Theodore, a forensic expert, was tasked with investigating a cybercrime involving a Windows operating system...

This question directly maps to CHFI v11 objectives underOperating System Forensics, specificallyNTFS file system analysis and metadata examination. In NTFS, theMaster File Table (MFT)is the core metadata file that contains a record forevery file and directoryon the volume. CHFI v11 emphasizes that the $MFT is one of the most critical artifacts in Windows forensics because it stores essential attributes such as file names, file sizes, creation/modification/access timestamps, permissions, and the physical location of file data on disk.

Each file on an NTFS volume has at least one corresponding MFT entry, making $MFT invaluable for reconstructing user activity, detecting deleted files, and correlating timelines during cybercrime investigations. Investigators often analyze the $MFT to uncover evidence of malicious file creation, modification, execution, or deletion—even when files have been removed from the file system view.

The other options serve different purposes: $LogFile tracks transactional changes, $MFTMirr holds a backup of part of the MFT, and $Volume stores volume-level information. Therefore, consistent with CHFI v11 NTFS forensic principles, the file Theodore accessed is$MFT.