Analyzing Memory Dumps with Volatility

When to Use

• A compromised system's RAM has been captured and needs forensic analysis for malware artifacts
• Detecting fileless malware that exists only in memory without persistent disk artifacts
• Extracting encryption keys, passwords, or decrypted configuration from process memory
• Identifying process injection, DLL injection, or process hollowing in a compromised system
• Analyzing rootkit activity that hides from standard disk-based forensic tools

Do not use for disk image analysis; use Autopsy, FTK, or Sleuth Kit for disk forensics.

Prerequisites