Malware Dismemberment for Safe Network Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for handling malware are inefficient and risky, as they require quarantined environments for analysis, leading to high costs and the risk of accidental execution during forensic investigation.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that dismember and encrypt malware files, removing execution capability and reassembling them into a dismembered executable object, allowing safe handling and analysis within a normal networked environment without the need for quarantine.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If malware is kept in quarantined environments for analysis, then security is improved by preventing execution, but device complexity and operational costs increase due to specialized hardware and network isolation requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The malware executable is divided into multiple segments or chunks, where no single segment contains the complete executable code. This segmentation prevents the malware from being executed even if accessed, while still allowing analysts to examine individual segments safely without requiring specialized quarantine infrastructure
Solution Approach 2:
A dismemberment engine acts as an intermediary component that automatically processes malware files, breaking them into safe segments and managing their storage and access. This intermediary handles the security concerns without requiring complex quarantine environments, as the segmentation itself provides the protection
2Reliability
If specialized quarantine areas are established for malware analysis, then safety is improved by isolating malware from the network, but loss of time and productivity increase due to complex access procedures and separate analysis networks
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the malware into multiple pieces, the system allows analysts to access and examine individual segments through normal file access mechanisms without requiring time-consuming quarantine procedures. The segmentation inherently provides safety while enabling rapid access to analysis materials
Solution Approach 2:
The dismemberment engine automatically segments malware files as they are stored or accessed, without requiring manual intervention or complex quarantine setup. This self-service approach eliminates time losses associated with manual quarantine management and specialized access procedures
3Object-affected harmful factors
If malware is made inaccessible through quarantine, then execution risk is reduced, but loss of information increases due to inability to perform forensic analysis on the original malware
Solution Approach 1:
The malware is divided into segments that preserve the forensic information needed for analysis while preventing execution. Analysts can examine the segmented files to gather intelligence on malware behavior, structure, and variants without the risk of executing the complete malicious code
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates segmented copies of the malware that contain sufficient information for forensic analysis. These segments serve as safe substitutes that retain the analytical value needed for understanding malware variants while eliminating the execution risk associated with the original complete executable
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for rendering malware files safe for handling may include processing circuitry configured to receive a executable object, divide the executable object into a plurality of segments, remove execution capability from each of the segments, encrypt each of the segments to generate an encrypted segment set, and reassemble the encrypted segment set as a dismembered executable object.