Getting started, or forensic analysis on the cheap

Quite often, I'll see posts or receive emails from folks asking about how to get started in the computer forensic analysis field. What most folks don't realize is that "getting into" this field really isn't so much about the classes you took at a college or the fact that you have a copy of EnCase. What it's about is how well you know your stuff, what you're capable of doing, and if you're capable of learning new stuff.

For example, who would you want to hire or work with...someone who only knows how to use one tool (for example, EnCase), or someone who can explain how EnCase does what it does (such as file signature analysis) and can come up with solutions for the problems and challenges that we all run into?

What I've decided to do is compile a list of free (as in "beer") resources that can be used by schools and individuals to develop labs, training exercises, etc., for the purposes of providing an educational background in the field of computer forensic analysis. With nothing more than a laptop and an Internet connection, anyone interested in computer forensics analysis can learn quite a lot without ever spending any $.

Imaging
FTK Imager 2.5.3 (and Lite 2.5.1)
George M. Garner, Jr's FAU
dcfldd - Wiki
dc3dd

Image/File Integrity Verification
MD5Deep

Images/Analysis Challenges
Lance's Forensic Practicals (#1 and #2) (no EnCase? Use FTK Imager to convert the .E0x files to dd format)
NIST Hacking Case
DFTT Tool Testing Images
HoneyNet Project Challenges
VMWare Appliances (FTK Imager will allow you to add these - most of which are *nix-based - as evidence items and create dd-format images)

Analysis Applications
TSK 2.51 (as of 10 Feb 2008...includes Windows versions of the tools, but not the Autopsy Forensic Browser - see the Wiki for how to use the tools)
NOTE: DFLabs is developing PTK, an alternative Sleuthkit interface, and they are reportedly working on a full Windows version, as well!
ProDiscover 4.9 Basic Edition
PyFlag

Mounting/Booting Images
VDK & VDKWin
LiveView (ProDiscover Basic will allow you to create the necessary .vmdk file for a dd-format image)
VMPlayer

Analysis Tools
Perl ('nuff said!!) - my answer for everything, it seems ;-)

File Analysis
MiTec Registry File Viewer - import Registry hive files
TextPad
Rifiuti - INFO2 file parser
BinText - like strings, but better
Windows File Analyzer

File Carving
Scalpel

Browser History
WebHistorian

Archive Utilities
Universal Extractor
jZip
PeaZip

AV and Related Tools

Miss Identify - identify Win32 PE files (different from an AV scan)
GriSoft AVG Free Edition anti-virus

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition anti-virus
McAfee Stinger - standalone tool to scan for specific malware
ThreatFire (requires live system, best when used w/ AV)
GMER Rootkit Detection (requires live system)

Packet Capture and Analysis
PacketMon
WireShark

Other Tools
According to Claus at the GSD blog , Mozilla uses SQLite databases to store information, so if you're doing browser analysis, you may want to take a look at SQLite DB Browser, or SQLiteSpy. If you want to create your own databases in SQLite, check out SQLite Administrator. So, you can use these tools not only for analysis of the Mozilla files, but also with creating your own databases for use with other tools (ie, Perl).

Please keep in mind that this is just a list...and not an exhaustive one...of technical resources that are available. There are many, many other tools available.

Also, all of the technical tools and techniques are for naught if you (a) cannot follow a process, and (b) cannot document what you do.