Michael, a forensic examiner, is conducting a forensic analysis of an image file obtained from...

Option D is the intended answer. The question appears to contain a typo: “PNC” is almost certainly meant to be PNG . CHFI v11 explicitly includes Understanding Hex Editors and Hexadecimal Notation , Image File Analysis: JPEG and BMP , and Hex View of Popular Image File Formats , which means candidates are expected to recognize file types from signature bytes in hex view.

The well-known PNG file signature begins with the bytes 89 50 4E 47 . The sequence shown in the question, “89 50 4c” , looks incomplete or slightly mistyped, but it is clearly intended to point toward the PNG signature pattern rather than BMP, JPEG, or PDF. BMP files begin differently, JPEG files usually start with FF D8 FF , and PDF files begin with 25 50 44 46 corresponding to %PDF.

Because CHFI expects forensic investigators to identify file types through hexadecimal file-header analysis , the only reasonable answer from the choices is the typoed D , representing PNG . Therefore, Michael is looking at what the exam item intends to be a PNG image file .