CHFI Incident Response and First Responder Skills — 10 Questions

Question 1

A security team suspects a data breach via an external attacker. The incident response plan requires preservation of evidence for legal proceedings. Which order of volatility should the first responder follow?

Choose an answer to begin — your selection is scored in the full session.

Accepted Answer

Capture memory, record network connections, acquire disk image, then collect backups.. The order of volatility (OOV) dictates that the most volatile data (memory/registers) must be captured first, followed by network connections, then disk images, and finally backups. This sequence minimizes data loss and ensures evidence integrity for legal proceedings, as volatile data is lost when power is removed.

Answer

Capture disk image, then memory, then network connections.

Answer

Record network connections, capture disk image, then memory.

Answer

Collect backups first, then disk image, then memory.

Question 2

During an incident response, a first responder needs to preserve the integrity of evidence. Which action ensures the best chain of custody?

Accepted Answer

Compute a SHA-256 hash of the acquired image immediately after collection and record it in the chain of custody form.. Computing a SHA-256 hash immediately after acquisition creates a cryptographic fingerprint of the image. This hash, when recorded in the chain of custody form, provides verifiable integrity: any subsequent alteration of the image will produce a different hash, proving tampering. While other steps are important, only hashing directly ties the evidence's integrity to a mathematical proof that can be independently verified later.

Answer

Use a write blocker when acquiring the disk image.

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Document every person who handled the evidence.

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Place the evidence in an evidence bag and lock it in a secure room.

Question 3

A first responder is responding to a ransomware incident on a Windows server. Which TWO actions should be performed to preserve evidence? (Choose two.)

Accepted Answer

Power off the server to prevent further data encryption.. Powering off the server preserves the encrypted state of the disk and prevents the ransomware from continuing to encrypt additional files or communicate with its command-and-control server. In a ransomware incident, immediate shutdown halts the encryption process and preserves the volatile evidence on disk, such as the ransomware binary and encrypted files, for forensic analysis.

Answer

Run an antivirus scan to remove the ransomware.

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Restore the system from backup to minimize downtime.

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Disconnect the network cable immediately.

Question 4

Refer to the exhibit. A first responder runs netstat -ano on a Windows system. Which connection is MOST likely indicative of a potential C2 communication?

Accepted Answer

TCP 192.168.1.10:49153 to 203.0.113.50:443 TIME_WAIT PID 1204. The connection from a high ephemeral port (49153) to an external IP (203.0.113.50) over HTTPS (port 443) with a short-lived TIME_WAIT state is a classic indicator of potential C2 beaconing. C2 communications often use HTTPS to blend with legitimate traffic, and the TIME_WAIT state suggests brief, periodic connections typical of beaconing, rather than sustained data transfer. The external IP is also in a documentation/test range (203.0.113.0/24), which is commonly used for examples but in a real scenario would be suspicious as an unknown external destination.

Answer

TCP 0.0.0.0:3389 LISTENING PID 668

Answer

TCP 192.168.1.10:49154 to 192.168.1.1:53 TIME_WAIT PID 2016

Answer

TCP 192.168.1.10:49152 to 10.0.0.5:80 ESTABLISHED PID 3342

Question 5

Refer to the exhibit. A first responder runs the command on a Linux server. Which process should be considered MOST suspicious and investigated immediately?

Accepted Answer

python /tmp/.payload.py (PID 1310). Without the exhibit, it is impossible to determine which process is most suspicious. Both Python /tmp/.payload.py and Perl /tmp/.script.pl are hidden scripts run from a temporary directory, and nc -lvp 4444 is a classic backdoor listener. In a typical incident response, any of these would warrant immediate investigation, but the question requires a single answer without sufficient context.

Answer

/bin/bash (PID 1245)

Answer

nc -lvp 4444 (PID 1302)

Answer

perl /tmp/.script.pl (PID 1325)

Question 6

You are a first responder for a medium-sized company with 500 employees. The incident response team has been alerted to a possible data breach involving the CEO's laptop, which is a Windows 10 system. The CEO reports that the laptop has been acting strangely, with unusual pop-ups and slow performance. The laptop is currently powered on and connected to the corporate network via Wi-Fi. The CEO is logged in and has several applications open, including email and a web browser. The security team suspects malware may be exfiltrating sensitive documents. As the first responder, you must decide the best course of action to preserve evidence and contain the threat while minimizing impact on business operations. Which action should you take FIRST?

Accepted Answer

Capture a full memory dump using a forensic tool like FTK Imager or WinPmem.. The correct first action is to capture a full memory dump using a forensic tool like FTK Imager or WinPmem. Since the laptop is powered on and malware is suspected, volatile data (including running processes, network connections, and encryption keys) is at risk of being lost. Preserving RAM is the highest priority in live incident response because it contains evidence of active malware and ongoing exfiltration that would be lost upon shutdown or disconnection.

Answer

Disconnect the laptop from the corporate network immediately to stop any ongoing data exfiltration.

Answer

Create a forensic image of the hard drive using a write blocker.

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Shut down the laptop to prevent further damage and preserve the disk.

Question 7

Which THREE of the following are essential steps in the incident response process as defined by NIST SP 800-61? (Select exactly 3.)

Accepted Answer

Post-Incident Activity. Post-Incident Activity is one of the four core phases in the NIST SP 800-61 incident response lifecycle. This phase includes lessons learned, evidence retention, and report generation to improve future response efforts. Without this step, the organization cannot close the loop on security incidents or refine their detection and response capabilities.

Answer

Vulnerability Assessment

Answer

Penetration Testing

Question 8

Refer to the exhibit. During incident response, a first responder runs 'netstat -ano' on a compromised Windows system. Which connection is most likely to be the command-and-control (C2) channel and should be prioritized for isolation?

Accepted Answer

192.168.1.100:1045 to 203.0.113.5:4444 (ESTABLISHED). Shows an established connection from the internal host (192.168.1.100) to an external IP (203.0.113.5) on TCP port 4444, which is commonly associated with Metasploit reverse shells and other C2 frameworks. The ESTABLISHED state indicates an active, ongoing session, making it the highest priority for isolation during incident response.

Answer

192.168.1.100:1047 to 10.0.0.1:22 (ESTABLISHED)

Answer

192.168.1.100:1046 to 192.168.1.1:443 (ESTABLISHED)

Answer

192.168.1.100:1048 to 198.51.100.7:80 (TIME_WAIT)

Question 9

During the initial response to a suspected data breach, a first responder discovers a live system with active network connections. The responder needs to preserve evidence while minimizing alteration. Which of the following is the MOST appropriate first step?

Accepted Answer

Use a memory acquisition tool to capture the contents of RAM.. A is correct because in a live system with active network connections, the most volatile evidence is in RAM (e.g., running processes, network connections, encryption keys). Using a memory acquisition tool (like FTK Imager or WinPmem) captures this volatile data before any other action, preserving evidence that would be lost on shutdown or disconnection. This aligns with the order of volatility (RFC 3227), which prioritizes memory over disk.

Answer

Run a full disk imaging tool to capture the hard drive contents.

Answer

Disconnect the network cable to isolate the system from the network.

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Immediately shut down the system by pulling the power cord.

Question 10

Which TWO actions are essential for a first responder when securing an incident scene involving a compromised server? (Select exactly two.)

Accepted Answer

Document the system’s date and time settings for accurate timeline reconstruction.. The system's date and time settings are critical for establishing a reliable timeline of events during forensic analysis. The first responder must document these settings (e.g., from the BIOS or operating system) before any changes occur, as they directly affect the timestamps of file system metadata (MAC times) and log entries. Without this baseline, correlating events across multiple sources becomes unreliable, potentially invalidating the entire investigation.

Answer

Run antivirus scans to identify and remove any malware present.

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Reboot the system into safe mode to prevent further damage.

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Connect an external hard drive to create a backup of important files.