Bare-Metal Forensics

Stop Treating Hardware Like a Black Box. Master Bare Metal Forensics and Secure Critical Infrastructure.

When a sophisticated adversary compromises an embedded device, your standard Incident Response tools become completely useless. You cannot install an endpoint security agent on a microcontroller. You cannot run a standard memory dump on a Real Time Operating System. If you do not know how to extract malicious payloads directly from the silicon, the attacker owns your critical infrastructure permanently.

Bare Metal Forensics is the definitive engineering manual for hardware level Incident Response. This book bridges the gap between digital forensics and electrical engineering. It provides security engineers, SCADA defenders, and elite Incident Response teams with the exact methodologies required to extract firmware, capture volatile memory, and reverse engineer rootkits directly from compromised edge devices.

Inside, you will discover:
Hardware Level Acquisition: Safely utilize JTAG and UART debug ports to extract data. Master advanced desoldering techniques to isolate and read ROM from surface mounted chips.
Volatile Memory Capture: Leverage Direct Memory Access to freeze and extract SRAM states without triggering watchdog resets. Preserve forensic chain integrity while hashing bare metal data streams in real time.
RTOS Payload Analysis: Reverse engineer monolithic firmware blobs into analyzable assembly code. Identify malicious patches and extract ephemeral encryption keys directly from CPU registers.
Real Time Execution Triage: Trace malicious code masking itself as high priority hardware interrupts and analyze RTOS scheduler manipulation designed for unauthorized communication.
Mitigating Lateral Movement: Deploy hardware taps to mirror network packets without introducing latency. Capture and decode malicious command payloads hidden within SCADA protocols.
Edge Containment: Sever network access while maintaining power for deep forensic analysis. Deploy clean baseline images Over The Air and rebuild the perimeter using cryptographic hardware identifiers.

THE FORENSIC TRIAGE VAULT (Appendix)

Engineered for the incident responder who needs immediate tactical guidance in the field, the Appendix provides battle tested utility:
Hardware Tooling Checklist: A strict inventory of physical write blockers, logic analyzers, and debuggers.
Memory Mapping Grids: Printable reference sheets for standard microcontroller memory layouts.
Secure Lab Setup: Best practices for electrically isolating compromised hardware during physical extraction.
Do not wait for a catastrophic breach to realize your blind spots. Weaponize your forensic capabilities, master hardware level extraction, and defend the absolute edge of your network.