🔥 Advanced

Dynamic Analysis

Dynamic analysis involves running the malware in a controlled environment (sandbox) to observe its behavior, network traffic, and system modifications.

Safety First

ALWAYS perform dynamic analysis in an isolated Virtual Machine (VM) with no connection to your host or production network. Use a host-only network adapter or a dedicated malware lab network.

System Monitoring

Tools to capture file system, registry, and process activity in real-time.

Process Monitor (Procmon)

Filters are key. Filter by "Process Name" is "malware.exe". Look for:

CreateFile: Dropping new files.
RegSetValue: Persistence mechanisms (Run keys).
Process Create: Launching child processes (e.g., cmd.exe, powershell.exe).

Process Hacker / Process Explorer

View running processes, parent-child relationships, loaded DLLs, and memory strings.

Network Monitoring

Malware often beacons to C2 servers or downloads payloads.

Wireshark

Capture all traffic. Look for DNS queries (often the first sign of activity) and HTTP/TCP streams.

INetSim

Simulates common internet services (DNS, HTTP, FTP) so the malware thinks it's online and reveals its network behavior without actually connecting to the internet.

Debugging

Stepping through instructions one by one to analyze specific functions or bypass checks.

x64dbg (x32dbg)

Modern, open-source debugger for Windows.

Breakpoints: Set breakpoints on interesting API calls (e.g., `bp VirtualAlloc`, `bp CreateProcessW`).
Memory Map: View memory sections to find unpacked code.