CHFI (312-49) Digital Forensics Simulation
Welcome to the interactive CHFI environment. You will review forensic artifacts, analyze the evidence logically, and identify the correct operational nature of discovered files. This exercise builds crucial evidence interpretation skills.
Investigation Scenario
During an internal investigation into suspected intellectual property theft at a corporate office in Phoenix, Arizona, a subject's Windows workstation is secured. The subject denies accessing proprietary design blueprints off-network. As a forensic investigator, you are performing an examination of the logical file system to reconstruct the user's recent file access history.
Evidence Collected
During the forensic acquisition and parsing of the active user profile, the following artifact is identified in the \AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\ directory:
PATH: C:\Users\TAnderson\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent\
FILE: Project_Zeus_Blueprint.pdf.lnk
SIZE: 1,482 bytes
--- EXTRACTED METADATA ---
Target Path: E:\USB_Vault\Project_Zeus_Blueprint.pdf
Volume Serial Number: 1A2B-3C4D
Drive Type: Removable Media (USB)
Creation Time: 2026-04-09 08:15:22 UTC
Modification Time: 2026-04-09 08:15:22 UTC
Access Time: 2026-04-10 09:12:00 UTC
Question
During a forensic examination of a Windows workstation in Phoenix, Arizona, an analyst discovers a file with a .LNK extension. What does this file type typically represent in a Windows environment?
...\Windows\Recent\). What type of artifact does the Windows OS automatically generate to track user interaction with documents, effectively pointing to the document's original location?
Expert Analysis
- What the evidence shows: The parsed artifact is named
Project_Zeus_Blueprint.pdf.lnk. The extracted metadata clearly shows a "Target Path" pointing to a removable USB drive (Drive E:), alongside volume serial numbers and specific MAC (Modified, Accessed, Created) timestamps. - Identify forensic stage: Examination and Analysis (parsing file system artifacts to interpret user activity).
- Why correct answer is correct: A .LNK file is the native Windows shortcut file. It acts as a pointer to another file, folder, or application. In forensics, they are critical because they contain highly detailed metadata about the target file, even if the target file is no longer present on the system.
- Why others are wrong:
- Temporary system files typically use `.tmp` extensions and are found in Temp directories.
- Log files utilize extensions like `.log`, `.evt`, or `.evtx`.
- Browser configuration files generally use `.json`, `.ini`, or database files like `.sqlite`.
- Real-world forensic action: A forensic examiner uses tools like LECmd (Lnk Explorer Command Line edition) by Eric Zimmerman to batch-parse .LNK files. This extracts the embedded MAC times, volume serial numbers, and target paths to prove data exfiltration or access to illicit materials.
MINI LESSON: Windows LNK Forensics
Artifact Interpretation: LNK files are a digital investigator's goldmine. The Windows operating system automatically generates these shortcut files when a user opens a local or remote file.
Chain of Evidence: Because a LNK file contains the target file's MAC times, original path, file size, and the Volume Serial Number of the drive it resided on, investigators can conclusively prove that a specific document existed on a specific USB drive plugged into the suspect's computer at a specific time. This establishes possession and access, even if the suspect has destroyed the physical USB drive.
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