Windows registry analysis for forensic investigation

Cyber attack comes in various approach and forms, either internally or externally. Remote access and spyware are forms of cyber attack leaving an organization to be susceptible to vulnerability. This paper investigates illegal activities and potential evidence of cyber attack through studying the registry on the Windows 7 Home Premium (32 bit) Operating System in using the application Virtual Network Computing (VNC) and keylogger application. The aim is to trace the registry artifacts left by the attacker which connected using Virtual Network Computing (VNC) protocol within Windows 7 Operating System (OS). The analysis of the registry focused on detecting unwanted applications or unauthorized access to the machine with regard to the user activity via the VNC connection for the potential evidence of illegal activities by investigating the Registration Entries file and image file using the Forensic Toolkit (FTK) Imager. The outcome of this study is the findings on the artifacts which correlate to the user activity.