EBOXLAB - Digital Forensics & eDiscovery Platform

by Law Stars - Trial Lawyers and Legal Services Colorado LLC

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EBOXLAB is a terminal-based digital forensics and eDiscovery platform for managing cases, evidence, chain of custody, and examiner workflows. Built in C++17, it runs natively on Windows and macOS as a single standalone executable — no database server, no internet connection, no runtime dependencies.

Designed for forensic examiners and legal professionals who need a fast, reliable, air-gapped case management tool.

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Screenshots

Main Menu

Case Management

Client Management

Norton Commander-Style File Manager

SHA-256 / MD5 Hash Calculator & File Attributes

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Features

Case & Evidence Management

• Clients — Manage client organizations with contact details
• Cases — Track cases with status, priority, type, and assigned examiner
• Evidence — Catalog evidence items with acquisition details and hash values
• Chain of Custody — Record custody transfers with timestamps and actions
• Examiners — Manage forensic examiner profiles and certifications
• Custodians — Track data custodians linked to cases
• Activity Log — Automatic audit trail of all actions, sorted most-recent-first

Forensic Tools

• File Manager — Norton Commander-style file browser with directory navigation, sorting by name/size/date, and drive selection
• Hash Calculator — SHA-256 and MD5 hash computation for any file, with full file attributes (size, timestamps, permissions)

Platform Features

• Cross-entity search across all 7 modules
• Mouse and keyboard navigation
• Two themes: Classic Blue and Retro Green (toggle with F3)
• Demo data auto-seeded on first launch
• Binary flat-file storage — portable, no database required
• Air-gapped operation — zero network dependencies

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Installation

Windows — Installer (Recommended)

1. Download EBOXLAB_Setup_v1.0.exe from the Releases page
2. Run the installer — it creates Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts
3. Launch EBOXLAB from the shortcut

Windows — Portable

1. Download eboxlab.exe from the Releases page
2. Run it directly — no installation needed
3. Data is stored in %APPDATA%\EBOXLAB\

macOS

1. Download EBOXLAB_v1.0.dmg from the Releases page
2. Double-click the DMG to mount it
3. Drag EBOXLAB.app into the Applications folder
4. Important — First Launch Security Steps:
   • Double-click EBOXLAB in Applications
   • macOS will show: "EBOXLAB can't be opened because it is from an unidentified developer"
   • Click OK (do not move to Trash)
   • Open System Settings > Privacy & Security
   • Scroll down to the Security section — you'll see: "EBOXLAB was blocked from use because it is not from an identified developer"
   • Click Open Anyway
   • Enter your Mac password when prompted
   • A confirmation dialog appears — click Open
   • EBOXLAB will launch in a Terminal window
5. After the first launch, macOS remembers your choice — future launches work normally with a double-click
6. Demo data is automatically loaded on first launch
7. Data is stored in ~/Library/Application Support/EBOXLAB/

Tip: You can also right-click (or Control-click) the app and select Open from the context menu — this bypasses the security warning directly on the first attempt.

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Build from Source

Windows

Prerequisites: MinGW-w64 (g++ with C++17), PDCurses (WinCon port)

# Install compiler
winget install BrechtSanders.WinLibs.POSIX.UCRT

# Build PDCurses
cd PDCurses/wincon
mingw32-make -f Makefile WIDE=Y

# Build EBOXLAB
cd ../..
mingw32-make

Produces eboxlab.exe — a statically linked standalone executable.

macOS

Prerequisites: Xcode Command Line Tools, ncurses (via Homebrew)

# Install dependencies
xcode-select --install
brew install ncurses

# Build
NCURSES_PREFIX=$(brew --prefix ncurses)
make -f Makefile.macos \
  CXXFLAGS="-O2 -Wall -std=c++17 -I${NCURSES_PREFIX}/include" \
  LDFLAGS="-L${NCURSES_PREFIX}/lib -lncurses"

Produces eboxlab binary.

To create a DMG installer:

chmod +x create_dmg.sh
./create_dmg.sh

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Keyboard Shortcuts

Main Menu

Key	Action
1-8	Quick select modules 1-8
9	File Manager
0	Hash Calculator
Q	Exit application
Arrow keys	Navigate menus and lists
Tab / Shift+Tab	Cycle through items
Enter	Select / confirm
Escape	Go back / cancel
F2	Save form
F3	Toggle theme (Blue / Retro Green)
Mouse	Click items, scroll lists

File Manager

Key	Action
Enter	Open directory / view file details + hash
Backspace	Go up one directory
F5 / F6 / F7	Sort by Name / Size / Date
F8	Toggle ascending / descending
F9	Compute hash of selected file
D	Drive selection
Page Up/Down	Scroll by page
Home / End	Jump to first / last file

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Data Storage

All data is stored in binary flat files:

File	Contents
clients.dat	Client records
cases.dat	Case records
evidence.dat	Evidence items
chain.dat	Chain of custody entries
examiners.dat	Examiner profiles
custodians.dat	Custodian records
activity.dat	Activity log entries

• Windows: %APPDATA%\EBOXLAB\
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/EBOXLAB/

Backup: Copy all .dat files to preserve the entire database.

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CI/CD

Automated builds run via GitHub Actions on every push to main. Tagged releases (v*) automatically publish Windows installer, Windows portable exe, and macOS DMG to the Releases page.

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Contact

• Web: www.eboxlab.com
• Email: info@eboxlab.com
• Phone: 888-714-6292

Planning & Project Oversight: Law Stars - Trial & Legal Services Colorado LLC

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License

Proprietary software developed for Law Stars - Trial Lawyers and Legal Services Colorado LLC. All rights reserved.