List of digital forensics tools

During the 1980s, most digital forensic investigations consisted of "live analysis", examining digital media directly using non-specialist tools. In the 1990s, several freeware and other proprietary tools (both hardware and software) were created to allow investigations to take place without modifying media. This first set of tools mainly focused on computer forensics, although in recent years similar tools have evolved for the field of mobile device forensics.^[1]

Computer forensics

Name	Platform	License	Version	Description
EnCase	Windows	proprietary	7.10	Multi-purpose forensic tool
Wireshark	cross-platform	GPL	n/a	Open-source packet capture/analyzer, backend library used is [win]pcap.
SANS Investigative Forensics Toolkit - SIFT	Ubuntu		2.1	Multi-purpose forensic operating system
Registry Recon	Windows	proprietary	2.0.0.0530	Forensics tool that rebuilds Windows registries from anywhere on a hard drive and parses them for deep analysis.
EPRB	Windows	proprietary	1435	Set of tools for encrypted systems & data decryption and password recovery
Digital Forensics Framework	Unix-like/Windows	GPL	1.3	Framework and user interfaces dedicated to Digital Forensics
OSForensics[2][3]	Windows	proprietary	3.3	Multi-purpose forensic tool
FTK	Windows	proprietary	6.0.1	Multi-purpose tool, FTK is a court-cited digital investigations platform built for speed, stability and ease of use.
PTK Forensics	LAMP	proprietary	2.0	GUI for The Sleuth Kit
The Coroner's Toolkit	Unix-like	IBM Public License	1.19	A suite of programs for Unix analysis
COFEE	Windows	proprietary	n/a	A suite of tools for Windows developed by Microsoft
The Sleuth Kit	Unix-like/Windows	IPL, CPL, GPL	4.1.2	A library of tools for both Unix and Windows
Categoriser 4 Pictures[4]	Windows	freeware	4.0.2	Image categorisation tool develop, available to law enforcement
Open Computer Forensics Architecture	Linux	LGPL/GPL	2.3.0	Computer forensics framework for CF-Lab environment
SafeBack[5]	N/a	proprietary	3.0	Digital media (evidence) acquisition and backup
Windows To Go	n/a	proprietary	n/a	Bootable operating system
Netherlands Forensic Institute / Xiraf[6]	n/a	proprietary	n/a	Computer-forensic online service.

Memory forensics

Memory forensics tools are used to acquire and/or analyze a computer's volatile memory (RAM). They are often used in incident response situations to preserve evidence in memory that would be lost when a system is shutdown, and to quickly detect stealthy malware by directly examining the operating system and other running software in memory.

Name	Vendor/Sponsor	Platform	License
WindowsSCOPE	BlueRISC	Windows	proprietary
Volatililty	Volatile Systems	Windows & Linux	Free (GPL)

Mobile device forensics

Mobile forensics tools tend to consist of both a hardware and software component. Mobile phones come with a diverse range of connectors, the hardware devices support a number of different cables and perform the same role as a write blocker in computer devices.

Name	Platform	License	Version	Description
MicroSystemation XRY/XACT[7]	Windows	proprietary		Hardware/Software package, specializes in deleted data

Other

Name	Platform	License	Version	Description
HashKeeper	Windows	free	n/a	Database application for storing file hash signatures
Evidence Eliminator	Windows	proprietary	6.03	Anti-forensics software, claims to delete files securely
DECAF	Windows	free	n/a	Tool which automatically executes a set of user defined actions on detecting Microsoft's COFEE tool

References

1. Casey, Eoghan (2004). Digital Evidence and Computer Crime, Second Edition. Elsevier. ISBN 0-12-163104-4.
2. Nelson, Bill; Phillips, Amelia; Steuart, Christopher (2015). Guide to Computer Forensics and Investigations. Cengage Learning. pp. 363, 141, 439, 421, 223, 554 ,260, 168, 225, 362. ISBN 978-1-285-06003-3.
3. "OSForensics - Digital investigation for a new era by PassMark Software®". osforensics.com.
4. Sanderson, P (December 2006). "Mass image classification". Digital Investigations 3 (4): 190–195. doi:10.1016/j.diin.2006.10.010.
5. Mohay, George M. (2003). Computer and intrusion forensics. Artechhouse. p. 395. ISBN 1-58053-369-8.
6. Bhoedjang, R; et al. (February 2012). "Engineering an online computer forensic service". Digital Investigations 9 (2): 96–108. doi:10.1016/j.diin.2012.10.001.
7. Mislan, Richard (2010). "Creating laboratories for undergraduate courses in mobile phone forensics". Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Information technology education (ACM): 111–116. Retrieved 29 November 2010. Among the most popular tools are products named MicroSystemation GSM .XRY and .XACT, Cellebrite UFED, Susteen Secure View2, Paraben Device Seizure, Radio Tactics Aceso, Oxygen Phone Manager, and Compelson MobilEdit Forensic