Which field in the IIS log entry indicates that the user requested to download a file?

The field that indicates the user requested to download a file in the IIS log entry is the cs-uri-stem field. This field captures the specific resource that was requested by the user during their interaction with the web server. When a user requests to download a file, that file's URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) is recorded in this field, showing the exact path to the resource. As such, analysts reviewing the IIS log can easily identify which files were accessed or downloaded, as the cs-uri-stem directly reflects the user's request for a specific file.

Understanding the significance of this field is crucial for digital forensic investigations, as it allows investigators to trace user actions back to specific file downloads, which can be vital for understanding the context of a case. The other fields serve different purposes; for example, the cs-user-agent captures information about the user's browser, the sc-bytes reflects the size of the response sent by the server, and the sc-status indicates the status code of the server's response. However, none of these fields convey the request for a specific file as clearly as the cs-uri-stem does.