Practical Malware Analysis

Sandboxes: The Quick-and-Dirty Approach

Several all-in-one software products can be used to perform basic dynamic analysis, and the most popular ones use sandbox technology. A sandbox is a security mechanism for running untrusted programs in a safe environment without fear of harming “real” systems. Sandboxes comprise virtualized environments that often simulate network services in some fashion to ensure that the software or malware being tested will function normally.

Using a Malware Sandbox

Many malware sandboxes—such as Norman SandBox, GFI Sandbox, Anubis, Joe Sandbox, ThreatExpert, BitBlaze, and Comodo Instant Malware Analysis—will analyze malware for free. Currently, Norman SandBox and GFI Sandbox (formerly CWSandbox) are the most popular among ...