Malware: Fighting Malicious Code

Building a Malware Analysis Laboratory

He then took me into his laboratory and explained to me the uses of his various machines, instructing me as to what I ought to procure…

—Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, published 1818

Let's first turn our attention to building a malware analysis laboratory of your very own. People frequently ask me about the equipment they need to do malware analysis at home or in the office. As you download and test various defensive and offensive programs described throughout this book, you'll need a solid environment to conduct these freakish experiments on your own. Beyond mere freelance experimentation, you might encounter various malware specimens in use against your own production systems in the wild. Using the laboratory ...