AntiVirus Evasion & Bypass Study Notes in PDF
Antivirus evasion is a critical aspect of cybersecurity, especially for ethical hackers and penetration testers aiming to assess an organization’s security posture. However, cybercriminals also exploit these techniques to bypass security measures and deploy malware. Understanding antivirus evasion methods helps security professionals enhance defenses and mitigate threats effectively.
How Antivirus Software Detects Malware
Before diving into evasion techniques, it’s essential to understand how antivirus (AV) software detects malicious code:
- Signature-Based Detection — Compares files against a database of known malware signatures.
- Heuristic Analysis — Examines code patterns and behaviors that resemble malware.
- Behavioral Analysis — Monitors real-time actions to detect suspicious activities.
- Sandboxing — Runs files in an isolated environment to observe their behavior before execution.
- Machine Learning-Based Detection — Uses AI to detect previously unseen malware patterns.
Techniques for Antivirus Evasion
1. Code Obfuscation
- Attackers modify the source code to make it difficult for AV tools to recognize malicious patterns.
- Techniques include encryption, packing, and polymorphic code (which changes itself upon execution).
2. Packing and Crypting
- Malware authors use packers and crypters to wrap malicious code in layers of encryption.
- This prevents AV tools from identifying known signatures.
3. Process Injection
- Injecting malicious code into legitimate processes allows it to run undetected.
- Common methods include DLL injection, Process Hollowing, and APC Injection.
4. Living off the Land (LOTL) Techniques
- Uses legitimate system tools like PowerShell, WMIC, or LOLBins (Living Off the Land Binaries) to execute malicious commands.
- Avoids detection by leveraging trusted applications.
5. Environment Awareness
- Malware checks if it is running in a virtual machine (VM) or sandbox environment and remains dormant to avoid analysis.
- Techniques include checking CPU cores, registry keys, or unusual execution delays.
6. Fileless Malware
- Operates directly in memory without writing to disk, making it difficult for traditional AV solutions to detect.
- Uses scripts, registry manipulation, and in-memory execution to evade detection.
7. Polymorphic and Metamorphic Malware
- Polymorphic malware encrypts or alters its code with each infection to evade signature detection.
- Metamorphic malware rewrites its entire codebase while maintaining functionality, making it harder to detect.
8. Timing-Based Evasion
- Delays execution to evade behavioral analysis tools.
- Uses scheduled tasks or waits for user inactivity before launching attacks.
Countermeasures Against Antivirus Evasion
To combat these evasion techniques, cybersecurity professionals must implement robust security measures:
- Behavior-Based Detection: Advanced Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tools can monitor system activities and detect anomalies.
- Threat Hunting: Conduct proactive threat-hunting exercises to identify hidden threats.
- AI and Machine Learning: Deploy AI-driven security solutions that adapt to new threats.
- Memory Scanning: Detect fileless malware by scanning memory for malicious activities.
- Application Whitelisting: Allow only approved applications to run, preventing unauthorized code execution.
- Hardened Security Policies: Enforce strict PowerShell and scripting policies to limit misuse.
- Regular Updates: Keep antivirus and security tools updated to counter new evasion techniques.
- User Awareness Training: Educate users on phishing, malicious downloads, and social engineering tactics.
AntiVirus Evasion & Bypass Study Notes
AntiVirus Evasion & Bypass Study Notes is a study guide on Antivirus (AV) evasion techniques, covering methods to bypass security measures used by modern AVs and Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) systems. It includes detailed techniques on obfuscation, encryption, process injection, shellcode generation, and various AV evasion tactics using tools like Metasploit, C#, PowerShell, and VBA.
Table of Contents:
- AV Detection Methods
- Bypassing Signature-Based Detection
- Bypassing AV with Metasploit
- Bypassing AV with C#
- C# Injection into Trusted Processes
- Using Non-Emulated APIs
- AV Evasion Using Office Macros
- AV Evasion with Mimikatz
- Advanced VBA Techniques
- Process Hollowing
- Obfuscation Techniques and Principles
- Evasion Techniques
- Runtime Evasion
- Application Whitelisting & Credentials
- Advanced AppLocker and PowerShell Security Bypass
- Techniques
- IPS/IDS Evasion
- Bypassing Network Filters
- Windows Backdoors
- MS Office Backdoors
- Linux Rootkits
- DLL Backdoors
Page Count: 144
Format: PDF
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Free AV Evasion Training
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