This dynamic analysis technique entails to execute malware within a controlled environment—a "sandbox"—to observe its behaviour without the risk to harm real systems. This approach is pivotal for:
- Identifying Malware Functionality: By monitoring the malware's actions in the sandbox, analysts can discern its capabilities. Does it attempt to modify system files, connect to remote servers, or encrypt data? It is crucial to understand these actions to determine the malware's purpose and potential impact.
- Extracting Indicators of Compromise (IOCs): Sandbox analysis frequently reveals specific indicators that can be used to detect the malware or related threats in other environments. These IOCs might include file hashes, network signatures, registry keys, or unusual process creation patterns, all of which are instrumental to improve detection and response capabilities.
- Understanding Malware Behaviour Over Time: Some sandboxes are sophisticated enough to capture detailed information about the malware's execution flow, including system calls, file accesses, and network communications. This data analysis helps researchers understand how the malware functions, identify potential vulnerabilities it exploits and track its evolution across different versions or campaigns.
This static analysis technique deconstructs the malware's code to comprehend, how it works without the need for its execution. This method is invaluable for:
- Uncovering Hidden Functionality: Reverse engineering permits analysts to examine all code paths within the malware, including those that might not be triggered during dynamic analysis. This is crucial to identify hidden features such as logic bombs, backdoors, or anti-analysis techniques designed to evade detection.
- Determining Malware Origins and Attribution: Occasionally, reverse engineering can reveal clues about the malware's authors or the tools and techniques used to create it. Although not always conclusive, this information can be valuable to attribute attacks to specific threat actors or groups and aid broader threat intelligence efforts.
- Developing More Precise Detection Signatures: With a comprehensive knowledge about the malware's code, analysts can develop more precise and robust detection signatures that are less likely to trigger false positives. These signatures can be deployed in various security tools, and enhance the effectiveness of intrusion detection systems, antivirus software, or security information and event management systems.
A widely utilised technique, this relies on the identification of known patterns or characteristics within malware code or behaviour. It is effective for:
- Rapidly Identifying Known Threats: Signature-based detection excels at the identification and the mitigation of known malware strains that have been previously analysed and documented. This approach maintains a baseline level of security by blocking common threats.
- Automating Threat Detection and Response: Well-suited for automation, signature-based detection allows security tools to scan for and respond to threats in real-time, thereby it alleviates the burden on security teams and improve response times.
- Limitations in Detecting New or Evolving Threats: However, the reliance on pre-defined patterns means that signature-based detection struggles to identify new or highly sophisticated malware that has not yet been analysed or employs techniques like polymorphism or code obfuscation to evade detection.
It focuses on the identification of suspicious or malicious activities based on deviations from established baselines or expected behaviour patterns, behavioural analysis is instrumental for:
- Detecting Zero-Day Threats and Anomalies: Especially valuable to detect previously unknown threats—often referred to as "zero-day" attacks—that might not be caught by traditional signature-based methods. The establishement of baselines of the normal system and user behaviour, security tools can flag anomalous activities that might indicate an attack, even if the specific malware or technique is unknown.
- Improving Threat Hunting and Incident Response: It is essential to understand common attacker behaviours and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) for effective threat hunting and incident response. The leverage of behavioural analysis allows security teams to proactively search for indicators of compromise within their environments rather than to solely rely on reactive alerts triggered by known threats.
