5 Must-Have Tools for Effective Dynamic Malware Analysis

5 Must-Have Tools for Effective Dynamic Malware Analysis

October 2, 2024 at 08:03AM

Dynamic malware analysis is crucial for threat investigations, requiring fast, in-depth, and precise tools. Interactivity enhances analysis by enabling real-time interaction with malware and systems. Extraction of IOCs uncovers crucial indicators of compromise. MITRE ATT&CK mapping helps understand attack tactics. Network traffic and process analysis reveal communication and execution insights. ANY.RUN sandbox offers these capabilities for effective analysis.

Based on the meeting notes, I have extracted the following key takeaways:

1. Importance of Interactivity
– Real-time interaction with malware and system provides advantages for dynamic analysis.
– Saves time by allowing download of samples from websites and opens archived files.
– Example of using interactivity for analyzing the entire chain of attack from a phishing email containing a PDF attachment to extracting and executing the malicious payload in the sandbox.

2. Extraction of IOCs
– Gathering relevant indicators of compromise (IOCs) is a crucial objective of dynamic analysis.
– Certain sandbox solutions have advanced capabilities for collecting IOCs, such as file hashes, malicious URLs, C2 connections, and more.
– Demonstrated the extraction of AsyncRAT sample configuration by the ANY.RUN sandbox.

3. MITRE ATT&CK Mapping
– Understanding the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used in malware targeting helps in building stronger defenses.
– Demonstrated the mapping of TTPs of an AgentTesla malware sample analyzed in the ANY.RUN sandbox.

4. Network Traffic Analysis
– Thorough examination of the network traffic generated by the malware is essential for dynamic analysis.
– Capturing and analyzing network traffic, including HTTP requests, connections, and DNS requests, provides insights into the malware’s communication with external servers and its activities.

5. Advanced Process Analysis
– Detailed information about the processes spawned by the malware is crucial for understanding its execution flow and impact on the system.
– Features of advanced process analysis provided by the ANY.RUN sandbox, such as visual process tree, process dumps, tracking scripts and commands, and monitoring registry changes.

These takeaways highlight the importance of dynamic malware analysis and showcase the capabilities of the ANY.RUN sandbox in facilitating effective and precise analysis.

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