How to Create Examiner Notes in Digital Forensics | Autopsy Walkthrough

This video provides a step-by-step walkthrough of Chapter 2, Assignment 1, focused on creating detailed examiner notes in preparation for writing a formal digital forensics report.

This walkthrough is provided for educational purposes only. All lab files and scenarios are the property of Cengage and are accessed by students through authorized course materials.

In this assignment, you repeat the examination of George Montgomery’s USB drive using Autopsy and document every step taken during the analysis. The goal is to demonstrate professional forensic documentation practices that ensure repeatability, defensibility, and credibility.

Rather than simply analyzing evidence, this lab shifts your focus to documenting your investigative process in real time — including timestamps, tool usage, file examination, tagging procedures, and report generation.

🔍 What this assignment covers:

Creating and maintaining an examiner notes log

Properly documenting start times and investigative actions

Creating a forensic case in Autopsy

Ingesting a disk image file

Identifying and tagging relevant Office documents

Extracting evidentiary files

Generating an HTML forensic report

Organizing artifacts for submission

📁 Case Context

This case continues the investigation involving George Montgomery, focusing on potential misuse of company computing resources. In this assignment, the emphasis is not only on findings — but on how those findings were obtained and documented.

⏱ Estimated Time

20 minutes

⚠️ Important Notes

Autopsy for Windows is required

Mac users should use VMware or VM Fusion with a Windows VM

Lab files are provided through authorized academic materials

📘 Textbook Credit

Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations, 7th Edition — Cengage

🔗 Resources

Autopsy Download: https://www.autopsy.com/download/

Autopsy Documentation: https://sleuthkit.org/autopsy/docs/

This walkthrough emphasizes professional documentation, investigative discipline, and defensible forensic practices, which are critical in corporate investigations, legal proceedings, and expert testimony preparation.

Видео How to Create Examiner Notes in Digital Forensics | Autopsy Walkthrough канала Practical Academy