Recently, I had the great opportunity to attend the 2019 Magnet User Summit hosted by Magnet Forensics in Nashville, Tennessee. Presenters at the Magnet User Summit dedicate their time to presenting new research, demonstrating new techniques, and teaching users in the fields of digital forensics and investigation. There were many great presentations and labs that I attended and learned so much from!

As someone who uses Windows PowerShell and Python for scripting, I took notice in a presentation called “Leveraging PowerShell & Python for Incident Response & Live Investigations” presented by Chet Hosmer, founder of Python Forensics. I was excited to find new ways to expand my knowledge of PowerShell and Python and increase my proficiency.

Windows PowerShell is a command shell and scripting language created by Microsoft. It provides more features and functionalities than Windows basic command line. System and network administrators use PowerShell for automation and also forensic investigators. PowerShell excels at automation and acquiring evidence and artifacts from the system. It has recently been made available for other operating systems including Linux and OSX. Making it even more powerful and useful. Python is an object oriented scripting and programming language. It’s a simple language that’s easy for beginners but still powerful enough for the more experienced users. It’s been integrated into many popular tools for digital forensics, cybersecurity, and incident response.

One point that Hosmer highlighted is that Microsoft’s PowerShell really excells at evidence and artifact acquisition, while Python is good at analysis and examination of data. Therefore, combining these two programs would create a powerful platform for DFIR. To accomplish this, he has created two methods of integration between the two programs.

Image taken from Chet Hosmer

The first method involves creating a Python script that would accept PowerShell parameters as input, launch PowerShell, and pass those parameters to a PowerShell script. That would then read, analyze and present the results. The second method begins with a PowerShell script. The PowerShell script would launch Python and run through the PowerShell scripts, piping its results to a Python script for it to analyze and organize the data. Both methods will work equally, but if one is more experienced in PowerShell, they may want to use the second method and vice versa. Using the ‘subprocess’ command in Python allows for variables to pass through a PowerShell script. PowerShell can input to Python using a standard pipe, like “| & $Python $Script”. Users can then use he piped data with “stdin” in Python.

With the rise of cloud infrastructure and international use, Hosmer also demonstrated that PowerShell is capable of interacting with and accessing Microsoft Azure logs. Azure is Microsoft’s cloud platform created for large businesses and enterprise. Cloud has become a large source of data and potential evidence for digital investigators, but is often harder to access and difficult to integrate into programs. In order to interact with azure, the user installs a PowerShell module called ‘AzureRM’  using the ‘Install-Module’ cmdlet in PowerShell. Once installed, PowerShell will have access to thousands of more powerful cmdlets dedicated to Azure.

Over my two days at Magnet User Summit, I met with many professionals and had a great time attending presentations on new technologies and techniques. I also learned how to use the tools created by Magnet and improve my forensics skills. While I really did learn a lot from the summit and had plenty of fun too. I am glad I got this great opportunity to learn and network with industry professionals. Thank you to both the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation and Magnet Forensics for giving me this great opportunity.

Blog written by Champlain College sophomore Chris Mathieson

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