Obfuscation: The Hidden Malware

Philip O'Kane; Sakir Sezer; Kieran McLaughlin

doi:10.1109/MSP.2011.98

Obfuscation: The Hidden Malware

Philip O'Kane
, Sakir Sezer
, Kieran McLaughlin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

188 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A cyberwar exists between malware writers and antimalware researchers. At this war's heart rages a weapons race that originated in the 80s with the first computer virus. Obfuscation is one of the latest strategies to camouflage the telltale signs of malware, undermine antimalware software, and thwart malware analysis. Malware writers use packers, polymorphic techniques, and metamorphic techniques to evade intrusion detection systems. The need exists for new antimalware approaches that focus on what malware is doing rather than how it's doing it.

Original language	English
Article number	12267650
Pages (from-to)	41-47
Number of pages	7
Journal	IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine
Volume	9
Issue number	5
Early online date	04 Aug 2011
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/MSP.2011.98
Publication status	Published - Oct 2011

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Networks and Communications
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Law

Access to Document

10.1109/MSP.2011.98

188 Citations
3 Article
1 Conference contribution

Malware detection: program run length against detection rate
O'Kane, P., Sezer, S., McLaughlin, K. & Gyu Im, E., Feb 2014, In: IET Software. 8, 1, p. 42-51 10 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
14 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)
N-gram density based malware detection
O'Kane, P., Sezer, S. & McLaughlin, K., 20 Jan 2014, 2014 World Symposium on Computer Applications and Research (WSCAR). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 6 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution
17 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)
SVM Training Phase Reduction Using Dataset Feature Filtering for Malware Detection
O'Kane, P., Sezer, S., McLaughlin, K. & Gyu Im, E., Mar 2013, In: IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. 8, 3, p. 500-509
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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66 Link opens in a new tab Citations (Scopus)

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Cite this

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title = "Obfuscation: The Hidden Malware",

abstract = "A cyberwar exists between malware writers and antimalware researchers. At this war's heart rages a weapons race that originated in the 80s with the first computer virus. Obfuscation is one of the latest strategies to camouflage the telltale signs of malware, undermine antimalware software, and thwart malware analysis. Malware writers use packers, polymorphic techniques, and metamorphic techniques to evade intrusion detection systems. The need exists for new antimalware approaches that focus on what malware is doing rather than how it's doing it.",

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Obfuscation: The Hidden Malware

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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Research output

Malware detection: program run length against detection rate

N-gram density based malware detection

SVM Training Phase Reduction Using Dataset Feature Filtering for Malware Detection

Cite this