Introduction to malware analysis lenny zeltser meetup. Sep, 2017 sans digital forensics and incident response blog blog pertaining to 4 cheat sheets for malware analysis. There are several ways in which you can also contribute to the project, as outlined below. If you can recommend additional tools or techniques, please leave a comment. In case of a malicious pdf files there are 5 steps. Malicious documents pdf analysis in 5 steps by luis rocha. If you havent experimented with linuxbased tools for malware analysis, youve been missing out. Jan 05, 2020 a curated list of awesome malware analysis tools and resources. A linux toolkit for reverseengineering and analyzing malware malware repositories.
One precaution recommended by lenny zeltser is to use a disconnected laboratory laptop for analysis. I cover behavioral and code analysis phases, to make this topic accessible even to individuals with a limited exposure to programming concepts. In this session, lenny zeltser will introduce you to the process of reverse. Security consultant lenny zeltser has released a lightweight version of ubuntu that includes a collection of malware analysis.
Lenny zeltser is a senior instructor at sans institute. Malicious documents pdf analysis in 5 steps count upon security. In this session, lenny zeltser demonstrates key aspects of this process, walking you through behavioral analysis of a realworld windows malware specimen by using several free tools and, time permitting, even peeking into the world of codelevel analysis. Write documentation for tools installed on the remnux distro to expand the tips and guidelines that already exist in the how to use remnux. This webcast introduces you to practical approaches of reverseengineering malicious software on a windows system. A curated list of awesome malware analysis tools and resources. Malware samples for students pacific cybersecurity. Aug 17, 2018 learn malware analysis fundamentals from the primary author of sans course for610. And if youve been meaning to begin exploring the field of malware analysis, this talk will help you get started. Dont worry if you dont understand much of the assembly code you see there. This page inventories best practices, tools and documents which the malware analysis sig identified and finds useful in its work. Authored by lenny zeltser with feedback from pedro bueno and didier stevens. When looking for api calls, know the official api names and the associated native apis nt, zw, rtl.
Being able to analyze pdfs to understand the associated threats is an increasingly important skill for security incident responders and digital. Fighting malicious code skoudis, ed, zeltser, lenny on. Our html report function allows researchers to format the result of the malware analysis online in order to share with colleagues or for printing. Over the past two decades, lenny has been leading efforts to establish resilient security practices and solve hard security problems. Pdf xray lite a pdf analysis tool, the backendfree version of pdf. Use automated analysis sandbox tools for an initial assessment of the suspicious file. Reverseengineering malware cheat sheet remnux linux distribution for malware analysis. Practical malware analysis essentials for incident. Locate potentially malicious embedded code, such as shellcode, vba macros or javascript. Youll learn the fundamentals and associated tools to get started with malware analysis.
Malware analysis tools and techniques with lenny zeltser. Lenny zeltser is a seasoned business leader with extensive experience in information technology and security. He lives by that philosophy and brings it to his job and classroom. Though some tasks for analyzing windows malware are best performed on windows laboratory systems, there is a lot you can do on linux with the help of free and powerful tools. As you may have heard, lenny zeltser recently released version 6 of his popular remnux malware analysis linux distribution. But its one thing to know about this maxim, and another to internalize its wisdom. Analyzing malicious documents cheat sheet lenny zeltser. Apr 20, 2017 after pulling the malicious pdf from brads site, i moved it into a remnux vm for analysis. Lenny zeltser 6 free local tools for analyzing malicious pdf files malicious pdf files are frequently used as part of targeted and massscale computer attacks. I went there to take the 5 days course for 610 reverseengineering malware.
Pdf stream dumper combines several pdf analysis utilities under a single graphical user interface. Zeltsers list free automated sandboxes and services, compiled by lenny zeltser. Lenny zeltser develops teams, products, and programs that use information security to achieve business results. This capability allows programmers to easily parse, examine and decode malicious pdf objects. Use automated analysis sandbox tools for an initial. Realworld tools needed to prevent, detect, and handle malicious code attacks. Apart of the course the main choice was due to the instructor. Analyzing malicious documents this cheat sheet outlines tips and tools for analyzing malicious documents, such as microsoft office, rtf and adobe acrobat pdf files. Find and extract javascript deobfuscate javascript extract the shellcode create a shellcode executable analyze shellcode and determine what is does. Analyzing malicious documents useful ms office analysis commands. Zeltser s list free automated sandboxes and services, compiled by lenny zeltser. How to extract flash objects from malicious pdf files. We still have much to learn for dealing with flash programs in pdf files. The free reverse engineering malware tools provided in lenny zeltser s.
Sans digital forensics and incident response blog 4 cheat. Introduction to malware analysis free recorded webcast. Malicious code analysis and related topics are covered in the sans institute course for610. Malicious documents pdf analysis in 5 steps reverse. By using remnux distro the steps are described by lenny zeltser as being. What tools and techniques work in malware analysis rsa. A register is a specialized location on the cpu that can store data and that is very fast at accessing the data. Analyzing malicious documents this cheat sheet outlines tips and tools for reverse. Learn malware analysis fundamentals from the primary author of sans course for610. Guide to malware incident prevention and handling for desktops and laptops. Lenny zeltser develops teams, products, and programs that use information security to achieve business. This popular malware analysis course has helped forensic investigators, incident responders and it administrators acquire practical skills for. How to create an efficient incident response plan including. Analyzing suspicious pdf files with peepdf lenny zeltser.
In remnux, i use pdfid to look at the properties of the file. Analyzing malicious documents this cheat sheet outlines tips and tools for reverseengineering malicious documents, such as microsoft office doc, xls, ppt and adobe acrobat pdf files. Analyzing pdf malware part 1 trustwave spiderlabs trustwave. Remnux usage tips for malware analysis on linux this cheat sheet outlines the tools and. Guide to malware incident prevention and handling for. By understanding how evasion works and learning how to recognize its characteristics in malicious code, security professionals can derive actionable threat intelligence and fortify defenses. In this session, lenny zeltser will introduce you to the process of reverseengineering malicious software.
To learn more about this topic, tune into the webcast how to run linux malware analysis apps as docker containers. Examine the document for anomalies, such as risky tags, scripts, or other anomalous. In information security, perfection is the enemy of progress, says lenny zeltser, vp of product at axonius. Remnux is maintained by lenny zeltser with extensive help from david westcott. Lenny zeltser 4 free online tools for examining suspicious pdfs in an earlier post i outlined 6 free local tools for examining pdf files.
Could gizmos forum recommend a free tool for analyzing suspicious pdf files. The aim of this tool is to provide all the necessary components that a security researcher could need in a pdf analysis without using 3 or 4 tools to make all the tasks. How to analyze malware with remnuxs reverseengineering malware tools by keith barker. Inside network perimeter security 2nd edition stephen northcutt, lenny zeltser, scott winters, karen kent, ronald w. Take a look at the ubuntubased malware analysis toolkit. Aptly called the yoda of malware analysis by his students, lenny zeltser keeps his eye on the big picture and focuses on the sum of events rather than individual occurrences. This cheat sheet outlines tips and tools for analyzing malicious documents, such as microsoft office, rtf and adobe acrobat pdf files. Aug 04, 2016 virustotal free online analysis of malware samples and urls. How to analyze malware with remnuxs reverseengineering. Im a big fan of remnux because it reduces some of the overhead associated with malware analysis. How to analyze malware with remnuxs reverseengineering malware tools.
Examine the document for anomalies, such as risky tags, scripts, or other anomalous aspects. Introduction to malware analysis slides by lenny zeltser introduction to malware analysis free recorded webcast by lenny zeltser. Analysis and recovery, which happens once the incident has been controlled, should be methodical and processdriven. The list includes pdf examiner, jsunpack, wepawet and gallus. Malicious code is a set of instructions that runs on your computer and makes your system do something that you do not want it to do.
Take a look at the ubuntubased malware analysis toolkit remnux. When looking at compiled programs, this process involves using a disassembler, a debugger and, perhaps, a decompiler to examine the programs lowlevel assembly or bytecode instructions. A linux toolkit for reverseengineering and analyzing malware. If you prefer a gui interface for this stage, malzilla or pdfstreamdumper are both nice visual solutions. Introduction to malware analysis slides by lenny zeltser introduction to malware analysis free recorded webcast by lenny zeltser analysis of malware samples excellent tips for process monitor sams honeynet reverse engineering malware class notes mar. Malicious documents pdf analysis in 5 steps count upon. Malicious document analysis and related topics are covered in the sans institute course. Pdfs are described by searchsecurity contributor lenny zeltser in his blog post on analyzing malicious documents. Tools and techniques for fighting malicious code published by. Federal reserve system, and lenny zeltser gemini systems llc, as well as representatives from the general accounting office, and for their particularly valuable.
Being able to analyze pdfs to understand the associated threats is an increasingly important skill for security incident responders and digital forensic analysts. Tips for reverseengineering malicious code cheat sheet. Lenny zeltser teaches malware analysis at sans institute. In many cases, such as a case involving malicious software, it will even need special equipment. These online tools automate the scanning of pdf files to identify malicious components. Polichombr a malware analysis platform designed to help analysts to reverse malwares collaboratively. We are going to mix it up a bit and check out one of the guis. Mar 06, 2019 what tools and techniques work in malware analysis. Lenny zeltser focuses on safeguarding customers it operations at ncr corporation.
Security professionals and administrators now have access to one of the most valuable resources for learning best practices for network perimeter security. Attackers continue to use malicious pdf files as part of targeted attacks and massscale clientside exploitation. Like many of these great analysis tools it comes precompiled on lenny zeltser s remnux 2 linux distro. We provide comprehensive information on the analysis which includes all indicators of compromises, screenshots and process behavior graphs. Code analysis reverseengineers the malicious program to understand the code that implements the specimens behavior. In this first of a multipart writeup we will analyze a sample pdf aptly. Reveals how attackers install malicious code and how they evade detection shows how you can defeat their schemes and keep your computers and network safe. Sep 22, 2014 malicious documents pdf analysis in 5 steps mass mailing or targeted campaigns that use common files to host or exploit code have been and are a very popular vector of attack. Malicious documents pdf analysis in 5 steps mass mailing or targeted campaigns that use common files to host or exploit code have been and are a very popular vector of attack. He will outline behavioral and code analysis phases, to make this topic accessible even to individuals with a limited exposure to programming concepts. In an earlier post i outlined 6 free local tools for examining pdf files. An expert in incident response and malware defense, he is also a developer of remnux. In this session, lenny zeltser will introduce you to. When it comes to cybersecurity, perfection is the enemy of.
Lenny is active on twitter and writes a security blog. In other words, a malicious pdf or ms office document received via email or opened trough a browser plugin. Details viruses, worms, backdoors, trojan horses, rootkits, and other threats explains how to handle todays threats, with an eye on handling the threats to come this is a truly outstanding bookenormous technical wealth and beautifully. Malware analysis essentials using remnux w lenny zeltser. Malware analysis resources existing best practices and tools. Chapter 4 windows assembly language megaprimer video. A cheat sheet of shortcuts and tips for analyzing and reverseengineering malware lenny zeltser teaches digital forensics and antimalware courses at. He also teaches how to analyze malware at sans institute. In the future i plan to cover common file formats such as pdf, ms office binary and open. Nick lewis discusses how to detect and mitigate pdf malware threats. Remnux is an ubuntu distribution that incorporates many such utilities.
There are also several handy webbased tools you can use for analyzing suspicious pdfs without having to install any tools. Malware analysis essentials using remnux by lenny zeltser. Enterprises need a way of deriving meaningful threat intelligence from malicious software they. Here are some of the blog posts and articles written about using remnux for malware analysis. Reverseengineering malware, which theyve coauthored. If you know of other tools that work well for analyzing malicious pdf files and that can be installed locally, please leave a comment. Lenny is a brilliant fellow and top rated sans instructed. For those who dont know, remnux is a linux distro created by lenny zeltser specifically for use in malware analysis. Peepdf, a new tool from jose miguel esparza, is an excellent addition to the pdf analysis toolkit for examining and decoding suspicious pdfs. Lenny zeltser subject primary events from lenny zeltser s analysis of the scenario practical a ssignment for giac intrusion detection curriculum, sans security dc 2000.
Sans author and senior instructor lenny zeltser provides a brief overview of for610, a popular course that covers reverseengineering malware. Remnux usage tips for malware analysis on linux cheat sheet. Peepdf, a new tool from jose miguel esparza, is an excellent addition to the pdf analysis toolkit for examining and decoding suspicious pdfs for this introductory walkthrough, i will take a quick look at the malicious pdf file that i obtained from contagio malware dump. Has anyone tried peepdf, another free pdf analysis toolkit for examining and decoding suspicious pdfs tool from jose miguel esparza. Apr 21, 2017 in case of a malicious pdf files there are 5 steps. Analyzing malicious documents cheat sheet, lenny zeltser. He is presently the ciso at axonius and an author and instructor at sans institute.
Malware analysis essentials using remnux sans institute. Analysis of dridex pdf with embedded maldoc its biebs the. Practical malware analysis free download ebook pdf works as of 20140716 what is a mutex. Fame a malware analysis framework featuring a pipeline that can be extended with custom modules, which can be chained and interact with each other to perform endtoend analysis. Analyzing malicious documents cheat sheet sans forensics. Malware analysis che at sheet the analysis and reversing tips behind this reference are covered in the sans institute course for610. Computer security expert and highly acclaimed author ed skoudis focuses on one of the biggest areas of computer attacksmalicious code. Zeltsers sources a list of malware sample sources put together by lenny zeltser.
Pdf xray lite a pdf analysis tool, the backendfree version of pdf xray. Learn how to get started with malware analysis by using tools installed on the remnux linux distribution. Session title evasion tactics in malware from the inside. Authored by lenny zeltser with feedback from anuj soni.
234 840 983 956 140 756 47 1581 1130 1507 347 565 215 143 640 282 551 577 782 514 22 1231 1023 806 1025 376 688 1413 38 1489 1140 1441 56 39 100 1303 1364 115 1329 1289 414 479 268 1077 692 40 274