Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications
    • Cybersecurity
    • Networking

    MS Researchers Tackle Automated Malware Classification

    By
    Ryan Naraine
    -
    May 11, 2006
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Researchers from Microsofts anti-malware engineering team are working on an automated way to sort through the thousands of malware families and variants attacking Windows computers.

      The company unveiled its plans at the EICAR (European Institute for Computer Anti-Virus Research) conference in Hamburg, Germany, proposing the use of distance measure and machine learning technologies to come up with automatic classification of viruses, Trojans, spyware, rootkits and other malicious software programs.

      A research paper presented by Microsofts lead anti-virus researcher, Tony Lee, described the existing process of manual human malware analysis as “inefficient and inadequate” and suggested an ambitious method that combines runtime behavior analysis, static binary analysis and adaptable algorithms to automate classification.

      “In recent years, the number of malware families/variants has exploded dramatically…Virus [and] spyware writers continue to create a large number of new families and variants at an increasingly fast rate,” Lee said, arguing that automatic malware classification has become an important research area.

      He said Microsofts attempts to automate static file analysis present “considerable challenges” because of the way malware families evolve.

      Lee, a graduate at the University of California at Berkeley, said the dramatic rise in malware prevalence in recent years has forced the anti-virus industry to change the way the threats are detected, analyzed, classified, described and eventually removed.

      “[We believe] that an effective classification method can serve better detection, cleaning and analysis solutions,” Lee added.

      In a white paper co-written with Microsoft program manager Jigar Mody, Lee said the automated process would get around the traditional way in which new malware samples are sorted.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifMicrosoft says that recovery from malware is becoming impossible. Click here to read more.

      “[Today], human analysts classify these samples by memorization, looking up description library or searching sample collection. Human analysis is time consuming, subjective and results in considerable information loss,” he said.

      Microsofts proposal will take a “holistic approach” to tackle the classification problem, Lee said, pointing out that the machine learning aspects will deal with everything, from knowledge consumption, representation and storage, to classifier model generation and selection.

      It aims to consume knowledge about the malware sample efficiently and automatically and represent that knowledge in a form that results in minimal information loss.

      The process calls for the knowledge to be structured, stored, analyzed and referenced efficiently. Once the knowledge of the sample is stored, it can be automatically applied to identify familiar pattern and similarity relations in a given target.

      “The process is adaptable and has innate learning abilities,” Lee and Mody wrote.

      Microsoft isnt the only company working aggressively in the automated malware classification field. Halvar Flake, CEO and head of research at Sabre Security, has used the companys BinDiff tool to pinpoint visual evidence of related malware families.

      According to data from Flakes research, which combined reverse engineering techniques with a clustering algorithm, similar code has been found in the most prevalent malware families.

      Flake used 200 malware samples and found that they all related to two large virus families, three small families and two pairs of siblings.

      The researchers believe that better classification of malware will help cut through the confusion of naming virus families where anti-virus vendors all append different names to newer threats.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest security news, reviews and analysis. And for insights on security coverage around the Web, take a look at eWEEK.com Security Center Editor Larry Seltzers Weblog.

      Ryan Naraine
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×