Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR)

The first 60 minutes after discovering a cybersecurity incident are critical. Immediately: (1) Isolate affected systems — disconnect compromised machines from the network without powering them off, to preserve volatile memory and evidence. (2) Do not wipe or reimage any affected device before forensic acquisition. (3) Notify key stakeholders — IT, management, legal counsel, and your incident response team simultaneously. (4) Document everything — screenshot error messages, log timestamps, note who discovered the incident and how. (5) Preserve logs — secure copies of firewall, SIEM, endpoint, and email logs before attackers can tamper with them. (6) Engage a DFIR team as early as possible — early involvement enables proper chain-of-custody handling and faster containment. Under Malaysia PDPA, if personal data is compromised, you may have notification obligations — your DFIR team can help assess this.

Proper evidence preservation is essential for a successful investigation and any subsequent legal or regulatory proceedings. Before or immediately upon engaging a DFIR team, preserve: (1) Volatile memory (RAM) — if systems are still running, RAM contains active processes, encryption keys, and attacker tools that disappear on shutdown. (2) Disk images — forensic bit-for-bit copies of affected drives, preserving deleted files and file system metadata. (3) Network logs — firewall, proxy, DNS, and VPN logs covering at least 90 days prior to the incident. (4) Endpoint logs — Windows Event Logs, EDR telemetry, antivirus alerts. (5) Email records — particularly for phishing-initiated incidents, preserve email headers and delivery logs. (6) Access logs — Active Directory, cloud platform (Azure AD, AWS CloudTrail), application authentication logs. (7) Physical access records — badge entry logs if insider threat is suspected. Maintain chain-of-custody documentation for all evidence collected, especially if law enforcement involvement or litigation is anticipated.

DFIR combines two disciplines: Digital Forensics (identifying, preserving, and analysing digital evidence from a breach) and Incident Response (containing, eradicating, and recovering from a cyberattack). It is activated when a security incident is suspected or confirmed.

Warning signs include: unusual network traffic, employees locked out of accounts, unknown processes running, security tools disabled, ransom notes on screens, or suspicious emails sent from internal accounts. Contact Simply Data immediately if you notice any of these.

Initial containment starts within hours of engagement. A full ransomware forensic investigation typically takes 2–4 weeks. Smaller incidents may be resolved within days. We provide regular status updates throughout.

IT support restores systems quickly, often without preserving evidence. DFIR investigates how attackers got in, what they accessed, and for how long — critical for legal, regulatory, and insurance purposes, and to prevent recurrence.