A security analyst locates a potentially malicious video file on a server and needs to identify both the creation date and the file's creator. Which of the following actions would most likely give the security analyst the information required?

Querying the file's metadata is the most effective action because metadata often contains details like creation date, author, and modification history, which directly address the analyst's need to identify the creation date and creator. Obtaining the file's SHA-256 hash provides a unique identifier for integrity checking but doesn't reveal creation date or creator. Using hexdump on the file's contents allows for low-level examination of the file's binary data, which might indirectly reveal some information, but it's not the most direct or efficient way to find creation date and creator. Checking endpoint logs could show when the file arrived on the system or who interacted with it, but it wouldn't necessarily reveal the original creation date or the file's intrinsic creator.