Which artifact stores local copies of mailbox data for an email client?

• A. PST/OST files
• B. DNS logs
• C. Event logs
• D. Browser cookies

Answer: (A)

Local copies of mailbox data are kept by mailbox storage files used by email clients. In Outlook, these are the PST and OST files. A PST (Personal Storage Table) file holds emails, contacts, calendars, and other mailbox data on the local machine; it’s commonly used with POP accounts or for archiving and can be moved or copied easily. An OST (Offline Storage Table) file is a cached, offline copy of a mailbox that synchronizes with the mail server when connection is available, letting you access and work with mail even without a live connection.

This makes PST/OST the right artifact to look for when investigating local mailbox data, because they contain the actual messages and metadata stored on the computer. The other options relate to different data types: DNS logs track name resolution activity, Event logs record system and application events, and browser cookies store website session data. None of these hold the mailbox content or its local copies in the same way PST/OST files do.