Investigation Data Sources

When a digital environment is compromised, the adversary leaves behind a fractured, scattered record of their movements. Every packet crossing a boundary, every process execution on a CPU, and every queried domain name generates a tiny mathematical fragment of data. The security analyst’s job is not merely to collect these fragments, but to fuse them into a precise, unified reality. We do not guess; we measure. By interrogating firewall logs, host operating systems, and raw network telemetry, we reconstruct the anatomy of a breach with absolute fidelity.

To pass the CompTIA Security+ exam and, more importantly, to operate effectively in a modern Security Operations Center (SOC), you must understand how to read these distinct data sources. You must know what each log can tell you, what it cannot tell you, and how to combine them to piece together an attack timeline.