A cybersecurity investigator is working on a case involving a malicious executable suspected of being packed using a popular program packer. The investigator realizes that the packer used is password-protected. In such a scenario, what should be the investigator's first course of action to analyze the packed file?
When dealing with a password-protected packed file, the investigator's first course of action should be to run the packed file in a controlled environment for dynamic analysis. This approach allows the investigator to observe the file's behavior without needing to decrypt the password or unpack the file immediately. Dynamic analysis can provide valuable insights into the file's functionality and possible malicious actions, which is crucial for understanding and mitigating the threat.
Program packers are used by attackers to hide their data. In this regard, the technique is similar to cryptography. The packers compress the files using various algorithms. Hence, unless the investigators know the tool that has been used to pack the file and have a tool to unpack it, they will not be able to access it. Using this technique, the attacker can hide the evidence files into containers, thereby making them hard to detect. Therefore, during forensic investigations, the investigator’s first approach should be to mount compound files. Program packers that are password-protected can pose a challenge during investigation as investigators need to first decrypt the password to unpack the file.
the investigator’s first approach should be to mount compound files.