Digital Forensic Certification Practice Exam

Which user-created evidence source can help in analyzing malicious links or URLs?

1. Email history

2. Internet bookmarks

3. Browser cache

4. Download history

The correct answer is: Internet bookmarks

Internet bookmarks serve as valuable user-created evidence sources in the analysis of malicious links or URLs for several reasons. Bookmarks are often saved by users when they encounter websites they find interesting or useful, and they can provide insight into what sites the user regularly accesses. When examining bookmarks in a forensic investigation, analysts can identify URLs that may lead to malicious content. Users may accidentally bookmark a harmful site, or they may store links to phishing sites, which can be critical in understanding user behavior and potential security breaches. Moreover, the presence of specific bookmarks can help establish a timeline of user activity, indicating when a user may have been exposed to malicious content. While email history can provide information about links sent via email, browser cache can reveal URLs accessed but may not always clearly indicate user intent. Similarly, download history may show files obtained from malicious sites but does not necessarily point directly to the URLs themselves. Therefore, internet bookmarks offer a clear and direct indication of user engagement with various web resources, making them particularly useful in analyzing malicious links.