Want to experience a day in the life of a Digital Forensics Investigator? In CyberStart’s Forensics base, you can!
Discover our ultimate guide to starting Forensics base in CyberStart.
Does analysing crime scenes, following the timeline of illegal activity and preserving digital evidence sound interesting?
Then digital forensics could be for you!
In CyberStart’s Forensics base, you’ll examine crime scenes and learn the real techniques used by professionals in the digital forensics field.
Sound fun?
Let’s get started with Forensics base by exploring level 1!
Getting started with Forensics base level 1
In your first Forensics mission, you’ll travel to Barcelona to investigate the activity of an employee who we suspect may be passing sensitive data from their company to someone on the outside.
It’s time to unleash your detective skills as you examine photos, listen to phone records and analyse digital receipts to uncover what’s going on!
Skills you’ll learn in Forensics base level 1
- File Analysis
- Observation
- Network Analysis
- Hashing
- Steganography Analysis
I surprised myself on the Forensics base. That’s how I figured out what part of cyber security I wanted to go into specifically. I love being challenged beyond my current knowledge so that I can go learn more. I couldn’t get enough of these challenges. Abbie, CyberStart player
Let’s get a taste of the first challenges you’ll encounter in Forensics base to get you started on the digital forensics skill path!
Forensics L01 C01 - Suspicious Selfie
In the first Forensics base challenge in level 1, you’ve been told to analyse the rogue employee’s photos for anything suspicious. You also know that passwords have previously been shared by this employee with a conspirator from outside the company.
How to find the hidden message
Once you’ve downloaded the image in this challenge, see if you can find anything that could look like a secret message or hidden password. Zooming in will make things easier to spot.
Sometimes the answer is right in front of you. This challenge will help you enhance your observational skills and identify sensitive data.
Forensics L01 C03 - Report - Part 1
In this challenge, we need you to analyse a packet capture taken from the suspected employee’s computer. Download the packet capture and review the network traffic within, then fill in the report with your findings.
How to solve this challenge
Research a tool called Wireshark which will help you analyse the packet capture for your report.
Being able to understand different types of traffic protocols is crucial in digital forensics, as well as being able to focus on useful data, all of which you’ll practice in this challenge.
Top tip: Being successful in cyber security means taking initiative and doing your own research, a skill you’ll need to complete many of CyberStart’s challenges.
Forensics L01 C05 - Recibo
We are suspicious of an employee who has been using digital receipts from the restaurant to move information to a conspirator. Can you figure out which receipt has been tampered with?
How to find the tampered receipt
During a digital forensics investigation, files are normally hashed when collected as evidence so that if they’re tampered with later, it is easy to prove the file has changed. If a file is changed, the mathematical hashing value also changes.
Identify which of the hashes no longer match to find the flag.
Top tip: Read the “File integrity and hashes” section in the Field Manual to help you solve this challenge and get a better understanding of hashing.
Generating the hash value for a file is incredibly quick to do once you know how! Play this challenge in CyberStart to learn the techniques used for real-life digital forensic analysis.
I have gained more knowledge about different areas of cyber security and I have found an interest in computer forensics which I had never thought about prior to CyberStart. - Daisy, CyberStart player
Want to explore the role of a digital forensics investigator hands-on?
You can register for your free CyberStart account to try 12 free challenges in Intern base.
Then, once you’re ready, upgrade your account to unlock 200+ challenges in CyberStart, including Forensics base and many other cyber security disciplines. Or see if you’re eligible for the programmes below to access all of CyberStart unlocked for free.
Register for your free CyberStart account to start playing!
