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FOR500: Windows Forensic Analysis
- 6 Days (Instructor-Led)
- 36 Hours (Self-Paced)
- GIAC Certified Forensic Examiner (GCFE)
- 36 CPEs
Apply your credits to renew your certifications
- In-Person, Virtual or Self-Paced
Attend a live, instructor-led class at a location near you or remotely, or train on your time over 4 months
- Essential Skill Level
Course material is for individuals with an understanding of IT or cyber security concepts
- 22 Hands-On Lab(s)
Apply what you learn with hands-on exercises and labs
Meet Your Authors
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Important! Bring your own system configured according to these instructions.
A properly configured system is required to fully participate in this course. If you do not carefully read and follow these instructions, you will not be able to fully participate in hands-on exercises in your course. Therefore, please arrive with a system meeting all the specified requirements.
Back up your system before class. Better yet, use a system without any sensitive/critical data. SANS is not responsible for your system or data.
Mandatory System Hardware Requirements
- CPU: 64-bit Intel i5/i7 (8th generation or newer), or AMD equivalent. A x64 bit, 2.0+ GHz or newer processor is mandatory for this class.
- CRITICAL: Apple Silicon devices cannot perform the necessary virtualization and therefore cannot in any way be used for this course.
- BIOS settings must be set to enable virtualization technology, such as "Intel-VTx" or "AMD-V" extensions. Be absolutely certain you can access your BIOS if it is password protected, in case changes are necessary.
- 16GB of RAM or more is required.
- 300GB of free storage space or more is required.
- At least one available USB 3.0 Type-A port. A Type-C to Type-A adapter may be necessary for newer laptops. Some endpoint protection software prevents the use of USB devices, so test your system with a USB drive before class.
- Wireless networking (802.11 standard) is required. There is no wired Internet access in the classroom.
Additional optional components for this course:
- A USB storage device is necessary to complete one optional lab step in the course. The storage size of the USB media should be larger than the amount of RAM in the laptop.
Mandatory Host Configuration And Software Requirements
- Your host operating system must be the latest version of Windows 10, Windows 11, or macOS 10.15.x or newer.
- Fully update your host operating system prior to the class to ensure you have the right drivers and patches installed.
- Linux hosts are not supported in the classroom due to their numerous variations. If you choose to use Linux as your host, you are solely responsible for configuring it to work with the course materials and/or VMs.
- Local Administrator Access is required. (Yes, this is absolutely required. Don't let your IT team tell you otherwise.) If your company will not permit this access for the duration of the course, then you should make arrangements to bring a different laptop.
- You should ensure that antivirus or endpoint protection software is disabled, fully removed, or that you have the administrative privileges to do so. Many of our courses require full administrative access to the operating system and these products can prevent you from accomplishing the labs.
- Any filtering of egress traffic may prevent accomplishing the labs in your course. Firewalls should be disabled or you must have the administrative privileges to disable it.
- Microsoft Office (any version) or OpenOffice installed on your host. Note that you can download Office Trial Software online (free for 30 days).
- Download and install VMware Workstation Pro 17+ (for Windows hosts), or VMWare Fusion Pro 13+ (for macOS hosts) prior to class beginning. Workstation Pro and Fusion Pro are now available free for personal use from the VMware website. Licensed commercial subscriptions to these products can also be used.
- On Windows hosts, VMware products might not coexist with the Hyper-V hypervisor. For the best experience, ensure VMware can boot a virtual machine. This may require disabling Hyper-V. Instructions for disabling Hyper-V, Device Guard, and Credential Guard are contained in the setup documentation that accompanies your course materials.
- Download and install 7-Zip (for Windows Hosts) or Keka (for macOS hosts). These tools are also included in your downloaded course materials.
Your course media is delivered via download. The media files for class can be large. Many are in the 40-50GB range, with some over 100GB. You need to allow plenty of time for the download to complete. Internet connections and speed vary greatly and are dependent on many different factors. Therefore, it is not possible to give an estimate of the length of time it will take to download your materials. Please start your course media downloads as soon as you get the link. You will need your course media immediately on the first day of class. Do not wait until the night before class to start downloading these files.
Your course materials include a "Setup Instructions" document that details important steps you must take before you travel to a live class event or start an online class. It may take 30 minutes or more to complete these instructions.
Your class uses an electronic workbook for its lab instructions. In this new environment, a second monitor and/or a tablet device can be useful for keeping class materials visible while you are working on your course's labs.
If you have additional questions about the laptop specifications, please contact customer service.
FOR500 training is recommended for a diverse range of individuals, including:
- Information security professionals who want to learn the in-depth concepts of Windows digital forensics investigations
- Incident response team members who need to use deep-dive digital forensics to help solve their Windows data breach and intrusion cases, perform damage assessments, and develop indicators of compromise
- Law enforcement officers, federal agents, and detectives who want to become deep subject-matter experts on digital forensics for Windows-based operating systems
- Media exploitation analysts who need to master tactical exploitation and Document and Media Exploitation (DOMEX)
- Anyone interested in a deep understanding of Windows forensics who has a background in information systems, information security, and computers
The GIAC Certified Forensic Examiner (GCFE) certification validates a practitioner’s knowledge of computer forensic analysis, with an emphasis on core skills required to collect and analyze data from Windows computer systems. GCFE certification holders have the knowledge, skills, and ability to conduct typical incident investigations including e-Discovery, forensic analysis and reporting, evidence acquisition, browser forensics and tracing user and application activities on Windows systems.
- Windows Forensics and Data Triage
- Windows Registry Forensics, USB Devices, Shell Items, Email Forensics and Log Analysis
- Advanced Web Browser Forensics (Chrome, Edge, Firefox)
- Windows 10 Enterprise version of the SIFT Workstation Virtual Machine with over 200 commercial, open-source, and freeware Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) tools prebuilt into the environment
- Trial licenses for the following commercial tool suites:
- Magnet Forensics Axiom
- USB Detective
- Foxton Browser History Examiner
- Metaspike Forensic Email Intelligence
- ISO images filled with real-world cases and artifacts to examine during and after the course
- FOR500 exercise workbook with 590+ pages of detailed step-by-step instructions
- MP3 audio files of the complete course lecture
There are no prerequisite courses required to take this course. The artifacts and tool-agnostic techniques you will learn will lead to the successful analysis of any cyber incident and crime involving a Windows Operating System.
The FOR500 course is a part of the “Incident Response and Threat Hunting” Learning Path, with the goal of teaching skills every forensics and incident response professional should know.
Depending on your current or desired future role, one of these courses is a great next step in your cybersecurity journey:
- FOR508: Advanced Incident Response, Threat Hunting, and Digital Forensics
- FOR608: Enterprise-Class Incident Response & Threat Hunting
- FOR572: Advanced Network Forensics: Threat Hunting, Analysis, and Incident Response
Additional courses you might want to explore:
Windows forensics is the recovery, analysis and authentication of electronically stored information on systems running the Microsoft Windows operating system. This field is crucial for cybersecurity (identifying breaches, malware, and unauthorized access), legal investigations (prosecuting cybercriminals), corporate security (detecting insider threats and ensuring compliance), and data recovery (retrieving lost files and reconstructing user actions).
Key forensic artifacts include the Windows Registry (system and user activity data), event logs (security and system events), prefetch files (recently executed programs), Master File Table (MFT) (file metadata), pagefile & hibernation files (RAM remnants), and jump lists (frequently accessed files).
When forensic experts analyze these elements, they can reconstruct user actions, detect malicious activities, and support legal proceedings, making Windows forensics a vital field in digital security and law enforcement.
FOR500: Windows Forensic Analysis will enhance your career by equipping you with specialized skills in digital investigations, cybersecurity, and incident response. As cyber threats grow, organizations increasingly need professionals who can analyze Windows-based systems, detect breaches, and recover critical evidence.
This course will teach you to investigate Windows artifacts (registry, logs, memory, and file system), detect malware, trace unauthorized access, and recover lost data. These skills are valuable for careers in cybersecurity, law enforcement, corporate security, and IT auditing.
Certification in Windows forensics can set you apart in roles like digital forensic analyst, cybersecurity investigator, SOC analyst, or IT security consultant, increasing job opportunities and salary potential.
With businesses and law enforcement relying heavily on Windows environments, mastering forensic techniques ensures career growth in high-demand fields such as ethical hacking, compliance, and threat intelligence, making you a valuable asset in any security-focused organization.
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