Learning Malware Analysis

5.1 Static Analysis of the Sample

Let's start the examination of the malware sample with static analysis. In static analysis, since the malware sample is not executed, it can be performed on either the Linux VM or the Windows VM, using the tools and techniques covered in Chapter 2, Static Analysis. We will start by determining the file type and the cryptographic hash. Based on the following output, the malware binary is a 32-bit executable file:

$ file sales.exe sales.exe: PE32 executable (GUI) Intel 80386, for MS Windows

$ md5sum sales.exe51d9e2993d203bd43a502a2b1e1193da sales.exe

The ASCII strings extracted from the binary using the strings utility contains references to a set of batch commands, which looks like a command to delete files. ...