Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) combines investigative techniques with real-time threat response to uncover, preserve, and analyze digital evidence from compromised systems. Operating at the intersection of law enforcement methodologies and cybersecurity operations, DFIR practitioners must balance forensic soundness with operational urgency—ensuring evidence integrity while containing active threats. The field demands mastery of both volatile memory analysis (what's running right now) and non-volatile artifact examination (what happened in the past), where a single timestamp discrepancy or overlooked registry key can make the difference between attribution and dead ends.