What are the best malware analysis tools for different scenarios?

1 Static Analysis Tools

Static analysis tools are used to examine the properties and characteristics of malware without executing it, and can provide useful information such as file type, size, hash, metadata, strings, imports, exports, and resources. These tools can help to quickly identify known malware, detect indicators of compromise, and assess the potential impact of malware. Some of the top static analysis tools include PEStudio, a portable tool that analyzes Windows executable files and reveals various indicators of maliciousness; VirusTotal, a web-based service that scans files and URLs with multiple antivirus engines; and CFF Explorer, a tool that allows to view and edit the internal structure of Windows executable files.

2 Dynamic Analysis Tools

Dynamic analysis tools are used to execute malware in a controlled environment and observe its behavior and network activity. These tools can provide useful information such as registry changes, file operations, process creation, network connections, and API calls, which can help to understand how malware operates, communicates, and evades detection. Cuckoo Sandbox is an open-source tool that creates and manages isolated virtual machines where malware can be safely executed and monitored. It provides comprehensive reports on malware behavior, network traffic, screenshots, and memory dumps. Process Monitor is a tool that captures and displays real-time information on process, registry, file system, and network activity on Windows systems. It allows users to filter, search, and highlight events related to malware execution. Wireshark is a tool that captures and analyzes network traffic on various protocols and formats. It allows users to inspect packets, filter traffic, and reconstruct network sessions related to malware communication.

3 Behavioral Analysis Tools

Behavioral analysis tools are used to identify and classify malware based on its actions and effects on the system. These tools can provide useful information such as malware family, type, variant, and functionality. They can also help to compare and correlate malware samples, detect unknown malware, and generate signatures and rules for detection and prevention. YARA is a tool that allows to create and apply rules that describe patterns and characteristics of malware based on strings, bytes, or regular expressions. Volatility is a tool that allows to extract and analyze information from memory dumps of infected systems. CAPE extends the functionality of Cuckoo Sandbox by adding capabilities for malware configuration extraction, process injection detection, anti-analysis evasion, and more. All of these tools can provide more detailed and accurate information on malware behavior and classification.

4 Code Analysis Tools

Code analysis tools are used to examine the source code or assembly code of malware and understand its logic and functionality. These tools provide useful information, such as control flow, data structures, algorithms, encryption, obfuscation, and anti-analysis techniques. Code analysis tools can be used to reverse engineer malware, debug it, and modify it. Popular examples include IDA Pro, Ghidra, and x64dbg. IDA Pro disassembles binary files into assembly code and provides features for code analysis like graphs, cross-references, comments, annotations, debugging, and scripting. Ghidra also disassembles binary files into assembly code and decompiles them into C-like code. It has features for code analysis such as graphs, cross-references, comments, annotations, patching, and scripting. x64dbg debugs binary files and allows you to execute, pause, step, trace break, modify and inspect code and memory. It has features for code analysis such as graphs, cross-references, comments annotations plugins and scripting.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?