# Free Tools That Can Be Used

## **Essential Free Tools for Incident Response**

Incident response often demands swift action and precise analysis. Below is a curated list of free tools tailored for different phases of incident response. These tools provide deep insights into processes, logs, and user activities, enhancing the investigation's speed and accuracy.

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## **1. Process Analysis**

**Tool**: [Process Hacker](https://processhacker.sourceforge.io/)\
**Purpose**: Comprehensive process management and analysis.\
**Use Case**:

* Identify suspicious processes with abnormal behavior (e.g., **powershell.exe** spawned by **excel.exe**).
* Analyze process attributes like parent-child relationships, loaded modules, and network connections.\
  **Key Features**:
* Real-time system monitoring.
* Advanced tree view for process hierarchy.

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## **2. Event Log Analysis**

**Tool**: [FullEventLogView](https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/full_event_log_view.html)\
**Purpose**: Simplifies Windows event log analysis.\
**Use Case**:

* Consolidate event logs to quickly filter and analyze events during a specific attack window.
* Focus on critical event IDs (e.g., **4624** for logins, **4625** for failed logins).\
  **Key Features**:
* View logs from multiple sources in a single interface.
* Export filtered logs for deeper analysis.

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## **3. Persistence Analysis**

**Tool**: [Autoruns](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns) (Microsoft Sysinternals)\
**Purpose**: Detect programs configured to run automatically at system startup.\
**Use Case**:

* Identify and analyze persistence mechanisms such as startup scripts, scheduled tasks, and registry entries.
* Detect unauthorized or malicious startup entries.\
  **Key Features**:
* Comprehensive view of all auto-start locations.
* Filters to highlight unsigned or suspicious entries.

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## **4. User Activity Analysis**

**Tool**: [LastActivityView](https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/lastactivityview.html)\
**Purpose**: Displays a detailed timeline of user actions on a system.\
**Use Case**:

* Analyze system activity during or after an attack.
* Identify key user actions, such as file accesses, application executions, or shutdown events.\
  **Key Features**:
* Aggregates data from logs, registry, and system events.
* Provides timestamps for precise activity correlation.

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## **5. Web Activity Analysis**

**Tool**: [BrowsingHistoryView](https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/browsing_history_view.html)\
**Purpose**: Consolidates web browser history across multiple browsers.\
**Use Case**:

* Investigate phishing attacks by reviewing malicious URLs visited.
* Track user browsing activity leading up to or following a compromise.\
  **Key Features**:
* Supports all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, etc.).
* Exports detailed browsing data for reporting.

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## **Additional Notes**:

* **Custom Tools**: Tailor scripts or small utilities to automate repetitive tasks, such as log parsing or network analysis.
* **Alternative Tools**: For each function, consider exploring equivalent tools to find those best suited to your environment. For instance:
  * **Process Explorer** (as an alternative to Process Hacker).
  * **Splunk Free** or **ELK Stack** for centralized log analysis.

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## **Benefits of Using These Tools**:

* **Cost-Effective**: Free but powerful, they rival many commercial solutions.
* **Ease of Use**: Intuitive interfaces allow quick adoption, even in high-pressure situations.
* **Comprehensive Coverage**: Address all key aspects of incident response, from initial detection to post-incident analysis.

By incorporating these tools into your incident response toolkit, you can significantly enhance your team’s ability to detect, analyze, and remediate security incidents efficiently.
