Course Description
This hands-on training teaches the concepts, tools, and techniques to analyze, investigate and hunt malwares by combining two powerful techniques malware analysis and memory forensics.This course will introduce attendees to basics of malware analysis, reverse engineering, Windows internals and memory forensics, it then gradually progresses deep into more advanced concepts of malware analysis & memory forensics. Attendees will learn to perform static, dynamic, code and memory analysis.
This course consists of scenario-based hands-on labs after each module which involves analyzing real-world malware samples and infected memory images (crimeware, APT malware, fileless malwares, Rootkits etc). This hands-on training is designed to help attendees gain a better understanding of the subject in short span. Throughout the course, the attendees will learn the latest techniques used by the adversaries to compromise and persist on the system.
The training also demonstrates how to integrate the malware analysis and forensics techniques into a custom sandbox to automate the analysis of malicious code. After taking this course attendees will be better equipped with skills to analyze, investigate and respond to malware-related incidents.
The training provides practical guidance and attendees should walk away with the following skills:
- How malware and Windows internals work
- How to create a safe and isolated lab environment for malware analysis
- What are the techniques and tools to perform malware analysis
- How to perform static analysis to determine the metadata associated with malware
- How to perform dynamic analysis of the malware to determine its interaction with process, file system, registry and network
- How to perform code analysis to determine the malware functionality
- How to debug a malware using tools like IDA Pro, Ollydbg/Immunity debugger/x64dbg
- How to analyze downloaders, droppers, keyloggers, fileless malware, HTTP backdoors, etc.
- What is Memory Forensics and its use in malware and digital investigation
- Ability to acquire a memory image from suspect/infected systems
- How to use open source advanced memory forensics framework (Volatility)
- Understanding of the techniques used by the malwares to hide from Live forensic tools
- Understanding of the techniques used by Rootkits(code injection, hooking, etc.)
- Investigative steps for detecting stealth and advanced malware
- How memory forensics helps in malware analysis and reverse engineering
- How to incorporate malware analysis and memory forensics in sandbox
- How to determine the network and host-based indicators (IOC)
- Techniques to hunt malwares
Course contents
Introduction to Malware Analysis:
- What is Malware
- What they do
- Why malware analysis
- Types of malware analysis
- Setting up an isolated lab environment
Static Analysis:
- Fingerprinting the malware
- Extracting strings
- Determining File obfuscation
- Pattern matching using YARA
- Fuzzing hashing & comparison
- Understanding PE File characteristics
- Disassembly
- Hands-on lab exercise involves analyzing real malware sample
Dynamic Analysis/Behavioural analysis:
- Dynamic Analysis Steps
- Understanding Dynamic Analysis tools
- Simulating services
- Performing Dynamic Analysis
- Monitoring process, filesystem, registry and network activity
- Determining the Indicators of compromise (host and network indicators)
- Demo – Showing the static & dynamic analysis of real malware sample
- Hands-on lab exercise involves analyzing real malware sample
Automating Malware Analysis(sandbox):
- Custom Sandbox Overview
- Working of Sandbox
- Sandbox Features
- Demo – Analyzing malware in the custom sandbox
Code Analysis:
- Code Analysis Overview
- Disassembler & Debuggers
- Code Analysis Tools
- Basics of IDA Pro
- Basics of Ollydbg/x64dbg
- Understanding the API calls
- Reversing Malware functionalities(Downloader, dropper, keylogger, code injection, HTTP backdoor)
- Hands-on lab exercise involves analyzing real malware sample
Introduction to Memory Forensics:
- What is Memory Forensics
- Why Memory Forensics
- Steps in Memory Forensics
- Memory acquisition and tools
- Acquiring memory From physical machine
- Acquiring memory from the virtual machine
- Hands-on exercise involves acquiring the memory
Volatility Overview:
- Introduction to Volatility Advanced Memory Forensics Framework
- Volatility Installation
- Volatility basic commands
- Determining the profile
- Volatility help options
- Running the plugin
Investigating Process:
- Understanding Process Internals
- Process(EPROCESS) Structure
- Process organization
- Process Enumeration by walking the double linked list
- process relationship (parent-child relationship)
- Understanding DKOM attacks
- Process Enumeration using pool tag scanning
- Volatility plugins to enumerate processes
- Identifying malware process
- Hands-on lab exercise(scenario based) involves investigating malware infected memory
Investigating Process handles & Registry:
- Objects and handles overview
- Enumerating process handles using Volatility
- Understanding Mutex
- Detecting malware presence using mutex
- Understanding the Registry
- Investigating common registry keys using Volatility
- Detecting malware persistence
- Hands-on lab exercise(scenario based) involves investigating malware infected memory
Investigating Network Activities:
- Understanding malware network activities
- Volatility Network Plugins
- Investigating Network connections
- Investigating Sockets
- Hands-on lab exercise(scenario based) involves investigating malware infected memory
Investigation Process Memory:
- Process memory Internals
- Listing DLLs using Volatility
- Identifying hidden DLLs
- Dumping malicious executable from memory
- Dumping Dll’s from memory
- Scanning the memory for patterns(yarascan)
- Hands-on lab exercise(scenario based) involves investigating malware infected memory
Investigating User-Mode Rootkits & Fileless Malwares:
- Code Injection
- Types of Code injection
- Remote DLL injection
- Remote Code injection
- Reflective DLL injection
- Hollow process injection
- Demo – Case Study
- Hands-on lab exercise(scenario based) involves investigating malware infected memory
Memory Forensics in Sandbox technology:
- Sandbox Overview
- Integrating Memory Forensics into a sandbox
- Demo – showing the use of memory forensics in a custom sandbox
Investigating Kernel-Mode Rootkits:
- Understanding Rootkits
- Understanding Functional call traversal in Windows
- Level of Hooking/Modification on Windows
- Kernel Volatility plugins
- Hands-on lab exercise(scenario based) involves investigating malware infected memory
- Demo – Rootkit Investigation
Memory Forensic Case Studies:
- Demo – Hunting an APT malware from Memory
Who should take this course?
This course is intended for
- Forensic practitioners, incident responders, cyber-security investigators, security researchers, malware analysts, system administrators, software developers, students and curious security professionals who would like to expand their skills
- Anyone interested in learning malware analysis and memory forensics.
Requirements
Students should:
- Be familiar with using Windows/Linux
- Have an understanding of basic programming concepts, while programming experience is not mandatory.
Hardware/Software Requirements
Students should bring:
- Laptop with minimum 6GB RAM and 40GB free hard disk space
- Laptop with USB ports. The lab samples and custom Linux VM will be shared via USB sticks
- VMware Workstation or VMware Fusion (even trial versions can be used).
- Windows Operating system (preferably Windows 10 64-bit, even Windows 8 and Windows 7 versions are fine) installed inside the VMware Workstation/Fusion. You must have full administrator access for the Windows operating system installed inside the VMware Workstation/Fusion.
Note: VMware player or VirtualBox is not suitable for this training. The lab setup guide will be sent you after registration.
Trainer Biography
Monnappa K A is a Security professional with over 15 years of experience in incident response and investigation. He previously worked for Microsoft & Cisco as a threat hunter, mainly focusing on threat hunting, investigation, and research of advanced cyber attacks. He is the author of the best-selling book “Learning Malware Analysis.” He is the review board member for Black Hat Asia, Black Hat USA, and Black Hat Europe. He is the creator of the Limon Linux sandbox and the winner of the Volatility plugin contest 2016. He co-founded the cybersecurity research community “Cysinfo” (https://www.cysinfo.com). He has conducted training sessions on malware analysis, reverse engineering, and memory forensics at Black Hat, BruCON, HITB, FIRST (Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams), SEC-T, OPCDE, and 4SICS-SCADA/ICS cybersecurity summit. He has presented at various security conferences, including Black Hat, FIRST, SEC-T, 4SICS-SCADA/ICS summit, DSCI, National Cyber Defence Summit, and Cysinfo meetings on various topics related to memory forensics, malware analysis, reverse engineering, and rootkit analysis. He has also authored various articles in eForensics and Hakin9 magazines.
You can find some of his contributions to the community on his YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/c/MonnappaKA), and you can read his blog posts at https://cysinfo.com
Twitter: @monnappa22
Sajan Shetty is a Cyber Security enthusiast. He is an active member of Cysinfo, an open Cyber Security Community(https://www.cysinfo.com) committed to educating, empowering, inspiring, and equipping cyber security professionals and students to better fight and defend against cyber threats. He has conducted training sessions at Black Hat, and his primary fields of interest include machine learning, malware analysis, and memory forensics. He has various certifications in machine learning and is passionate about applying machine learning techniques to solve cybersecurity problems.