Basic Malware Analysis Tools
We’ll be looking at the following basic malware analysis tool: PEiD, Dependency Walker, Resource Hacker, PEview and FileAlyzer. For your convenience we will supply a download link for the tools as well so you can get your malware analysis toolbox ready for the upcoming tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter as we will be updating this list and our toolbox along the upcoming tutorials.
PEiD:-
PEiD is a small application which is used to detect common packers, cryptors and compilers. Malware writers often attempt to pack or obfuscate their malware to make it harder to detect and to analyse. The current version of PEiD can detect over 470 different signatures in PE files which are loaded from a txt file called userdb.
Note - (The official PEiD website is not active anymore).
Dependency Walker:-
Another great basic malware analysis tool is Dependency Walker. Dependency Walter is a free application which can be used to scan 32 and 64 bit Windows modules (.exe, .dll, .ocx, etc.) and is used to list all the imported and exported functions of a module. Dependency Walker also displays the dependencies of the file which will result in a minimum set of required files. Depency Walker also displays detailed information about those files including the filepath, version number, machine type, debug information etc.
Resource Hacker:-
Resource Hacker, or sometimes called ResHackers, is a free application used to extract resources from Windows binaries. Resource Hacker can extract, add and modify most resources like strings, images, menus, dialogs, VersionInfo, Manifest resources etc. The latest version of Resource Hacker, which is version 4.2.4, was release in July 2015.
PEview:-
PEview is a free and easy to use application to browse through the information stored in Portable Executable (PE) file headers and the different sections of the file. In the following tutorials we will be learning how to read those headers when we’re examining real malware.
FileAlyzer:-
FileAlyzer is also a free tool to read information stored in PE file headers and sections but offers slightly more features and functionality than PEview. Nice features are the VirusTotal tab which can be used to submit malware to VirusTotal for analysis and the functionality to unpack UPX and PECompact packed files. And yes, Filealyzer is a typo but the developer decided to stick with the name which is kinda cool in my opinion.
We’ll be looking at the following basic malware analysis tool: PEiD, Dependency Walker, Resource Hacker, PEview and FileAlyzer. For your convenience we will supply a download link for the tools as well so you can get your malware analysis toolbox ready for the upcoming tutorials. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter as we will be updating this list and our toolbox along the upcoming tutorials.
PEiD:-
PEiD is a small application which is used to detect common packers, cryptors and compilers. Malware writers often attempt to pack or obfuscate their malware to make it harder to detect and to analyse. The current version of PEiD can detect over 470 different signatures in PE files which are loaded from a txt file called userdb.
Note - (The official PEiD website is not active anymore).
Dependency Walker:-
Another great basic malware analysis tool is Dependency Walker. Dependency Walter is a free application which can be used to scan 32 and 64 bit Windows modules (.exe, .dll, .ocx, etc.) and is used to list all the imported and exported functions of a module. Dependency Walker also displays the dependencies of the file which will result in a minimum set of required files. Depency Walker also displays detailed information about those files including the filepath, version number, machine type, debug information etc.
Resource Hacker:-
Resource Hacker, or sometimes called ResHackers, is a free application used to extract resources from Windows binaries. Resource Hacker can extract, add and modify most resources like strings, images, menus, dialogs, VersionInfo, Manifest resources etc. The latest version of Resource Hacker, which is version 4.2.4, was release in July 2015.
PEview:-
PEview is a free and easy to use application to browse through the information stored in Portable Executable (PE) file headers and the different sections of the file. In the following tutorials we will be learning how to read those headers when we’re examining real malware.
FileAlyzer:-
FileAlyzer is also a free tool to read information stored in PE file headers and sections but offers slightly more features and functionality than PEview. Nice features are the VirusTotal tab which can be used to submit malware to VirusTotal for analysis and the functionality to unpack UPX and PECompact packed files. And yes, Filealyzer is a typo but the developer decided to stick with the name which is kinda cool in my opinion.
