Individual skill
analyzing-slack-space-and-file-system-artifacts
Examine NTFS slack space, MFT entries, the USN Change Journal, and Alternate Data Streams (ADS) to recover hidden or residual data, reconstruct deleted-file metadata, and reconstruct available file-system change activity from USN records. Use during deep forensic analysis of an NTFS image when standard file recovery is insufficient, such as hunting for data hidden in ADS.
skills/analyzing-slack-space-and-file-system-artifacts/SKILL.md
Source commit 54a798831d2266a3ca61ce68a7acb80b81160d57
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- Network or broad shell
- Last checked
- Nov 9, 2026
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- Repository stars (not skill ratings)
- 35,821
- Repository last updated
- Aug 31, 2026
- License
- Apache-2.0
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- ai-agents Repository topic
- claude-code Repository topic
- cybersecurity Repository topic
- incident-response Repository topic
- mitre-attack Repository topic
- penetration-testing Repository topic
- red-team Repository topic
- security Repository topic
- cloud-security Repository topic
- malware-analysis Repository topic
- forensics Declared skill tag
- slack-space Declared skill tag
- ntfs Declared skill tag
- mft Declared skill tag
- usn-journal Declared skill tag
- alternate-data-streams Declared skill tag
- file-system-analysis Declared skill tag
- data Derived category
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LICENSEasset · 11,255 bytesSKILL.mdcore · 14,836 bytesSKILL.mdcore · 14,836 bytesSKILL.mdcore · 14,836 bytesSKILL.mdcore · 14,836 bytesSKILL.mdcore · 14,836 bytesSKILL.mdcore · 14,836 bytesreferences/api-reference.mddoc · 1,933 bytesscripts/agent.pyruns · 6,680 bytes
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# Analyzing Slack Space and File System Artifacts
## When to Use
- When searching for hidden or residual data in file system slack space
- For analyzing NTFS Master File Table (MFT) entries for deleted file metadata
- When reconstructing file operations from the USN Change Journal
- For detecting Alternate Data Streams (ADS) used to hide data or malware
- During deep forensic analysis requiring examination beyond standard file recovery
## Prerequisites
- Forensic disk image with NTFS file system
- The Sleuth Kit (TSK) tools: istat, icat, fls, blkls, blkstat
- MFTECmd (Eric Zimmerman) for MFT parsing
- MFTExplorer for interactive MFT analysis