Digital forensics is the cornerstone of knowledge breach investigations, enabling specialists to uncover, analyze and interpret digital proof. Companies use digital forensics instruments to conduct incident response and get better knowledge. Firms additionally depend on these instruments to research how a breach occurred, whether or not attackers accessed or exfiltrated knowledge and the way the malicious actors moved by the community.
Armed with digital forensics knowledge, organizations can extra precisely describe an assault to affected stakeholders and legislation enforcement. What’s extra, digital forensics generates info that helps firms higher perceive the ways, methods and procedures of cybercriminal teams.
Digital forensics instruments vary from all-encompassing suites to devoted single merchandise designed for particular duties. Listed below are 10 instruments used and revered by digital forensics specialists for both felony investigations, incident response or each.
Cellebrite
Cellebrite is the go-to supplier of cellular forensics, providing broad help for cellular units, in addition to superior knowledge exfiltration. The corporate markets a wide range of forensics platforms, together with Cellebrite Common Forensic Extraction Gadget, Cellebrite Inseyets, Cellebrite Bodily Analyzer and Cellebrite Inspector.
Cellebrite merchandise can be utilized in live performance with different digital forensics instruments. For instance, a cybersecurity investigator can use Magnet Axiom for laptop forensics after which swap to Cellebrite for cellular knowledge extraction and evaluation.
The corporate modernized its platform in 2025 to incorporate a cloud model that enhances collaboration. It additionally added AI-powered enhancements aimed toward decreasing case evaluation time. It could actually additionally detect AI modifications to pictures.
Contact Cellebrite for info and pricing about every of its forensics platforms.
Magnet Axiom
Magnet Forensics’ Axiom is usually used for high-level evaluation. The favored software provides a complete characteristic set that displays its increased price ticket. It permits customers to research and analyze laptop, cellular, cloud and car knowledge.
Key advantages embrace automation and an accessible and simple-to-use UI. It has a group collaboration software, Artifact Trade, which lets customers combine community-written artifacts to research proof not at the moment lined natively. The corporate lately expanded help enabling Axiom to research extra proof on a system — for instance, Microsoft Groups chats and ChatGPT logs.
Magnet provides organizations a free trial of the software program. Contact the corporate for pricing.
Velociraptor
Velociraptor is an open supply utility that gathers and shops occasion logs from a corporation’s endpoints. Inner safety groups can then probe the outcomes to pinpoint suspicious exercise. The light-weight digital forensics software’s flexibility comes from its personal programming language, Velociraptor Question Language, making the complete software program customizable.
The most recent updates to Velociraptor embrace a redesigned Sigma rule editor plus an expanded set of live-event sources for Home windows and Linux, enabling real-time artifact seize. The software, which was acquired by Rapid7 in 2001, has additionally been built-in into its managed detection and response platform.
Wireshark
Wireshark is open supply community evaluation software program that has been in use for greater than 25 years. It probes each community packet despatched from and acquired by a tool in each wired and wi-fi networks. Investigators can then decide the kind of visitors, in addition to its supply and vacation spot. Wireshark can assist forensics specialists analyze potential knowledge breaches to uncover the place an attacker is sending compromised knowledge.
X-Methods Forensics
X-Methods Forensics is for investigators preferring to manually analyze knowledge as an alternative of depend on automated software program. It boasts superior technical options for disk evaluation, akin to capturing and detailing drive contents, slack house and interpartition house. It operates on restricted {hardware}.
Forensics specialists can begin their evaluation utilizing different instruments, akin to Magnet Axiom, after which delve into in-depth evaluation utilizing X-Methods. It requires further coaching to make use of successfully as a result of it’s extra complicated than different instruments on this listing.
X-Methods provides nonperpetual and perpetual licenses beginning at $1,539 and $3,969, respectively. The seller additionally provides WinHex, Investigator and Imager licenses.
Post-mortem
Open supply Post-mortem is constructed on Sleuth Package, an open supply library and assortment of command-line instruments for disk picture investigations. It offers investigators with a GUI that lets them handle casework and analyze onerous drives, cellular units and cloud knowledge. The software is modular, with extensions out there for duties akin to e mail parsing or malware triage.
Post-mortem is broadly utilized in each tutorial {and professional} environments due to its cost-free licensing, though its performance is proscribed in comparison with business instruments.
Magnet Response
Magnet Response is a free software from Magnet Forensics that lets customers shortly receive machine proof, for instance, in wake of a latest cyberincident or if there’s a danger that proof will probably be modified or misplaced.
Ultimate for forensics investigators and nontechnical customers, the software runs from a single executable file on a USB key. The software program additionally offers steerage on the right way to use it after it’s run.
Oxygen Forensic Detective
Oxygen Forensic Detective from Oxygen Forensics is concentrated totally on cellular knowledge extraction. It lets investigators purchase and analyze knowledge from iOS and Android units, in addition to from many cloud providers and messaging platforms. Investigators can get better deleted knowledge, extract artifacts from encrypted apps and probe communications by timeline and social graph views.
The product additionally uncovers knowledge from drones and IoT units.
Oxygen Forensics provides organizations a free 15-day trial of the software program. Contact the corporate for pricing.
EnCase Forensic
OpenText Forensic, previously EnCase, is a long-established digital forensics suite. Organizations use it to accumulate and analyze knowledge from desktops, servers, cellular units and cloud sources. Its give attention to evidential integrity makes its format broadly accepted by courts, making OpenText Forensic a preferred alternative with legislation enforcement and the authorized group.
Contact the corporate for pricing.
Forensic Explorer
Forensic Explorer (FEX), developed by GetData Forensics, is an alternative choice to a few of the costlier instruments. It offers complete help for file system evaluation, deleted file restoration and key phrase looking, and is especially quick at combing by knowledge from Home windows methods. FEX features a hex viewer for low-level inspection and integrates with GetData’s Forensic Imager for imaging proof. Investigators can script and automate elements of the workflow, making FEX an acceptable software for repetitive duties throughout massive investigations.
GetData provides FEX as a perpetual license for $2,595, making it a gorgeous choice for legislation enforcement and company investigators who want a full forensic suite however won’t require the identical stage of integration help with different instruments.
Questions to contemplate when selecting digital forensics instruments
Earlier than buying digital forensics instruments, organizations ought to ask the next key questions:
- What sort of units does the corporate use and the place is knowledge saved? If a lot of the firm’s knowledge is in cellular units and cloud methods, prioritize Cellebrite and Magnet Axiom, which give attention to these areas.
- What sort of funds does the group have for forensics instruments? Relying upon the necessities of an investigation, specialists typically use a number of instruments to deal with totally different facets of the forensics course of. To that finish, many organizations can get the outcomes they want from free software program, akin to Velociraptor or Magnet Response.
Further concerns embrace the next:
- Are the instruments compliant with business requirements and greatest practices for digital forensics investigations?
- Are there extra prices related to choosing a software, akin to particular licensing fashions, ongoing prices and upkeep charges?
- Are distributors prepared to supply coaching and help?
Rob Shapland is an moral hacker specializing in cloud safety, social engineering and delivering cybersecurity coaching to firms worldwide.
