At GlobalTech, the SOC team detects a suspicious ransomware outbreak affecting multiple endpoints.

The described activities—acquiring RAM dumps, extracting event logs, and collecting PCAPs—are evidence gathering and forensic analysis. This phase focuses on preserving and analyzing artifacts to understand what happened, how it happened, and what the scope is. RAM capture can reveal in-memory indicators such as encryption keys, injected code, running processes, network connections, and credential material that may not be present on disk. Windows Event Logs provide timelines for process creation, logons, privilege changes, and service activity. PCAP data supports validation of lateral movement, C2 communication, and exfiltration paths. Containment has already occurred in the scenario (infected endpoints were isolated), and eradication would involve removing ransomware, closing persistence, patching exploited paths, and ensuring the threat cannot return. Recovery is restoring systems and data to normal operations. In SOC practice, evidence collection should occur as early as safely possible (often immediately after containment) to avoid losing volatile artifacts, which is why the forensic team is acting now. Therefore, the current phase is evidence gathering and forensic analysis.