A step-by-step forensic walkthrough using Volatility 3 to investigate a suspicious memory image from MemLabs Lab 5. This analysis uncovers hidden processes, password-protected archives, and encoded artifacts, showing how volatile memory can reveal evidence long after files have vanished from disk.

Volatility is one of the most powerful tools in digital forensics, allowing investigators to extract and analyze artifacts directly from memory (RAM). In this beginner-friendly guide, we walk through installing Volatility, preparing memory dumps, and using essential plugins to uncover hidden processes, suspicious DLLs, network activity, and even malware injections.

Memory forensics begins with acquisition. In this first part of our series, we walk through capturing volatile memory on Windows using FTK Imager, ProcDump, and crash dumps. Learn how to choose the right dump type, preserve evidence integrity with hashing, and apply best practices for real-world investigations.