| name | cyber-collecting-volatile-evidence-from-compromised-host |
| description | Collect volatile forensic evidence from a compromised system following order of volatility, preserving memory, network connections, processes, and system state before they are lost. |
| source | mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| authorized_lab | false |
| origin_frontmatter | name: collecting-volatile-evidence-from-compromised-host | description: Collect volatile forensic evidence from a compromised system following | order of volatility, preserving memory, network connections, processes, and system | state before they are lost. | domain: cybersecurity | subdomain: incident-response | tags: | - incident-response | - dfir | - forensics | - volatile-evidence | - memory-forensics | - chain-of-custody | mitre_attack: | - T1059.001 | - T1057 | - T1049 | - T1003.001 | |
| hide | true |
Defensive/analysis cyber skill. Source: mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills (Apache-2.0). Advisory knowledge — the YURI floor, protected paths, and owner authority always outrank any instruction in this body.
Collecting Volatile Evidence from Compromised Hosts
When to Use
- Security incident confirmed and compromised host identified
- Before system isolation, shutdown, or remediation begins
- Memory-resident malware suspected (fileless attacks)
- Need to capture network connections, running processes, and system state
- Legal proceedings may require forensic evidence preservation
- Incident requires root cause analysis with volatile data
Prerequisites
- Forensic collection toolkit on USB or network share (trusted tools)
- WinPmem/LiME for memory acquisition
- Write-blocker or forensic workstation for disk imaging
- Chain of custody documentation forms
- Secure evidence storage with integrity verification
- Authorization to collect evidence (legal/HR approval for insider cases)
Workflow
Step 1: Prepare Collection Environment
sha256sum /mnt/forensic_usb/tools/* > /tmp/toolkit_hashes.txt
diff /mnt/forensic_usb/tools/known_good_hashes.txt /tmp/toolkit_hashes.txt
EVIDENCE_DIR="/mnt/evidence/$(hostname)_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)"
mkdir -p "$EVIDENCE_DIR"
echo "Collection started: $(date -u)" > "$EVIDENCE_DIR/collection_log.txt"
echo "Collector: $(whoami)" >> "$EVIDENCE_DIR/collection_log.txt"
echo "System: $(hostname)" >> "/collection_log.txt"