Digital forensics heavily relies on operating system artifacts to reconstruct timelines of threat actor activity. By correlating multiple artifacts, investigators can uncover execution patterns even when attackers attempt to hide their tracks.
In a real investigation, Windows artifacts such as Prefetch, Amcache, and Shimcache provide critical evidence for execution. Combining these artifacts allows an investigator to reconstruct a reliable timeline of attacker activity.
Understanding Prefetch
Windows creates Prefetch files to speed up application load times. For forensic investigators, these files contain the first and last time an application was executed, along with a run count.
TECHNICAL DETAIL
Prefetch files are typically located in C:\Windows\Prefetch. Their parsing can reveal executables that were run from temporary directories or mounted volumes that no longer exist on the system.