Some Malware Analysis Tools

I just recently went through a great, albeit difficult, Malware Analysis course. It was very informative and it stretched my ability to understand and follow. The usual DISCLAIMER applies: use the tools at your own risk and your own malware.

Here are some of the free tools we used (and there are a lot of free tools available):

We first installed Virtual Box

Then used the following for Surface Analysis:
Hash Analysis – HashTab (free for personal or private use)
File Type Analysis – TrID
String Analysis – BinText and Sysinternals’ String.exe
Binary Editor – HxD
Pack Analysis – CFF Explorer

Runtime Analysis:
Sysinternals’ Process Explorer
regshot
WinPcap
Wireshark
Sysinternals’ Process Monitor
TCPView
FUndelete (Sysinternals’ old software)
Autoruns
ADSSpy

Static Analysis:
IDA Pro Free
MSDN Library
OllyDbg Version 1
Immunity Debugger
Python 2.5

---

Some Malware Analysis Links:

Practical Malware Analysis PDF by Kris Kendall from BH 07
PenTestIT’s Atool (I’ve never used this but you may want to check it out)
Malware Analysis Tools – from the SANS diary of 2006
Malware Analysis for Fun and Profit PDF
Malware Analysis Presentation from HK’s Professional InfoSec Association

Advertisement

Info Sec News, Jan 22, 2009

One of the reasons why I started this site is because there seems to be a paucity of Information Security News about the Philippines. Sometimes its even hard to find out about Conferences and Seminars in Metro Manila. Its refreshing to be able to find the following:

(YouTube, from GMANews.TV) IMBESTIGADOR – Friendster Hacker (Identity Theft, Cybercrime)
(GMANews.TV, Old News) Woman who hacked Friendster account faces estafa raps

(Computerworld Philippines) Surveys: Security risks impede business innovation
(Computerworld Philippines) Web Security Lifeline: In-the-Cloud Technology Beats Malware Pollution
(Computerworld Philippines) Survey: Banks need better communication methods
(Inquirer.net) Nasty worm hits millions of computers
(Inquirer.net) Kids’ shield vs porn on Net removed
(Manila Bulletin Online) EMC creates new company to address today’s growing personal information challenge
(Manila Bulletin Online) RP to benefit from Satyam scandal, lawmaker crows
(Manila Bulletin Online) Employees’ everyday behavior puts sensitive business information at risk – new threat study from EMC reveals
(Manila Bulletin Online) Sophos warns Twitter users of possible hacking

---

Just in case you need help in figuring out HijackThis, there’s this useful tutorial on PCHell.com. If you already use HijackThis and don’t understand parts of the log file, the tutorial points you to the HijackThis Logfile Analysis site.

---

The recent Twitter hack shows that some Admin level personnel should follow Admin Password Best Practices. Apparently the Admin’s password was, ‘happiness’, as is discussed in this Wired blog.

---

Other Info Sec News:
(SecurityFocus) Payment processor warns of network breach
(HeiseSecurity) Over 100 million credit / debit cards compromised
(Washington Post) Payment Processor Breach May Be Largest Ever
(HeiseSecurity) QuickTime 7.6 update brings security fixes
(HeiseSecurity) Elcomsoft Wi-Fi auditor prompts security warnings

Info Sec News, Jan 19, 2009

Secure Coding and Application Dev
What is probably the most significant security news item of the past week is the release of SANS and Mitre of their Top 25 errors and how to fix them. It’s been said that around 85% of criminal activities on the net stem from the current crop of Top 25 flaws. The Top 25 list is divided into three broad categories namely: Insecure Interaction Between Components, Risky Resource Management, and Porous Defenses.

The PDF version of the Top 25 is available here.

The Software Assurance Forum for Excellence in Code (SAFECode) has made two publications available to help eliminate the Top 25 errors, its Guide to the Most Effective Secure Dev Practices in Use Today, and Software Assurance: An Overview of Current Industry Best Practices.

---

Social Engineering
A rehash of old tactics can be seen in an E-mail purportedly from Northwest Airlines (but actually carries a zipped trojan file), and malware spreading websites that claim US President elect Obama won’t be taking the oath of office on the 20th. This just strengthens the argument that your personnel and their security awareness training are now your first line of defense, and not your perimeter firewall.

This is related to the fake Christmas and holiday greetings that been sent every year for the past few years, which was seen again this past Christmas.

---

Malware
The Downadup (also known as Conficker) Worm versions A, B and C that exploits what Microsoft released an out of band patch for in late October ’08, and weak Admin passwords, is said to have infected an “amazing” 9 million PC’s according to F-Secure researchers. If you’re wondering how they got to this astonishing figure, check out F-Secure’s Blog.

(PC World) UK Ministry of Defence Stung by Rapidly Spreading Virus

---

Secure deletion, reuse or disposal
According to new research led by Craig Wright, it just takes one re-write to securely wipe the data from a hard drive. This talks about a complete sector by sector overwrite of a hard drive.

Articles on this can be found on Heise Security and SecurityFocus. The paper was presented at the Fourth International Conference on Information Systems Security (ICISS) in Hyderabad, India and can be purchased here.

---

Encryption
Heise Security has published an in depth article on how modern cryptological attacks are done in their article, “Cheap Cracks“.

---

Patches and Change Management
Oracle released fixes for 41 different flaws this month and Microsoft released a single patch that closed three flaws.

(Heise Security) Numerous security updates from Oracle
(Heise Security) Microsoft closes three holes in Windows
Microsoft issues patches for ‘nasty’ Windows bugs

A vulnerability in SAP GUI has also been found and a patch has been released and is available to registered SAP users.

---

Other InfoSec News:
In relation to the Anonymization article I wrote about a few days ago, the makers of Tor has announced that their software has zero known bugs.

(Computerworld) Two big, bad botnets gone, but replacements step up

(Computerworld) Critical security projects escape the budget ax

(Heise Security) Banking details can be stolen through a new JavaScript exploit

(Computerworld) Six Worst Internet Routing Attacks

(GO San Angelo.com) US Air Force planning to train hundreds yearly in cyber warfare skills

(Information Week) Thief Steals Sony Ericsson Prototypes

The Windows 7 Beta Team has removed the 2.5 million download limit as stated in the Windows 7 Blog. People can get the Beta until January 24.

Secunia Advisories

---

Tips:

(Computerworld) How to Secure your Vista PC in 10 easy steps

(Computerworld Blog) Removing malware from an infected PC

The Windows Security Blog has announced a new Beta called Sundance that could help secure Windows and Office 2007 installations.

In relation to what I wrote about around a month ago regarding wireless networks, the crack in the WPA protocol only affects the TKIP version and not AES, so the solution is to simply switch from TKIP to AES as is detailed in this article from Search Security.com, “Cracks in WPA? How to continue protecting Wi-Fi networks“.

(PC Magazine) The Top Tech Tips of 2008 Part 1

(PC Magazine) The Top Tech Tips of 2008 Part 2

Info Sec News, Dec 2, 2008

A rootkit was found in an Enterprise Information Security software, reports Heise Security and The Register.

Another vulnerability was found in the popular VLC media player. So if you can, update.

The Chicago Tribune reports that a new round of cyber attacks has the Pentagon worried. They normally get a whole number of attacks per day, however, the magnitude and way the new attacks are being done are apparently designed to specifically attack military networks. Heise also covers the same topic here and here.

The Linux on iPhone project has released the first results of its project.

Anti-virus seems to be ineffective versus new malware that makes zombies out of PCs. Stuart Staniford talks about it in his blog.

WordPress update fixes XSS vulnerability.

Google denies security hole in GMail.

Microsoft adds malware detection to its Webmaster tools. Speaking of Microsoft, a new windows worm builds a massive botnet worth around half a million computers and growing.

For the first time, Apple quietly recommended Anti Virus software in a technote. About.com has Mac Anti-Virus recommendations. iAntivirus and ClamXav are free.

Launching of DefCon Philippines

Soft Launching of Defcon Philippines (DC3662) will be on Dec 20, 2008 with a half day event (1-6PM) at Handuraw, 460 Gorordo Avenue, Cebu City.

For more info, check out www.defconph.org.
There’s also great info in their blog section. They will be sponsored by opononline and Empress of Drac.

A couple of Blogs about this event:

Beyond the norms

cebubloggers

Third Wave

---

Since I posted something about Social Networks and the Philippines probably around a week back, you might want to check out the Pinoy Post Blog by Melvin Calimag over at ZDNetAsia who recently wrote an informative article about the same topic.

Since the author seems to be one of the few writers on IT in the Philippines, I googled him and came upon this interesting article written around the start of this year.

---

Other Info Sec News

Security update for xt:commerce Shop system

Obama’s cell phone records breached

Verizon staff break into Obama’s cell phone account

US Military’s ban of USB thumb drives highlights security risks

Buffer overflow in Vista’s TCP/IP stack

Microsoft to offer free security solution, discontinue OneCare. This is also related to,
Microsoft hopes free security means less malware

Key Logger Spyware ordered off the market

Brief study shows difficulty in detecting malware

Apple plugs a dozen iPhone security holes

Computer virus brings London hospital networks to a standstill

---

New Links:

MASE Consulting – Policies and Procedures
Software Assurance Forum for Excellence in Code

SPAM drops, DDoS Attacks, Whitepapers

There’s apparently been a huge drop in SPAM after two ISPs were cut off.
Stories from Washington Post, and BBC. Brian Krebs of the Wash Post also talks about this in his Security Fix Blog.

---

More ISPs are allocating resources for DDoS attacks according to Arbor Network’s 2008 Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report. A related article is on ZDNet and an article on Vunet talks about ISP’s fear on IPv6 threats.

A study by Google, presented at the RIPE Meeting in Dubai reports that France and Russia are ahead in IPv6 .

---

Security Focus reports that, “Anti-malware testing group releases standards“, and they can be downloaded here.

---

SANS will also have a Webcast on Understanding the WPA/WPA2 Break.

Since we’re on the topic of webcasts, SourceBoston’s 2008 Conference from March of this year have been up on Blip.tv for a while now. They have great presentations on Incident response, Secure Coding, etc.

---

And since I enjoyed Schneier’s essay on, “The Psychology of Security“, I just thought that InfoSec professionals would find it funny that the Washington Times reports that Paranoia is on the rise :).

---

SC Magazine Whitepaper Roundup

Top five strategies for combating modern threats – is anti-virus dead?
By: Sophos Plc.
Today’s fast, targeted, silent threats take advantage of the open network and new technologies that support an increasingly mobile workforce. Organizations need innovative approaches to protect the web, email servers and endpoint. This paper discusses the security implications of modern…

Complying with the Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard
By: DeviceLock, Inc.
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was drawn up in order to reduce leakage and inappropriate use of credit card information. It contains over 100 clear information security requirements for all companies who process, store or transfer data about cardholders: banks, processing…

Addressing the Operational Challenges of Administrative Passwords
By: ManageEngine
Enterprises making use of various IT systems (servers, devices, applications etc.) face numerous challenges due to the proliferation of administrative passwords (also called as privileged passwords). This white paper discusses the problems associated with administrative password proliferation with…

Tripwire PCI DSS Solutions- Automated, Continuous Compliance
By: Tripwire, Inc.
Find out step-by-step what it takes to become compliant with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard (DSS), and how Tripwire can help your company achieve and maintain PCI compliance.

Malware Security: Taking the Botnet Threat Seriously
By: FireEye, Inc.
How does malware continue to infiltrate networks? Primarily because traditional defenses only address the threat in pieces and parts, which leaves gaps in the enterprise security infrastructure. Meanwhile, malware has become organized to form massive ‘botnets’ (networks of compromised…

ComputerWorld Technical Briefing: Mission-Critical Security – The Threat from Within
By: PacketMotion
We all know blind spots are bad for drivers but are you aware of how potentially disastrous they can be for IT security professionals? Take a few minutes to review this Computerworld report and you’ll get a clear picture of both the problem and the solution!.

Automating Code Reviews: How to Manage Application Risk on a Shrinking Budget
By: Veracode
In a tightening economy many organizations are faced with a “do more with less” mandate on their budgets and their security strategies. On-demand application security testing offered as an outsourced service – based on binary analysis and multiple scanning technologies…

Database Auditing Tools and Strategies
By: Sensage
Learn about a new set of software tools that provide low overhead audit collection with storage, alerting and reporting capabilities. This paper details the trade-offs and strategy of each option.