Authors: Andrew White (Dell Secureworks), Bradley Schatz, Ph.D. (Schatz Forensic), Ernest Foo
DFRWS USA 2013
Abstract
We present a novel approach for the construction and application of cryptographic hashes to userspace memory for the purposes of verifying the provenance of code in memory images. Several key aspects of Windows behavior which influence this process are examined in depth. Our approach is implemented and evaluated on a selection of malware samples with userspace components as well as a collection of common Windows applications. The results demonstrate that our approach is highly effective at reducing the amount of memory requiring manual analysis, highlighting the presence of malicious code in all the malware sampled.