A Survey on Secure Environments for Malware Analysis

Any software that causes any harm to users, computers and networks are known as malware. Since a malware is released, installed and spread rapidly, static analysis (signature-based) is not efficient enough due to the techniques such as obfuscation, therefore dynamic analysis (behavior-based) is preferred. Dynamic analysis involves executing the malicious code, thus, in order to prevent possible damages to the operating system and enhance its security, malware must be run in an environment similar to the real one. These secure environments may provide detection operations by creating an isolated space for running malware, analyzing the process and preparing a report. Safe and secure environments expand in wide range; from an implementation of simple wrapping software for personal computers; to a design of a robust microkernel for smartphones. In this research, once familiar with malwares and methods, introduction and evaluation of secure environments in personal computers and smartphones will be discussed.

Keywords:

Malware , Security , Dynamic Analysis , Secure Environment , Smartphone