Book Image

Learning Malware Analysis

By : Monnappa K A
5 (1)
Book Image

Learning Malware Analysis

5 (1)
By: Monnappa K A

Overview of this book

Malware analysis and memory forensics are powerful analysis and investigation techniques used in reverse engineering, digital forensics, and incident response. With adversaries becoming sophisticated and carrying out advanced malware attacks on critical infrastructures, data centers, and private and public organizations, detecting, responding to, and investigating such intrusions is critical to information security professionals. Malware analysis and memory forensics have become must-have skills to fight advanced malware, targeted attacks, and security breaches. This book teaches you the concepts, techniques, and tools to understand the behavior and characteristics of malware through malware analysis. It also teaches you techniques to investigate and hunt malware using memory forensics. This book introduces you to the basics of malware analysis, and then gradually progresses into the more advanced concepts of code analysis and memory forensics. It uses real-world malware samples, infected memory images, and visual diagrams to help you gain a better understanding of the subject and to equip you with the skills required to analyze, investigate, and respond to malware-related incidents.
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Title Page
Copyright and Credits
Dedication
Packt Upsell
Contributors
Preface
Index

1. Code Analysis Tools


Code analysis tools can be classified based on their functionalities, described below.

A disassembler is a program that translates machine code back to assembly code; it allows you to perform static code analysis. Static code analysis is a technique you can use to interpret the code to understand the program's behavior, without executing the binary.

A debugger is a program which also disassembles the code; apart from that, it allows you to execute the compiled binary in a controlled manner. Using debuggers, you can execute either a single instruction or selected functions, instead of executing the entire program. A Debugger allows you to perform dynamic code analysis, and helps you examine the aspects of the suspect binary while it is running.

A decompiler is a program that translates the machine code into the code in a high-level language (pseudocode). Decompilers can greatly assist you with the reverse engineering process and can simplify your work.