whose entry in its parent directory has been
overwritten.

Recovering Deleted Material

FAT 12, 16, and 32

| 558

NTFS
The Master File Table (MFT) is examined to find files that are marked deleted because the allocation byte in a
record header indicates a deleted file or folder. It then recovers the file’s data using the MFT record’s data
attribute extent list if the data is non-resident.
If the deleted file’s parent directory exists, the recovered file is shown in the directory where it originally existed.
Deleted files whose parent directories were deleted are shown in their proper place as long as their parent
directory’s MFT entry has not been recycled.

Ext2
Nodes that are marked deleted are searched for. The link count is zero and the deletion timestamp is nonzero.
For each deleted inode, the block pointers are processed and blocks are added to the deleted file. However, if an
indirect block is marked allocated or references an invalid block number, the recovered file is truncated at that
point because the block no longer contains a list of blocks for the file that the application is attempting to recover.
The filenames for files deleted on ext2 systems are not recovered. Instead, deleted files are identified by inode
number because ext2 uses variable-length directory entries organized in a linked list structure. When a file is
deleted, its directory entry is unlinked from the list, and the space it occupied becomes free to be partially or
completely overwritten by new directory entries. There is no reliable way to identify and extract completely
deleted directory entries.

Ext3
Deleted files from ext3 volumes are not recovered because ext3 zeroes out a file’s indirect block pointers when it
is deleted.

HFS
Deleted files from HFS are not recovered.

Recovering Deleted Material

NTFS

| 559

Chapter 45

Managing Security Devices and Licenses

This appendix includes information AccessData product licenses, Virtual CodeMeter activation, and Network
License Server configurations.

Installing and Managing Security Devices
AccessData products require a licensing security device that communicates with the program to verify the
existence of a current license.
You must install the security device software and drivers before you can manage licenses with LicenseManager.
This section explains installing and using the CodeMeter Runtime software and the License Manager.

Installing the Security Device
AccessData products require a licensing security device that communicates with the program to verify the
existence of a current license. The device is a WIBU-SYSTEMS (Wibu) CodeMeter (CmStick). This USB device
requires specific software to be installed prior to connecting the devices and running your AccessData products.
You will need the WIBU-SYSTEMS CodeMeter Runtime software with a WIBU-SYSTEMS CodeMeter
(CmStick), either the physical USB device, or the Virtual device.
Store the CmStick or dongle in a secure location when it is not in use.

Installing the CodeMeter Runtime Software
When you purchase a product, AccessData provides a USB CmStick with the product package. To use the
CmStick, you must first install the CodeMeter Runtime software, either from the shipping disc or from the setup
file downloaded from the AccessData Web site.
Note: The CodeMeter software is automatically installed as part of the FTK suite.

To download the CodeMeter installer from the AccessData web site
1.

Go to the AccessData download page at:
http://www.accessdata.com/product-download.

On the download page, click CodeMeter.

Click Download Page.

Managing Security Devices and Licenses

Installing and Managing Security Devices

| 560

Click Download Now.

Save the installation file to your download directory or other temporary directory on your drive.

To install CodeMeter
1.

Do one of the following:
Launch

the installer from the FTK installer by doing the following:

1a.

Launch the FTK installer Autorun.exe file.

1b.

Click Other Products.

1c.

Click Install License Manager.

Launch

1a.

the installer from the download by doing the following:

Navigate to, and double-click the installation file.

Wait for the Preparing to Install processes to complete.

In the Welcome dialog, click Next.

Read and accept the License Agreement

Enter User Information.

Click Next.

Select the features you want to install.

Click Next.

Click Install.

10. Click Finish.
11. Click OK.

CodeMeter Error
If you are not using NLS for your security device configuration, after clicking No, you will see the following
additional message.
Security Device Not Found
To remedy, click OK, then install the correct CodeMeter Runtime software, and connect the CmStick or run
License Manager to generate your Virtual CmStick. Then, restart FTK.

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Installing LicenseManager
LicenseManager lets you manage product and license subscriptions using a security device or device packet
file.
You can can access the LicenseManager installer from the Web or from the FTK installer.

To download the LicenseManager installer from the AccessData web site
1.

Go to the AccessData download page at:
http://www.accessdata.com/product-download.

On the download page, click LicenseManager.

Click Download Page.

Click Download Now.

Save the installation file to your download directory or other temporary directory on your drive.

To install LicenseManager
1.

Do one of the following:
Launch

the installer from the FTK installer by doing the following:

1a.

Launch the FTK installer Autorun.exe file.

1b.

Click Other Products.

1c.

Click Install License Manager.

Launch

1a.

the installer from the download by doing the following:

Navigate to, and double-click the installation file.

Wait for the Preparing to Install processes to complete.

Click Next on the Welcome screen

Read and accept the License Agreement.

Click Next.

Accept the default destination folder, or select a different one.

Click Next.

In the Ready to Install the Program dialog, click Back to review or change any of the installation
settings. When you are ready to continue, click Install.

Wait while the installation completes.

10. If you want to launch LicenseManager after completing the installation, mark the

Launch AccessData LicenseManager check box.
11. Select the Launch AccessData LicenseManager check box to run the program upon finishing the

setup. The next section describes how to run LicenseManager later.
12. Click Finish to finalize the installation and close the wizard.

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Starting LicenseManager
To launch LicenseManager
1.

Launch LicenseManager by clicking the LicenseManager icon on your desktop.
When starting, LicenseManager reads licensing and subscription information from the installed and
connected WIBU-SYSTEMS CodeMeter Stick, or Keylok dongle.
Note: If using a Keylok dongle, and LicenseManager either does not open or displays the message,
“Device Not Found”

Verify the correct dongle driver is installed on your computer.

With the dongle connected, check in Windows Device Manager to make sure the device is recognized.
If it has an error indicator, right click on the device and choose Uninstall.

Remove the dongle after the device has been uninstalled.

Reboot your computer.

After the reboot is complete, and all startup processes have finished running, connect the dongle.

Wait for Windows to run the Add New Hardware wizard. If you already have the right dongle drivers
installed, do not browse the internet, choose, “No, not this time.”

Click Next to continue.

On the next options screen, choose, “Install the software automatically (Recommended)

10. Click Next to continue.
11. When the installation of the dongle device is complete, click Finish to close the wizard.
12. You still need the CodeMeter software installed, but will not need a CodeMeter Stick to run

LicenseManager.
Note: If using a CodeMeter Stick, and LicenseManager either does not open or displays the message,
“Device Not Found”
13. Make sure the CodeMeter Runtime 4.20b software is installed. It is available at www.accessdata.com/

support. Click Downloads and browse to the product. Click on the download link. You can Run the
product from the Website, or Save the file locally and run it from your PC. Once the CodeMeter Runtime
software is installed and running, you will see a gray icon in your system tray.

14. Make sure the CodeMeter Stick is connected to the USB port.

If the CodeMeter Stick is not connected, LicenseManager still lets you to manage licenses using a security
device packet file if you have exported and saved the file previously.

To open LicenseManager without a CodeMeter Stick installed
1.

Click Tools > LicenseManager.
LicenseManager displays the message, “Device not Found”.

Click OK, then browse for a security device packet file to open.

Note: Although you can run LicenseManager using a packet file, AccessData products will not run with a packet
file alone. You must have the CmStick or dongle connected to the computer to run AccessData products
that require a license.

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Using LicenseManager
LicenseManager provides the tools necessary for managing AccessData product licenses on a WIBUSYSTEMS CodeMeter Stick security device, a Keylok dongle, a Virtual Dongle, or in a security device packet
file.
LicenseManager displays license information, allows you to add licenses to or remove existing licenses from a
dongle or CmStick. LicenseManager, and can also be used to export a security device packet file. Packet files
can be saved and reloaded into LicenseManager, or sent via email to AccessData support.
In addition, you can use LicenseManager to check for product updates and in some cases download the latest
product versions.
LicenseManager displays CodeMeter Stick information (including packet version and serial number) and
licensing information for all AccessData products. The Purchase Licenses button connects directly to the
AccessData website and allows you to browse the site for information about products you may wish to purchase.
Contact AccessData by phone to speak with a Sales Representative for answers to product questions, and to
purchase products and renew licenses and subscriptions.

The LicenseManager Interface
The LicenseManager interface consists of two tabs that organize the options in the LicenseManager window: the
Installed Components tab and the Licenses tab.

The Installed Components Tab
The Installed Components tab lists the AccessData programs installed on the machine. The Installed
Components tab is displayed in the following figure.
The following information is displayed on the Installed Components tab:

LicenseManager Installed Components Tab Features
Item

Description

Program

Lists all AccessData products installed on the host.

Installed Version

Displays the version of each AccessData product installed on the host.

Newest Version

Displays the latest version available of each AccessData product installed on the host.
Click Newest to refresh this list.

Product Notes

Displays notes and information about the product selected in the program list.

AccessData Link

Links to the AccessData product page where you can learn more about AccessData
products.

The following buttons provide additional functionality from the Installed Components tab:

LicenseManager Installed Components Buttons
Button

Function

Help

Opens the LicenseManager Help web page.

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LicenseManager Installed Components Buttons (Continued)
Button

Function

Install Newest

Installs the newest version of the programs checked in the product window, if that
program is available for download. You can also get the latest versions from our website
using your Internet browser.

Newest

Updates the latest version information for your installed products.

About

Displays the About LicenseManager screen. Provides version, copyright, and trademark
information for LicenseManager.

Done

Closes LicenseManager.

Use the Installed Components tab to manage your AccessData products and stay up to date on new releases.

The Licenses Tab
The Licenses tab displays CodeMeter Stick information for the current security device packet file and licensing
information for AccessData products available to the owner of the CodeMeter Stick, as displayed in the following
figure.
The Licenses tab provides the following information:

LicenseManager Licenses Tab Features
Column

Description

Program

Shows the owned licenses for AccessData products.

Expiration Date

Shows the date on which your current license expires.

Status

Shows these status of that product’s license:




None: the product license is not currently owned
Days Left: displays when less than 31 days remain on the license.
Never: the license is permanently owned. This generally applies to Hash Tables and
Portable Office Rainbow Tables.

Name

Shows the name of additional parameters or information a product requires for its license.

Value

Shows the values of additional parameters or information a product contained in or
required for its license.

Show Unlicensed

When checked, the License window displays all products, whether licensed or not.

The following license management actions can be performed using buttons found on the License tab:

License Management Options
Button

Function

Remove License

Removes a selected license from the Licenses window and from the CodeMeter Stick or
dongle. Opens the AccessData License Server web page to confirm success.

Refresh Device

Connects to the AccessData License Server. Downloads and overwrites the info on the
CodeMeter Stick or dongle with the latest information on the server.

Reload from Device Begins or restarts the service to read the licenses stored on the CodeMeter Stick or
dongle.

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License Management Options (Continued)
Button

Function

Release Device

Click to stop the program reading the dongle attached to your machine, much like
Windows’ Safely Remove Hardware feature. Click this button before removing a dongle.
This option is disabled for the CodeMeter Stick.

Open Packet File

Opens Windows Explorer, allowing you to navigate to a .PKT file containing your license
information.

Save to File

Opens Windows Explorer, allowing you to save a .PKT file containing your license
information. The default location is My Documents.

Finalize Removal

Finishes the removal of licenses in the unbound state. Licenses must be unbound from the
CmStick or dongle before this button takes effect.

View Registration
Info

Displays an HTML page with your CodeMeter Stick number and other license information.

Add Existing License Allows you to bind an existing unbound license to your CodeMeter Stick, through an
internet connection to the AccessData License Server.
Purchase License

Brings up the AccessData product page from which you can learn more about AccessData
products.

About

Displays the About LicenseManager screen. Provides version, copyright, and trademark
information for LicenseManager.

Done

Closes LicenseManager.

Opening and Saving Dongle Packet Files
You can open or save dongle packet files using LicenseManager. When started, LicenseManager attempts to
read licensing and subscription information from the dongle. If you do not have a dongle installed,
LicenseManager lets you browse to open a dongle packet file. You must have already created and saved a
dongle packet file to be able to browse to and open it.

To save a security device packet file
1.

Click the Licenses tab, then under License Packets, click Save to File.

Browse to the desired folder and accept the default name of the .PKT file; then click Save.
Note: In general, the best place to save the .PKT files is in the AccessData LicenseManager folder. The
default path is C:\Program Files\AccessData\Common Files\AccessData LicenseManager\.

To open a security device packet file
1.

Select the Licenses tab.

Under License Packets, click Open Packet File.

Browse for a dongle packet file to open. Select the file and click Open.

Adding and Removing Product Licenses
On a computer with an Internet connection, LicenseManager lets you add available product licenses to, or
remove them from, a dongle.

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To move a product license from one dongle to another dongle, first remove the product license from the first
dongle. You must release that dongle, and connect the second dongle before continuing. When the second
dongle is connected and recognized by Windows and LicenseManager, click on the Licenses tab to add the
product license to the second dongle.

Removing a License
To remove (unassociate, or unbind) a product license
1.

From the Licenses tab, mark the program license to remove.
This action activates the Remove License button below the Program list box.

Click Remove License to connect your machine to the AccessData License Server through the
internet.

When you are prompted to confirm the removal of the selected licenses from the device, click Yes to
continue, or No to cancel.

Several screens appear indicating the connection and activity on the License Server, and when the
license removal is complete, the following screen appears.

Click OK to close the message box.
Another internet browser screen appears from LicenseManager with a message that says, “The
removal of your licenses from Security Device was successful!” You may close this box at any time.

Adding a License
To add a new or released license
1.

From the Licenses tab, under Browser Options, click Add Existing License.
The AccessData LicenseManager Web page opens, listing the licenses currently bound to the
connected security device, and below that list, you will see the licenses that currently are not bound to
any security device. Mark the box in the Bind column for the product you wish to add to the connected
device, then click Submit.

An AccessData LicenseManager Web page will open, displaying the following message, “The
AccessData products that you selected has been bound to the record for Security Device nnnnnnn
within the Security Device Database.
“Please run LicenseManager’s “Refresh Device” feature in order to complete the process of binding
these product licenses to this Security Device.” You may close this window at any time.

Click Yes if LicenseManager prompts, “Were you able to associate a new product with this device?”

Click Refresh Device in the Licenses tab of LicenseManager. Click Yes when prompted.

You will see the newly added license in the License Options list.

Adding and Removing Product Licenses Remotely
While LicenseManager requires an Internet connection to use some features, you can add or remove licenses
from a dongle packet file for a dongle that resides on a computer, such as a forensic lab computer, that does not
have an Internet connection.
If you cannot connect to the Internet, the easiest way to move licenses from one dongle to another is to
physically move the dongle to a computer with an Internet connection, add or remove product licenses as
necessary using LicenseManager, and then physically move the dongle back to the original computer. However,

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if you cannot move the dongle—due to organization policies or a need for forensic soundness—then transfer the
packet files and update files remotely.

Adding a License Remotely
To remotely add (associate or bind) a product license
1.

On the computer where the security device resides:
1a.

Run LicenseManager.

1b.

From the Licenses tab, click Reload from Device to read the dongle license information.

1c.

Click Save to File to save the dongle packet file to the local machine.

Copy the dongle packet file to a computer with an Internet connection.

On the computer with an Internet connection:
3a.

Remove any attached security device.

3b.

Launch LicenseManager. You will see a notification, “No security device found”.

3c.

Click OK.

3d.

An “Open” dialog box will display. Highlight the .PKT file, and click Open.

3e.

Click on the Licenses tab.

3f.

Click Add Existing License.

3g.

Complete the process to add a product license on the Website page.

3h.

Click Yes when the LicenseManager prompts, “Were you able to associate a new product with this
dongle?”

3i.

When LicenseManager does not detect a dongle or the serial number of the dongle does not
match the serial number in the dongle packet file, you are prompted to save the update file,

[serial#].wibuCmRaU.
3j.

Save the update file to the local machine.

After the update file is downloaded, copy the update file to the computer where the dongle resides:

On the computer where the dongle resides:
5a.

Run the update file by double-clicking it. ([serial#].wibuCmRaU is an executable file.)

5b.

After an update file downloads and installs, click OK.

5c.

Run LicenseManager.

5d.

From the Licenses tab, click Reload from Device to verify the product license has been added to
the dongle.

Removing a License Remotely
To remotely remove (unassociate, or unbind) a product license
1.

On the computer where the dongle resides:
1a.

Run LicenseManager.

1b.

From the Licenses tab, click Reload from Device to read the dongle license information.

1c.

Click Save to File to save the dongle packet file to the local machine.

Copy the file to a computer with an Internet connection.

On the computer with an Internet connection:
3a.

Launch LicenseManager. You will see a notification, “No security device found”.

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3b.

Click OK.

3c.

An “Open” dialog box will display. Highlight the .PKT file, and click Open.

3d.

Click on the Licenses tab.

3e.

Mark the box for the product license you want to unassociate; then click Remove License.

3f.

When prompted to confirm the removal of the selected license from the dongle, click Yes.

3g.

When LicenseManager does not detect a dongle or the serial number of the dongle does not
match the serial number in the dongle packet file, you are prompted save the update file.

3h.

Click Yes to save the update file to the local computer.

3i.

The Step 1 of 2 dialog details how to use the dongle packet file to remove the license from a
dongle on another computer.

3j.

Save the update file to the local machine.

After the update file is downloaded, copy the update file to the computer where the dongle resides.

On the computer where the dongle resides:

5a.

Run the update file by double-clicking it. This runs the executable update file and copies the new
information to the security device.

5b.

Run LicenseManager

5c.

On the Licenses tab, click Reload from Device in LicenseManager to read the security device and
allow you to verify the product license is removed from the dongle.

5d.

Click Save to File to save the updated dongle packet file to the local machine.

Copy the file to a computer with an Internet connection.

Updating Products
You can use LicenseManager to check for product updates and download the latest product versions.

Checking for Product Updates
To check for product updates, on the Installed Components tab, click Newest. This refreshes the list to display
what version you have installed, and the newest version available.

Downloading Product Updates
To install the newest version, mark the box next to the product to install, then click Install Newest.
Note: Some products are too large to download, and are not available. A notification displays if this is the case.

To download a product update
1.

Ensure that LicenseManager displays the latest product information by clicking the Installed
Components tab. Click Newest to refresh the list showing the latest releases, then compare your
installed version to the latest release.
If the latest release is newer than your installed version, you may be able to install the latest release
from our Website.

Ensure that the program you want to install is not running.

Mark the box next to the program you want to download; then click Install Newest.

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When prompted, click Yes to download the latest install version of the product.
4a.

If installing the update on a remote computer, copy the product update file to another computer.

Install the product update. You may need to restart your computer after the update is installed.

Purchasing Product Licenses
Use LicenseManager to link to the AccessData Web site to find information about all our products.
Purchase product licenses through your AccessData Sales Representative. Call 801-377-5410 and follow the
prompt for Sales, or send an email to sales@accessdata.com.
Note: Once a product has been purchased and appears in the AccessData License Server, add the product
license to a CodeMeter Stick, dongle, or security device packet file by clicking Refresh Device.

Sending a Dongle Packet File to Support
Send a security device packet file only when specifically directed to do so by AccessData support.

To create a dongle packet file
1.

Run LicenseManager

Click on the Licenses tab.

Click Load from Device.

Click Refresh Device if you need to get the latest info from AD’s license server.

Click Save to File, and note or specify the location for the saved file.

Attach the dongle packet file to an e-mail and send it to:

support@accessdata.com.

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Virtual CodeMeter Activation Guide
Introduction
A Virtual CodeMeter (VCM) allows the user to run licensed AccessData products without a physical CodeMeter
device. A VCM can be created using AccessData License Manager, but requires the user to enter a
Confirmation Code during the creation process.
The latest revision of this guide can be found at:
http://accessdata.com/downloads/media/VCM_Activation_Guide.pdf

Preparation
Contact

your AccessData sales rep to order a VCM confirmation code.

Install

CodeMeter Runtime 4.10b or newer (available on the AccessData download page).

Install

the latest release of License Manager (available on the AccessData download page).

The

following steps are to be run on the system where you want to permanently attach the VCM.

Note: Once created, the VCM cannot be moved to any other system.
AD

Lab WebUI and eDiscovery administrators, please also follow steps outlined under in Additional
Instructions for AD Lab WebUI and eDiscovery (page 573) in order to enable VCM licensing on the
AccessData License Service.

Setup for Online Systems
To setup a Virtual CodeMeter
1.

Unplug any AccessData dongles you currently have connected.

Launch License Manager.
Note: When creating a VCM on Windows Server 2003 or 2008, please refer to the special set of steps
written for those platforms. See Creating a Virtual CM-Stick with Server 2003/2008 Enterprise
Editions (page 572).

Select Create A Local Virtual CMStick

Click OK.
The Confirmation Code Required dialog appears.

Enter your confirmation code.

Click OK, AccessData License Manager will automatically synchronize with the License Server over the
Internet.

Click OK when the update completes. License Manager will then create the VCM on your system.

At this point, AccessData License Manager now displays a serial number for the VCM on the Licenses
tab and the VCM can now operate in a similar way to a hardware CodeMeter device.

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Setting up VCM for Offline Systems
You can setup a Virtual CodeMeter on a system that is not connected to the internet (offline). You must also have
one machine that connects to the internet to perform certain steps. This section details what to do on which
machine.

Perform these steps on the Online system
1.

Unplug any AccessData dongles you currently have connected.

Launch License Manager.
Note: When creating a VCM on Windows Server 2003 or 2008 Enterprise Edition, please refer to the
special set of steps written for those platforms. See Creating a Virtual CM-Stick with Server 2003/
2008 Enterprise Editions (page 572).

Select Create Empty Virtual CMStick (offline).

Click OK.

The resulting dialog prompts you to save the *.wibucmrau file. Enter a name and path for the file, then
click Save.

Transfer the *.wibucmrau to the Online system.

Perform these steps on the Online system
7.

Unplug any AccessData dongles you currently have connected.

Launch License Manager.

Select Create Activation File (online).

10. Click OK.
11. In the Confirmation Code Required dialog, enter your confirmation code and click OK.
12. AccessData License Manager will automatically synchronize with the License Server over the internet.

Data synchronized from the server will be written to the *.wibucmrau file. Click OK when the update
completes.

13. Transfer *.wibucmrau back to the offline system.

Perform these steps on the Offline system
14. Unplug any AccessData dongles you currently have connected.
15. Launch License Manager.
16. Select Create Activate Virtual CMStick (offline).
17. Click OK.
18. The resulting dialog prompts you to browse to the location of the newly updated *.wibucmrau file.

Locate the file, then click Open. License Manager creates the VCM on your system.
19. 19.At this point, AccessData License Manager should now display a serial number for the VCM on the

“Licenses” tab and the VCM can now operate in a similar way to a hardware CodeMeter device.

Creating a Virtual CM-Stick with Server 2003/2008 Enterprise Editions
This section contains special instructions for using a VCM with Windows Server 2003 or 2008 Enterprise
Editions. Complete each section in order.

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To Create an Empty CodeMeter License Container
1.

On the Server 2003/2008 machine, unplug any CodeMeter devices.

Open the CodeMeter Control Center. Make sure the window on the License tab is, empty indicating that
no licenses are currently loaded.

Select File > Import License.

Browse to the License Manager program files directory.
32

bit systems: C:\Program Files\AccessData\LicenseManager\

64

bit systems: C:\Program Files (x86)\ AccessData\LicenseManager\

Highlight the TemplateDisc5010.wbb file, then click Import.

Click the Activate License button.

When the CmFAS Assistant opens, click Next.

Select Create license request, and click Next.

Confirm the desired directory and filename to save .WibuCmRaC. (Example: Test1.WibuCmRaC)

10. Click Commit.
11. Click Finish.

To Copy to another machine
1.

Copy the new .WibuCmRaC to another machine that is not running Windows Server 2003/2008
Enterprise.
Note: The destination system must have an active internet connection.

Unplug any AccessData dongles you currently have connected.

Launch License Manager.

Select Create Activation File (online).

Click OK.

In the Confirmation Code Required dialog enter your confirmation code and click OK.

AccessData License Manager will automatically synchronize with the License Server over the internet.
Data synchronized from the server will be written to the *.wibucmrau file. Click OK when the update
completes.

To Finish the activation on the Windows Server 2003/2008 Enterprise system
1.

Copy the activated .WibuCmRaC file to the Server 2003/2008 machine.

On the Server 2003/2008 machine, unplug any CodeMeter devices.

Open the CodeMeter Control Center. Make sure the window on the License tab empty indicating that no
licenses are currently loaded.

Select File > Import License.

Browse to the location where the activated .WibuCmRaC is stored. Click Import.

AccessData License Manager now displays a serial number for the VCM on the Licenses tab and the
VCM can now operate in a similar way to a hardware CodeMeter device.

Additional Instructions for AD Lab WebUI and eDiscovery
This section provides additional information for enabling the Web User Interface to recognize a VCM.

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To enable AD Lab WebUI and eDiscovery to use VCM
1.

Open Registry Editor.

Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Products
Add the following DWORD registry string to the key and set the value to 1:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Products | EnableACTTest
The AccessData License Service will know to expect a VCM when EnableACTTest is set to “1.”

Virtual CodeMeter FAQs
Q: How do I get a Virtual CodeMeter (VCM)?
A: Contact your AccessData product sales representative. They will provide you with a VCM confirmation code.

Q: How do VCMs work?
A: A VCM operates in almost exactly the same way as a hardware CodeMeter device, except that they exist as
a file stored on the hard disk. During activation, the VCM file (named with a WBB extension) is tied to the
hardware of the system using unique hardware identifiers. Those unique identifiers make VCMs non-portable.
When AccessData License Manager is launched, it will automatically load the VCM and display its license
information. From there, you can refresh, remove, add existing licenses, etc just the same you would with a
hardware security device.

Q: Are VCMs supported on virtual machines (VM)?
A: No. Due to the fact that virtual machines are portable and VCMs are not, VCMs are not supported on virtual
machines. Currently it is recommended to use AccessData Network License Service (NLS) to license systems
running as virtual machines. CLICK HERE for more information.

Q: Does the AccessData Network License Service (NLS) support VCMs?
A: The current release of NLS does not support using VCM as a network dongle. AccessData is considering this
support for a future release.

Q: How can I “unplug” a VCM?
A: If you want to prevent License Manager from automatically loading the VCM you can "unplug" it by stopping
the CodeMeter Runtime Service server and then moving (cut and paste) the WBB file to a new location
(renaming the file does not suffice). By default the WBB file is located at:
32 bit systems:

C:\Program Files\CodeMeter\CmAct\
64 bit systems:

C:\Program Files (x86)\CodeMeter\CmAct\
Q: I have activated a VCM on my system, but now I need to activate it on a different system. What should I do?

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A: Since a VCM is uniquely tied to the system on which it is activated, it cannot be moved to any other system. If
you need to activate a VCM on a different system, you need to contact your AccessData Sales Representative.

Q: What if I need to reinstall Windows, format my drive, change my system's hardware, or back up my VCM in
case of a disaster? Will the VCM still work?
A: The VCM can be backed up by simply copying the WBB file to a safe location. It can be restored by copying
the WBB file to the CmAct folder. The VCM cannot be restored without a WBB file. If you do not have a backup
of your WBB file, you will need to get a new confirmation code from your AccessData Sales Representative.

Q: My AccessData product does not seem to recognize the license stored on a VCM. What am I doing wrong?
A: VCMs are supported by the following versions of AccessData products:
FTK

1.81.6 and newer

FTK

3.1.0 and newer

PRTK
DNA
RV

6.5.0 and newer

3.5.0 and newer

1.6.0 and newer

eDiscovery

3.1.2 and newer

AD

Lab 3.1.2 and newer

AD

Enterprise 3.1.0 and newer

MPE+

4.0.0.1 and newer

Ensure that the version of the product you are running support VCMs. If the version you are running is listed as
supported, verify that according to License Manager, the release date of the version you are running falls before
the expiration date of the license.

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Network License Server (NLS) Setup Guide
Introduction
This section discusses the installation steps and configuration notes needed to successfully setup an
AccessData Network License Server (NLS).
Note: Click on this link to access the latest version of this guide:
Network License Server (NLS) Setup Guide.

Preparation Notes
CodeMeter

Runtime 3.30a or newer must be installed on all Client and Server systems

AccessData

License Manager must be used to prepare the network dongle. The system running License
Manager must have internet access and have CodeMeter Runtime installed.

The

current release of NLS supports the following versions of Windows:

Windows

XP 32/64 bit

Windows

Server 2003 32/64 bit

Windows

Vista 32/64 bit

Windows

Server 2008 R1 32/64 bit

Windows

7 32/64 bit

Windows

Server 2008 R2 64 bit

Setup Overview
To setup NLS
1.

Download the latest release of NLS located in the utilities section of the AccessData download page.

Extract contents of ZIP to a folder of your choice.

On the NLS server system, run through the NLS Installation MSI and accept all defaults.

Prepare network dongle:
4a.

Provide the serial number to AD Support and request to have the “Network Dongle Flag” applied.

4b.

Migrate any additional licenses to the network dongle

4c.

Refresh the network dongle device using AccessData License Manager.

Launch the AccessData product on the NLS client system.

Enter the NLS server configuration information:


IP address or hostname of NLS server system

Port

6921

Click, OK.

If you encounter any problems, please read the notes below for troubleshooting information.

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Network Dongle Notes
AccessData

License Manager 2.2.6 or newer should be installed in order to manage licenses on the
network dongle.

Network

dongles can hold up to 120 physical licenses. Each License has a capacity to hold thousands of
sub licenses (i.e. Client count or worker count).

Contact

AccessData Technical Support to have your CodeMeter device flagged as a Network Dongle
(required for NLS).

NLS Server System Notes
Make

sure the CodeMeter device is flagged as Network Dongle (i.e. License Manager will show the serial
as “1181234N”. To have this flag set on your CodeMeter device, please contact AccessData Technical
Support).

Server

system must be configured to allow incoming and outgoing traffic on TCP port 6921.

A

web interface to view and revoke licenses all licenses is accessible at
http://localhost:5555
This page can be reached only from a web browser running locally on the NLS server system.

A

Network Dongle cannot be used to run AccessData products locally unless the NLS server is running
locally.

Some

versions of Windows may not find a local NLS server when the DNS hostname of the server is
provided. In those cases, it is recommended to use a static IP address.

When

using the NLS across domains, users must have permissions to access resources on both
domains (either by dual-domain membership or cross-domain trust).

When

running NLS on Windows Server 2008, Terminal Services must be installed and accepting
connections. If Terminal Services is not configured it will not open the port and share out the licenses
correctly.

The

name of the service according to Windows is “AccessData Network License Service.”

NLS Client System Notes
When

launched, any NLS client application that needs to lease a license from the NLS server will
automatically check for the following values within the Windows Registry.
NetDonglePath:

The IP address or DNS hostname of the system hosting the Network License Server
service which is found in the following registry key on the client system:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Products\Common
The TCP port number through which the client and server systems have been
configured to use. This value is located in the same key as NetDonglePath.

NetDonglePort:

uniqueId:

In order to lease a license from the server, the client system must first posses a unique
identification value. This value is automatically generated by applications such as FTK, PRTK, or
DNA. (Registry Viewer and FTK 1.x cannot be used setup initial client NLS configuration at this time.)
You can find the each client system’s uniqueId by inspecting the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Shared
The Client system must be configured to allow all incoming and outgoing traffic on TCP port 6921.
The

following products support the ability to lease a license from a NLS server:

FTK

2.2.1 and newer

FTK

1.81.2 and newer

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FTK

Pro 3.2 and newer

PRTK
DNA

6.4.2 and newer

3.4.2 and newer

Registry

Viewer 1.5.4 and newer

AD

Enterprise 3.0.3 and newer

AD

Lab 3.0.4 and newer

AD

Lab Lite 3.1.2 and previous

Mobile

Phone Examiner 3.0 and newer

Explicit

Image Detection (EID) Add-on

Glyph

Add-on

Use

AccessData License Manager (ver. 2.2.4 or newer) to migrate licenses off other devices and onto a
network device.

When

running AccessData products on Windows Vista, 7, or Server 2008 you must choose Run as
administrator at least once in order to lease a license from a NLS server.

If

the NLS client application is having trouble leasing a license either from the NLS server, AccessData
recommends that you reset the licensing configuration to default.

To

reset the licensing configuration, delete and recreate the NLS registry key located at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AccessData\Products\Common

Managing Security Devices and Licenses

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Chapter 46

Configuring a Multi-box Setup

Configuration for a Multi-box Setup
A multi-box setup is a configuration where all components are not installed or contained on the same computer.
For example, you may have the database installed on a separate computer from the application, or the
application and the database are installed on one computer and the case files are stored on a different computer.
By default, a multi-box installation is not configured to allow the user to back up and restore case information.
Some configuration changes must be performed manually by the system administrator to properly configure a
multi-box installation. Please note that the steps required to complete this configuration differ slightly for domain
systems than for workgroup systems.

Configuration Overview
The following steps are required before you can perform multi-box case back ups and restoration.
Create
Share

a service account common to all systems involved. See Create a Service Account on page 579.

the case folder and assign appropriate permissions. See Share the Case Folder on page 580.

Configure

the database services to run under service account. See Configure Database Services on

page 581.
Share

back up destination folder with appropriate permissions. See Share the Backup Destination Folder
on page 581.

Note: When prompted to select the backup destination folder, always use the UNC path of that shared folder,
even when the backup destination folder is local.
Each of these items is explained in detail later in this chapter.

Create a Service Account
To function in a distributed configuration, all reading and writing of case data should be performed under the
authority of a single Windows user account. Throughout the rest of this document, this account is referred to as
the “service account.” If all the systems involved are members of the same domain, choosing a domain user
account is the recommended choice. If not all of the systems are members of the same domain, then you can
configure “Mirrored Local Accounts” as detailed in the following steps:

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To set up Mirrored Local Accounts
1.

On the Examiner host system, create (or identify) a local user account.

Ensure that the chosen account is a member of the Local Administrators group.

On the database host system, create a user that has the exact same username and password as that
on the Examiner host system.

Ensure that this account is also a member of the Local Administrators group on the database host
system.

Instructions for Domain User Accounts
Choose (or create) a domain user account that will function as the service account. Verify that the chosen
domain user has local administrator privilege on both the Examiner host system and the database host system.

To verify the domain user account privileges
1.

Open the “Local Users and Groups” snap-in.

View the members of the Administrators group.

Ensure that the account selected earlier is a member of this group (either explicitly or by effective
permissions).

Perform this verification for both the examination and the database host systems.

Share the Case Folder
On the system hosting the Examiner, create a network share to make the main case folder available to other
users on the network. The case folder is no longer assigned by default. The user creating the case creates the
case folder. It is that folder that needs to be shared.
For this example, it is located at the root of the Windows system volume, and the pathname is:

C:\FTK-Cases.
To share the case folder
1.

Before you can effectively share a folder in Windows you must make sure that network file sharing is
enabled. Windows XP users should disable Simple File Sharing before proceeding. Windows Vista/7
users will find the option in the Sharing and Discovery section of the Network and Sharing Center. If you
encounter any issues while enabling file sharing, please contact your IT administrator.

Open the Properties dialog for the case folder.

Click the Sharing tab to share the folder.

Edit the permissions on both the Sharing and Security tabs to allow the one authoritative user Full
Control permissions.

Test connectivity to this share from the database system:
5a.

Open a Windows Explorer window on the system hosting the database.

5b.

Type \\servername\sharename in the address bar, where “servername” = the hostname of the
Examiner host system, and “sharename” = the name of the share assigned in Step 1.
For example: If the name of the system hosting the Examiner is ForensicTower1 and you named
the share “FTK-Cases” in Step #1 above, the UNC path would be \\forensictower1\FTK-Cases.

5c.

Click OK. Check to see if the contents of the share can be viewed, and test the ability to create
files and folders there as well.

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| 580

Configure Database Services
To ensure access to all the necessary resources, the services upon which the database relies must be
configured to log on as a user with sufficient permissions to access those resources.

To configure the database service(s) to Run As [ service account ]
1.

On the database server system, open the Windows Services Management console:
1a.

Click Start > Run.

1b.

Type services.msc.

1c.

Press Enter.

Locate the following services:
Oracle
TNS Listener service listed as OracleFTK2TNSListener or
OracleAccessDataDBTNSListener (Found on Oracle System)

Oracle

OracleServiceFTK2

(Found on Oracle System)

PostgreSQL
postgresql-x64-9.0

or
postgresql-x86-9.0

Open the properties of the service and click the Log On tab.

Choose This account.

Click Browse to locate the service account username on the local system or domain. Ensure that “From
this location” displays the appropriate setting for the user to be selected. Note that “Entire Directory” is
used to search for a domain user account, while the name of your system will be listed for a workgroup
system user.

In the object name box, type in the first few letters of the username and click Check Names. Highlight
the desired username. Click OK when finished.

Enter the current password for this account and then enter it again in the Confirm Password box. Click
Apply and then OK.

Repeat Steps #3-8 for each database service.

Restart database service(s) when finished.

Share the Backup Destination Folder
Using the same steps as when sharing the main case folder, share the backup destination folder. Use the UNC
path to this share when performing backups. For a two-box backup to work correctly, you must use a single UNC
path that both the examiner, and the database application have read/write access to.

Test the New Configuration
To test the new configuration
1.

Launch the Case Manager and log in normally.

Select (highlight) the name of the case you want to backup.
2a.

Click Case > Back up.

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Configuration for a Multi-box Setup

| 581

2b.

Select a back up destination folder.

Note: The path to the backup location must be formatted as a UNC path.
The Data Processing window opens, and when the progress bar turns green, the backup is complete. If the Data
Processing window results in a red progress bar (sometimes accompanied by “Error 120”), the most likely cause
is that the database service does not have permission to write to the backup location. Please double check all
the steps listed in this document.

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Configuration for a Multi-box Setup

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Chapter 47

AccessData Distributed Processing

Distributed Processing allows the installation of the Distributed Processing Engine (DPE) on additional
computers in your network, allowing you to apply additional resources of up to three additional computers at a
time to the processing of your cases.
Distributed Processing may not help reduce processing times unless the number of objects to be processed
exceeds 1,000 times the number of cores. For example, on a system with eight cores, the additional distributed
processing engine machines may not assist in the processing unless the evidence contains greater than 8,000
items.
This appendix includes the following topics
See

Distributed Processing Prerequisites on page 583.

See

Installing Distributed Processing on page 585.

See

Configuring Distributed Processing on page 587.

See

Using Distributed Processing on page 589.

Distributed Processing Prerequisites
Before installing the AccessData (AD) Distributed Processing Engine, the following prerequisites must be met (if
you are not familiar with any one of these tasks, contact your IT administrator):
The

following software must be installed:

Evidence

Processing Engine installed on the local examination machine.

CodeMeter

Runtime software and either a USB or a Virtual CmStick.
(For more information regarding the CmStick, see (page 560).)

Database
KFF

either on the same computer, or on a second computer.

Library.

McAfee

Virus Scan must have an exception added for processes added to and run from the Temp
Directory.

The

Windows Temp directory must be set as default.

A

New user account that is a member of the Administrators group on the examiner machine. If you are
installing on a Microsoft network with a Domain Controller, this is easily accomplished. If you are on a
non-domain network or workgroup, create this same user account and password on each DPE machine,
as well as on the machine holding the Case Folder and the machine holding the Evidence Folder.
Make

a note of the user account, domain or workgroup, and the IP address of each machine.

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Distributed Processing Prerequisites

| 583

A

familiarity with UNC paths. UNC paths are required whenever a path statement is needed during
installation and configuration of the DPE, and when the path to the Case Folder, or the path to the
Evidence Folder is required.
The

UNC format is \\[machine name or IP address]\[pathname]\[casefolder].

Computers

that are all on the same network, and in the same domain or workgroup.

familiarity with the Windows Services.msc to ensure appropriate Login rights for the DPE, and for
restarting the service, if necessary.

A

familiarity with IP addresses and how to find them on a computer.

A

knowledge of the case folder path. The case folder must be shared for DPE to access it and write to it
as it processes case data.

Using PostgreSQL with Distributed Processing
When

using PostgreSQL, please note the following:

If

the computer has fewer than 16 cores ( < 16), then in the PostgreSQL configuration file, set the
max_connections to 60 per computer.
For example, if there are 4 computers in the Distributed Processing Model in which every computer
has fewer than 16 cores, then set max_connections to 240 (60*4).

If

the computer has 16 or more cores ( >= 16), then in the PostgreSQL configuration file, set the
max_connections to 125 per computer. For example, if there are 4 computers in the Distributed
Processing Model in which 3 computers are 8 core (<16) and 1 computer is 16 core (>=16), then set
max_connections to 245 (60*3 + 125*1).

If

there is just one computer in the Distributed Processing Model, the max_connections should be no
less than 100.

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Installing Distributed Processing
Important: Do not install the Distributed Processing Engine on the examiner machine. The install required the
installation of the local Evidence Processing Engine on that machine.
Installing the Distributed Processing Engine on the examination machine disables both processing
engines.
Remedy: If you have already installed both the Evidence Processing Engine and the Distributed
Processing Engine on a single machine, you must:
a) stop the processes
b) uninstall from both the examination machine and the Evidence Processing Engine machines
c) restart your machine
d) install on the examination machine.
e) start the Evidence Processing Engine again

To install AccessData Distributed Processing
1.

Install the Distributed Processing Engine (AccessData Distributed Processing Engine.EXE) on the
computers that are to participate in case processing, (record the IP address of each one for use when
configuring the DPE on the examination machine).
The DPE install file can be found on the installation disc in the following path:

[Drive]:\FTK\AccessData Distributed Processing Engine.EXE
If you do not know the IP address of the machine you are installing on, do the following:
1a.

Click Start on the Windows Startbar.

1b.

Click Run.

1c.

Enter cmd.EXE in the Run text box.

1d.

If the prompt is not c:\>, type c: and press Enter.
At the new prompt, type cd\ and press Enter.
The resulting prompt should be c:\>.

1e.

At the c:\> prompt, type ipconfig /all.

1f.

From the resulting information, locate the Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection, and find the
associated IP address. That is what you will need when you configure the Distributed Processing
Engine.

Note: AccessData recommends that you write down the IP addresses for all machines on which the
DPE will be installed.
1g.

At the prompt, type exit and press Enter to close the cmd.EXE box.

Note: The domain listed here is not necessarily the correct one to use in installation. To find the correct
domain or workgroup name, right-click My Computer (On Vista or Server 2008, click Computer),
click Properties > Computer Name. The Domain or Workgroup name is listed midway down the
page. Please make a note of it for future use.
2.

If a Security Warning appears, click Run to continue.

If you want to stop the install, click Cancel on the Preparing to Install screen.

Click Next on the Welcome screen to continue the install.

Read and accept the License Agreement.

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| 585

Click Next to continue.

Accept the default destination folder (recommended), or click Change to specify a different destination
folder.

Click Next to continue.

Enter the credentials to be used for running the service.
User

name: This user account must be a member of the Administrators group on the DPE machine,
and must also have access to both the case folder, and the evidence folder. If this user account is not
a member of the Administrators group, or if you are not sure, check with your IT services
department.

While

it is not generally necessary on a domain, it is recommended that whether you are on a domain
network, a non-domain network, or a workgroup network, you create this same user account with the
same password as a member of the Administrators group on all machines involved. This acts as a
fail-safe in case the domain server goes down.

Domain:

The name of the domain all related computers are on. If a non-domain or workgroup
network is in place, use the local DPE’s machine name or IP address in place of the domain name
for this step in the installation.

Password:

This user account’s password for authenticating to the domain, or to the machine on the
non-domain network or workgroup. The password must be the same for this user account on each
machine.
The figure below illustrates the user name and password setup.
The components on the top row of the figure can be all on one machine, all on separate machines, or on
any combination of machines. The key is that the administrator account and password (or user account
in the Administrators group—it can be any name as long as the correct permissions are assigned, and
the same name/password combination is used on each machine) must exist on all the machines related
to the DPE installation, including the examination and database machines, and on both the Case Folder
machine and on the Evidence Folder machine. This means physically going to those machines and
adding the correct user accounts manually.
10. When you have finished adding the User Credentials, click Next to continue.
11. Click Install when the Ready to Install the Program screen appears.
12. Wait while the AccessData Distributed Processing Engine files are copied into the selected path on the

local machine.
13. The default path is:

[Drive]:\Program Files\AccessData\Distributed Processing Engine\.
14. Click Finish to complete the install and close the wizard.

If the service fails to start
1.

Leave the Retry/Quit dialog open and launch the Services (services.msc) dialog from the run
command.

Open the Properties dialog for the AccessData Processing Engine Service.

Click the Log On tab.

Verify that the logon credentials used have full Administrative rights.

Save the settings and exit the Properties dialog.

Stop and start the service manually.

Click Retry on the installer screen.

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| 586

Configuring Distributed Processing
Once the AccessData Distributed Processing Engine is installed on the non-examination machines, configure
Distributed Processing to work with the local Processing Engine.

To configure Distributed Processing to work with the local Lab Processing Engine
1.

In Case Manager, click Tools > Processing Engine Config.

Enter the appropriate information in each field, according to the following guidelines:
Computer

Name/IP: Enter the IP address of the computers where the Distributed Processing Engine
is installed. The computer name can also be used if the name can be resolved.

Port:

The default port is 34097. This is the port the processing host will use to communicate with the
remote processing engines.

Add:

Adds the computer and port to the list. You can add up to three remote processing engines (for
a total of 4 engines). When the maximum number of DPE machines is reached, the Add button will
become inactive.

Remove:

Removes a processing engine from the list of available engines. The localhost engine
cannot be removed.

Enable:

Enables the engine for use by the processing host. Until implemented, each engine you add
will be set to enabled (Disabled = False) by default. When implemented, you will be able to change
the selected computer’s status from Disabled to Enabled.

Disable:

Makes the engine unavailable for use in processing. When implemented, you will be able to
change the selected computer’s status from Enabled to Disabled. The disabled remote engine will
remain on the list, but will not be used.

Disabled

= True: Displays for that engine in the DPE list.

Maintain

UI performance while processing: Allows you to decide whether processing speed or UI
performance is more important.

Note: This will slow processing, and when selected, applies to all Remote DPEs.
3.

When all DPE machines have been added to the Processing Engine Configuration dialog, click Close.

If you have not yet configured the Distributed Processing Engine on the remote computers, or if you have, but it
is not working properly, you will see the warning shown in the following figure.

To correct this
1.

On the remote computer having the Distributed Processing Engine installed, click Start.
1a.

Right-click My Computer.

1b.

Click Manage.

1c.

Under System Tools, click Local Users and Groups.

1d.

Click Groups.

1e.

Double-click Administrators.

1f.

Verify that the user account name that was used in installation is in this group.

1g.

Click OK to close this dialog.

Under Local Users and Groups, click Users.
2a.

Find the user account name in the list, and double-click it.

2b.

Mark the box User cannot change password.

2c.

Mark the box Password never expires.

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| 587

2d.

Click Apply.

2e.

Click OK.

Do one of the following:
Under

Services and Applications, click Services.

you already closed the Computer Management dialog, launch the Services (services.msc) dialog
from the Run command on the Start menu.

If

3a.

Open the Properties dialog for the AccessData Processing Engine Service.

3b.

In the General tab, find Startup Type. If it says Automatic, proceed to the next step. If it says
anything else, click the drop-down on the right side of the text box and select Automatic from the
list. Click Apply and proceed to the next step.

3c.

Open the Log On tab.

3d.

Verify that the Log On information is set to the user name, domain or DPE machine name, and
password that matches the user account you just verified (should be the one that was entered
during installation).

3e.

Click OK.

Right-click on the AccessData Processing Engine Service.

Click Stop to stop the service.

Click Start to re-start the service manually.

Click Retry on the installer screen.

Ensure that the user name provided during installation is a member of the Administrators account.

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| 588

Using Distributed Processing
To utilize the Distributed Processing Engine when adding evidence to a case
1.

Make sure the case folder is shared before trying to add and process evidence.

Enter the path to the case folder in the Create New Case dialog in UNC format.

Click Detailed Options, and select options as you normally would.

Click OK to return to the New Case Options dialog.

Mark Open the case and then click OK to create the new case and open it.

The new case is opened and the Manage Evidence dialog is automatically opened. Click Add. Select
the evidence type to add. Select the evidence file to add and then click Open.

The path to the evidence is designated by drive letter by default. Change the path to UNC format by
changing the drive letter to the machine name or IP address where the evidence file is located,
according to the following syntax:

\\[computername_or_IP_address]\[pathname]\[filename]
8.

Leave the remaining path as is.

Click OK.

Note: If a case was originally processed using distributed processing, when a reviewer conducts a live search,
the system will first attempt to use the computer with the distributed processing engine, but if it is not
available, it will use the reviewer’s local computer to conduct the search.

Checking the Installation
When you have completed the installation, open the Task Manager on the remote computer, and keep it open
while you add the evidence and begin processing. This will allow you to watch the activity of the

ProcessingEngine.EXE in the Processes tab.
The Distributed Processing Engine does not activate until a case exceeds approximately 30,000 items. When it
does activate, you will see the CPU percentage and Memory usage increase for the ProcessingEngine.EXE in
Task Manager.

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