Volatility Traces Walkthrough

Memory forensics is essential for uncovering malicious activities, analyzing threat vectors, and identifying indicators of compromise (IoCs). In this walkthrough, we’ll use Volatility, a powerful memory analysis tool, to analyze a memory dump (memory.dmp). This guide will focus on answering specific questions regarding malicious activities on a compromised system. Each step includes detailed instructions, an explanation of plugins, and how they help uncover the attack chain.

Question 1: Identifying the Suspicious Process that Spawned Malicious PowerShell Processes

To identify the suspicious parent process, we need to list all active processes and analyze their relationships.

Step 1: Listing Active Processes with pslist Plugin

The pslist plugin lists active processes based on process structures found in memory. This is our starting point for identifying any suspicious processes.