Just like the motto of the Olympic Games—Faster, Higher, Stronger—networks today are faster, wider, and greater. For widespread high-speed networks, carrying greater volumes of data has become a norm rather than the exception. All of these characteristics come with great exposure to a huge variety of threats to the data carried by the networks. The current threat landscape necessitates an increased understanding of the data on our networks, the way we secure it and the tell-tale signs left behind after an incident. This book aims at introducing the subject of network forensics to further help in understanding how data flows across the networks as well as introduce the ability to investigate forensic artifacts or clues to gather more information related to an incident.
Chapter 1, Becoming Network 007s, introduces the exciting world of network forensics. This chapter introduces the concepts and readies the reader to jump right into network forensics.
Chapter 2, Laying Hands on the Evidence, explains how to acquire both physical and virtual evidence in order to understand the type of incident involved.
Chapter 3, Capturing & Analyzing Data Packets, takes the user further into the world of network investigation by focusing on network traffic capture and analysis.
Chapter 4, Going Wireless, explains how to investigate wireless networks with additional considerations for wireless protection and security.
Chapter 5, Tracking an Intruder on the Network, investigates intrusions using a Network Intrusion Detection System (NIDS) and a Network Intrusion Prevention System (NIPS).
Chapter 6, Connecting the Dots – Event Logs, explains how to collect event logs and then correlate and connect the links, followed by the analysis.
Chapter 7, Proxies, Firewalls, and Routers, helps us to understand web proxies, firewalls, and routers and the reasons to investigate them.
Chapter 8, Smuggling Forbidden Protocols – Network Tunneling, shows advanced concepts of letting a network send its data via the connection of another network.
Chapter 9, Investigating Malware – Cyber Weapons of the Internet, covers advanced topics about the trends in malware evolution and the investigation of forensic artifacts caused by the malware.
Chapter 10, Closing the Deal – Solving the Case, enables the user with full-fledged skills in tackling cases to give the finishing touches and close the deal.