Author: SalvationDATA Digital Forensics Team

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are a core part of modern internet infrastructure, enabling fast, stable, and secure online services. A CDN is a distributed network of servers designed to deliver web content to users more efficiently based on their geographic location.

At the same time, reports from major CDN providers such as Cloudflare and Akamai, along with public threat intelligence and law enforcement investigations, confirm that CDNs are increasingly abused for phishing, malware distribution, and command-and-control activity. From a CDN forensics perspective, understanding this abuse does not weaken the value of CDN technology—it strengthens risk awareness and investigative capability.

Digital forensics relies heavily on uncovering hidden traces of user activity to drive investigations. One often-overlooked source of such evidence is Shellbags—artifacts stored within the Windows operating system that track a user’s folder access history and settings. Understanding what Shellbags are and how they work can give forensic investigators crucial insights into past activities, even when files have been deleted or altered.

This blog will explore Windows Shellbags, their role in forensic investigations, and how analyzing them can help uncover critical digital evidence that might otherwise remain undetected.

When investigating Windows systems, two artifacts often stand out to forensic analysts: Amcache and Shimcache. Both provide valuable insights into program execution history, yet they capture and store data in different ways. Understanding the distinctions between Amcache and Shimcache is essential for building a complete picture of system activity, uncovering traces of malware, and validating user behavior. In this guide, we’ll break down what Amcache and Shimcache are, how they work, and why knowing the differences between them can make all the difference in digital forensics investigations.

Prefetch files may seem like an ordinary component of the Windows operating system, but in digital forensics, they hold significant investigative value. These files quietly record details about program execution, helping not only to enhance system performance but also to provide a timeline of user activity. By analyzing prefetch files, investigators can uncover when and how certain applications were run, making them a crucial piece of evidence in reconstructing events on a computer.