Digital Forensics & Incident Management

Digital Forensics Lab Setup

  • May 8, 2025
  • 0

Sherlocked Security – Digital Forensics Lab Setup

Build a Modern, Scalable, and Legally Defensible Forensics Investigation Environment

1. Statement of Work (SOW)

Service Name: Digital Forensics Lab Setup
Client Type: Law Enforcement, Corporate SOCs, Incident Response Teams, Government, Legal Firms
Service Model: Onsite/Remote Advisory, Lab Design, Tooling Procurement, Workflow Implementation
Compliance Coverage: ISO/IEC 27037, NIST 800-86, SWGDE Guidelines, ACPO Principles, GDPR

Setup Types:

  • Full-Scope Forensics Lab Deployment (Physical & Virtual)
  • Air-Gapped & Network-Isolated Workstations
  • Evidence Intake & Chain of Custody Infrastructure
  • Tool & Imaging Station Configuration
  • Lab Policy Documentation and SOP Creation

2. Our Approach

[Requirements Gathering] → [Environment Design] → [Toolchain Selection] → [Imaging & Storage Setup] → [Chain of Custody Design] → [SOP & Documentation] → [Staff Training] → [Operational Readiness Check]

3. Methodology

[Threat Landscape Review] → [Use Case Mapping] → [Hardware & Network Architecture] → [Tool Procurement] → [Standard Operating Procedure Design] → [Legal Workflow Alignment] → [Lab Validation & Verification]

4. Deliverables to the Client

  1. Lab Architecture Blueprint (Physical + Logical)
  2. Hardware and Software Stack with Procurement Plan
  3. Evidence Handling Workflow and Chain of Custody Templates
  4. Workstation Images with Required Toolsets (Linux, Windows)
  5. Storage, Retention, and Access Control Design
  6. Detailed SOP for Investigations and Imaging
  7. Risk Mitigation Plan for Evidence Contamination
  8. Staff Roles, Access Matrix, and Lab Usage Guidelines
  9. Final Audit Report and Operational Validation Checklist

5. What We Need from You (Client Requirements)

  • Intended use cases (malware analysis, disk imaging, live forensics, etc.)
  • Available floor space and environmental specs (cooling, power, physical security)
  • Existing tooling/licenses (if any)
  • Staff headcount and skill level
  • Required legal/compliance frameworks
  • NDA and agreement on deployment timelines

6. Tools & Technology Stack

  • Forensic Suites: FTK, EnCase, Autopsy, X-Ways
  • Imaging Tools: Guymager, FTK Imager, dd, dc3dd, Clonezilla
  • Disk & Memory Analysis: Volatility, Rekall, Redline, Magnet AXIOM
  • Malware Sandboxing: Cuckoo, ANY.RUN, FLARE VM
  • Network Isolation: VLANs, firewalled segments, Faraday cages
  • Storage & Evidence Repositories: NAS, RAID arrays, write blockers
  • Chain of Custody: CaseGuard, Forensic Notes, Digital Evidence Bags (DEB)
  • Documentation & Audit: ELK Stack, Security Onion, SIEM-compatible logging

7. Engagement Lifecycle

1. Kickoff & Use Case Identification → 2. Lab Design (Physical/Virtual) → 3. Procurement & Deployment → 4. Tool Installation & Configuration → 5. SOP Drafting & Review → 6. Training & Handover → 7. Validation & Final Audit

8. Why Sherlocked Security?

Feature Sherlocked Advantage
Legally Defensible Workflows Designed to meet court-admissibility and chain-of-custody standards
Customizable Lab Blueprint Tailored to specific use cases, space, and team size
Air-Gapped Imaging Workflows Ensures malware or tampering does not compromise evidence integrity
Vendor-Agnostic Tool Support Support for both open-source and proprietary suites
Audit-Ready SOPs Pre-built policies mapped to ISO/NIST/SWGDE

9. Real-World Case Studies

Law Enforcement: Multi-Device Imaging Station

Issue: Police cyber unit lacked a standardized imaging process for evidence collection.
Solution: Built a triage lab with write-blockers, SSD duplicators, and offline forensic VMs.
Outcome: Imaging speed improved by 3x, and court admissibility rate rose due to SOP compliance.

Financial Services: Insider Threat Investigation Lab

Client: Internal Threat Response Team
Setup: Isolated forensic environment with 20 TB NAS, memory analysis station, and case management system.
Result: Enabled investigation of employee laptop data leaks with centralized audit logging.

10. SOP – Standard Operating Procedure

  1. Initial Needs Assessment & Scope Finalization
  2. Lab Layout Design – Airflow, Isolation, Access Control
  3. Toolchain Evaluation – Open Source vs Commercial
  4. Hardware Procurement – Workstations, Write Blockers, Servers
  5. Software Installation – Imaging, Analysis, Chain of Custody
  6. Evidence Handling Procedure – Intake, Labeling, Logging
  7. Storage & Access Control – NAS, Encryption, Permissions
  8. Imaging Station Setup – Live/Dead Acquisition, RAM Capture
  9. Documentation Template Provision – Logs, Reports, Chain of Custody
  10. Dry Runs and Validation Drills

11. Lab Setup Technical Checklist

1. Physical & Environmental Setup

  • Dedicated room with restricted access and tamper-evident logging
  • Proper ventilation and temperature controls
  • Physical safes or lockers for sensitive devices
  • Shielding (e.g., Faraday bags/cages) for mobile and wireless devices
  • Static protection mats and grounding kits

2. Workstation & Imaging Configuration

  • High-performance forensic workstations (multi-core CPU, 64GB+ RAM, SSDs)
  • Write blockers (USB, SATA, IDE) properly installed and tested
  • Dual-boot environments (Windows, Linux) with forensic toolkits
  • Bootable imaging USBs with Guymager, FTK Imager, Clonezilla
  • RAM dump tools (WinPMEM, DumpIt, AVML) on separate secure media

3. Software & Tooling Stack

  • At least one enterprise forensic suite (e.g., EnCase, AXIOM)
  • Open-source backup tools (Autopsy, Sleuth Kit, Plaso)
  • Volatility/Rekall configured with symbol tables and plugins
  • Hashing tools (md5deep, sha256sum, hashdeep) for integrity checks
  • PDF generators and markdown report templates for documentation

4. Evidence Management

  • Chain of custody template pre-filled with case metadata
  • Barcode/QR system for evidence tagging
  • Evidence locker with digital logging for check-in/check-out
  • Disk imaging logs with SHA-1/SHA-256 hash matching
  • Metadata preservation policies (MAC times, ACLs)

5. Storage, Retention & Security

  • Segregated NAS with RAID-6/RAID-10 and snapshot support
  • AES-256 encrypted volumes for sensitive cases
  • Read-only share mounts for raw images
  • Backup policy to secure vault or cold storage
  • Access logging (who accessed, when, from where)

6. Policy & Documentation

  • Lab usage policy covering intake, analysis, evidence movement
  • Pre-approved list of authorized tools and personnel
  • Templated checklists for each stage (imaging, analysis, reporting)
  • Incident escalation matrix
  • Forensic SOP reviewed quarterly

7. Validation & Staff Training

  • Simulated imaging and analysis run-throughs
  • Chain of custody breach drills
  • Malware detonation exercises in sandboxed VM
  • Live RAM capture validation against real scenarios
  • Staff training logs and periodic skill assessments
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