Malware poses a notable risk to any organization’s cybersecurity. As these programs increase in scale and sophistication, malware analysis becomes increasingly crucial for identifying attacks and creating more secure systems and networks.
What Is Malware Analysis?
Malware analysis is the process of studying the origin, functionality, and potential effects of malicious software. It involves analyzing malware code to understand how it works, how it differs from other types, and the source of the attack. By dissecting malware, organizations can better understand how to defend and protect their systems from future threats.
Why Should You Use a Malware Analysis Tool?
Malware analysis tools are essential for efficient and accurate examination of malware. They handle vast volumes of samples, uncover sophisticated techniques that manual processes might miss, and aid in updating and creating effective prevention strategies. These tools significantly enhance cybersecurity defenses and threat response.
Types of Malware Analysis
The analysis of malware can be conducted through the processes below:
- Static analysis: Static analysis examines files for signs of malware without executing them. It helps organizations gather crucial information, like file names and IP addresses, using tools such as network analyzers and disassemblers.
- Dynamic analysis: This process runs suspicious code in a secure, isolated virtual environment called the sandbox. Dynamic analysis allows organizations to monitor malware and its behavior in the sandbox without the risk of infecting the rest of the system.
- Hybrid analysis: A combination of static and dynamic analysis, this process offers the best techniques for thorough malware analysis. Hybrid analysis provides a more detailed study of malware and even detects code trying to hide.
- Code analysis: This approach involves a detailed examination of the malware’s source code or disassembled code to understand its logic, algorithms, and specific actions. It provides insights into its purpose and how it operates.
- Memory analysis: This process investigates the contents of a system’s RAM to identify malware artifacts and understand their impact on the system.
- Behavioral analysis: This analysis studies malware’s effects on a system or network to understand its objectives, such as stealing data, creating backdoors, or spreading laterally.
- Automated analysis: This approach leverages tools and platforms to quickly perform a high-level analysis, identifying key characteristics and behaviors while saving time.
Steps in Malware Analysis
Malware analysis involves various steps, depending on the type and your goals. Here are the common steps:
- Identification: One of the first steps in malware analysis is identifying and understanding the suspicious software’s characteristics.
- Collection: Gather samples of the files or URLs suspected to contain malware and handle them carefully to prevent them from infecting your system.
- Analysis: Examine the malware samples during the analysis stage. With static analysis, you’ll assess the code without executing it. For dynamic analysis, you’ll set up a controlled virtual environment to run it. This step allows you to understand the malware’s behaviors, capabilities, and impact.
- Extraction: Extract indicators of compromise (IOCs) from the malware sample, including IP addresses, harmful URLs, and code patterns. These indicators can help identify and prevent risks from similar attacks in the future.
How ThreatConnect Simplifies Malware Analysis
At ThreatConnect, we offer automated tools to classify, identify, and capture malware indicators. Our tools accelerate threat detection, response, and blocking by automating file submissions for analysis and report processing. Playbook automation and intel from analyses help determine the scope of the attack and speed up response activities.
Protect Your Systems With Automated Malware Analysis From ThreatConnect
ThreatConnect streamlines malware analysis and transforms how organizations identify and deal with cyberattacks. Request a demo or connect with our experts to learn more.