Practical Binary Analysis

Stop manually analyzing binary! Practical Binary Analysis is the first book of its kind to present advanced binary analysis topics, such as binary instrumentation, dynamic taint analysis, and symbolic execution, in an accessible way. As malware increasingly obfuscates itself and applies anti-analysis techniques to thwart our analysis, we need more sophisticated methods that allow us to raise that dark curtain designed to keep us out--binary analysis can help. The goal of all binary analysis is to determine (and possibly modify) the true properties of binary programs to understand what they really do, rather than what we think they should do. While reverse engineering and disassembly are critical first steps in many forms of binary analysis, there is much more to be learned. This hands-on guide teaches you how to tackle the fascinating but challenging topics of binary analysis and instrumentation and helps you become proficient in an area typically only mastered by a small group of expert hackers. It will take you from basic concepts to state-of-the-art methods as you dig into topics like code injection, disassembly, dynamic taint analysis, and binary instrumentation. Written for security engineers, hackers, and those with a basic working knowledge of C/C++ and x86-64, Practical Binary Analysis will teach you in-depth how binary programs work and help you acquire the tools and techniques needed to gain more control and insight into binary programs. Once you've completed an introduction to basic binary formats, you'll learn how to analyze binaries using techniques like the GNU/Linux binary analysis toolchain, disassembly, and code injection. You'll then go on to implement profiling tools with Pin and learn how to build your own dynamic taint analysis tools with libdft and symbolic execution tools using Triton. You'll learn how to: - Parse ELF and PE binaries and build a binary loader with libbfd - Use data-flow analysis techniques like program tracing, slicing, and reaching definitions analysis to reason about runtime flow of your programs - Modify ELF binaries with techniques like parasitic code injection and hex editing - Build custom disassembly tools with Capstone - Use binary instrumentation to circumvent anti-analysis tricks commonly used by malware - Apply taint analysis to detect control hijacking and data leak attacks - Use symbolic execution to build automatic exploitation tools With exercises at the end of each chapter to help solidify your skills, you'll go from understanding basic assembly to performing some of the most sophisticated binary analysis and instrumentation. Practical Binary Analysis gives you what you need to work effectively with binary programs and transform your knowledge from basic understanding to expert-level proficiency.

Stop manually analyzing binary! Practical Binary Analysis is the first book of its kind to present advanced binary analysis topics, such as binary instrumentation, dynamic taint analysis, and symbolic execution, in an accessible way. As malware increasingly obfuscates itself and applies anti-analysis techniques to thwart our analysis, we need more sophisticated methods that allow us to raise that dark curtain designed to keep us out--binary analysis can help. The goal of all binary analysis is to determine (and possibly modify) the true properties of binary programs to understand what they really do, rather than what we think they should do. While reverse engineering and disassembly are critical first steps in many forms of binary analysis, there is much more to be learned. This hands-on guide teaches you how to tackle the fascinating but challenging topics of binary analysis and instrumentation and helps you become proficient in an area typically only mastered by a small group of expert hackers. It will take you from basic concepts to state-of-the-art methods as you dig into topics like code injection, disassembly, dynamic taint analysis, and binary instrumentation. Written for security engineers, hackers, and those with a basic working knowledge of C/C++ and x86-64, Practical Binary Analysis will teach you in-depth how binary programs work and help you acquire the tools and techniques needed to gain more control and insight into binary programs. Once you've completed an introduction to basic binary formats, you'll learn how to analyze binaries using techniques like the GNU/Linux binary analysis toolchain, disassembly, and code injection. You'll then go on to implement profiling tools with Pin and learn how to build your own dynamic taint analysis tools with libdft and symbolic execution tools using Triton. You'll learn how to: - Parse ELF and PE binaries and build a binary loader with libbfd - Use data-flow analysis techniques like program tracing, slicing, and reaching definitions analysis to reason about runtime flow of your programs - Modify ELF binaries with techniques like parasitic code injection and hex editing - Build custom disassembly tools with Capstone - Use binary instrumentation to circumvent anti-analysis tricks commonly used by malware - Apply taint analysis to detect control hijacking and data leak attacks - Use symbolic execution to build automatic exploitation tools With exercises at the end of each chapter to help solidify your skills, you'll go from understanding basic assembly to performing some of the most sophisticated binary analysis and instrumentation. Practical Binary Analysis gives you what you need to work effectively with binary programs and transform your knowledge from basic understanding to expert-level proficiency.

Malware analysis is big business, and attacks can cost a company dearly. When malware breaches your defenses, you need to act quickly to cure current infections and prevent future ones from occurring. For those who want to stay ahead of the latest malware, Practical Malware Analysis will teach you the tools and techniques used by professional analysts. With this book as your guide, you'll be able to safely analyze, debug, and disassemble any malicious software that comes your way. You'll learn how to: –Set up a safe virtual environment to analyze malware –Quickly extract network signatures and host-based indicators –Use key analysis tools like IDA Pro, OllyDbg, and WinDbg –Overcome malware tricks like obfuscation, anti-disassembly, anti-debugging, and anti-virtual machine techniques –Use your newfound knowledge of Windows internals for malware analysis –Develop a methodology for unpacking malware and get practical experience with five of the most popular packers –Analyze special cases of malware with shellcode, C++, and 64-bit code Hands-on labs throughout the book challenge you to practice and synthesize your skills as you dissect real malware samples, and pages of detailed dissections offer an over-the-shoulder look at how the pros do it. You'll learn how to crack open malware to see how it really works, determine what damage it has done, thoroughly clean your network, and ensure that the malware never comes back. Malware analysis is a cat-and-mouse game with rules that are constantly changing, so make sure you have the fundamentals. Whether you're tasked with securing one network or a thousand networks, or you're making a living as a malware analyst, you'll find what you need to succeed in Practical Malware Analysis.

Uncover the secrets of Linux binary analysis with this handy guide About This Book Grasp the intricacies of the ELF binary format of UNIX and Linux Design tools for reverse engineering and binary forensic analysis Insights into UNIX and Linux memory infections, ELF viruses, and binary protection schemes Who This Book Is For If you are a software engineer or reverse engineer and want to learn more about Linux binary analysis, this book will provide you with all you need to implement solutions for binary analysis in areas of security, forensics, and antivirus. This book is great for both security enthusiasts and system level engineers. Some experience with the C programming language and the Linux command line is assumed. What You Will Learn Explore the internal workings of the ELF binary format Discover techniques for UNIX Virus infection and analysis Work with binary hardening and software anti-tamper methods Patch executables and process memory Bypass anti-debugging measures used in malware Perform advanced forensic analysis of binaries Design ELF-related tools in the C language Learn to operate on memory with ptrace In Detail Learning Linux Binary Analysis is packed with knowledge and code that will teach you the inner workings of the ELF format, and the methods used by hackers and security analysts for virus analysis, binary patching, software protection and more. This book will start by taking you through UNIX/Linux object utilities, and will move on to teaching you all about the ELF specimen. You will learn about process tracing, and will explore the different types of Linux and UNIX viruses, and how you can make use of ELF Virus Technology to deal with them. The latter half of the book discusses the usage of Kprobe instrumentation for kernel hacking, code patching, and debugging. You will discover how to detect and disinfect kernel-mode rootkits, and move on to analyze static code. Finally, you will be walked through complex userspace memory infection analysis. This book will lead you into territory that is uncharted even by some experts; right into the world of the computer hacker. Style and approach The material in this book provides detailed insight into the arcane arts of hacking, coding, reverse engineering Linux executables, and dissecting process memory. In the computer security industry these skills are priceless, and scarce. The tutorials are filled with knowledge gained through first hand experience, and are complemented with frequent examples including source code.

The first edition of this book (1970) set out a systematic basis for the analysis of binary data and in particular for the study of how the probability of 'success' depends on explanatory variables. The first edition has been widely used and the general level and style have been preserved in the second edition, which contains a substantial amount of new material. This amplifies matters dealt with only cryptically in the first edition and includes many more recent developments. In addition the whole material has been reorganized, in particular to put more emphasis on m.aximum likelihood methods. There are nearly 60 further results and exercises. The main points are illustrated by practical examples, many of them not in the first edition, and some general essential background material is set out in new Appendices.

This book addresses automated software fingerprinting in binary code, especially for cybersecurity applications. The reader will gain a thorough understanding of binary code analysis and several software fingerprinting techniques for cybersecurity applications, such as malware detection, vulnerability analysis, and digital forensics. More specifically, it starts with an overview of binary code analysis and its challenges, and then discusses the existing state-of-the-art approaches and their cybersecurity applications. Furthermore, it discusses and details a set of practical techniques for compiler provenance extraction, library function identification, function fingerprinting, code reuse detection, free open-source software identification, vulnerability search, and authorship attribution. It also illustrates several case studies to demonstrate the efficiency, scalability and accuracy of the above-mentioned proposed techniques and tools. This book also introduces several innovative quantitative and qualitative techniques that synergistically leverage machine learning, program analysis, and software engineering methods to solve binary code fingerprinting problems, which are highly relevant to cybersecurity and digital forensics applications. The above-mentioned techniques are cautiously designed to gain satisfactory levels of efficiency and accuracy. Researchers working in academia, industry and governmental agencies focusing on Cybersecurity will want to purchase this book. Software engineers and advanced-level students studying computer science, computer engineering and software engineering will also want to purchase this book.

Highly recommended by the Journal of Official Statistics, The American Statistician, and other journals, Applied Survey Data Analysis, Second Edition provides an up-to-date overview of state-of-the-art approaches to the analysis of complex sample survey data. Building on the wealth of material on practical approaches to descriptive analysis and regression modeling from the first edition, this second edition expands the topics covered and presents more step-by-step examples of modern approaches to the analysis of survey data using the newest statistical software. Designed for readers working in a wide array of disciplines who use survey data in their work, this book continues to provide a useful framework for integrating more in-depth studies of the theory and methods of survey data analysis. An example-driven guide to the applied statistical analysis and interpretation of survey data, the second edition contains many new examples and practical exercises based on recent versions of real-world survey data sets. Although the authors continue to use Stata for most examples in the text, they also continue to offer SAS, SPSS, SUDAAN, R, WesVar, IVEware, and Mplus software code for replicating the examples on the book’s updated website.

Statistical methods are a key part of of data science, yet very few data scientists have any formal statistics training. Courses and books on basic statistics rarely cover the topic from a data science perspective. This practical guide explains how to apply various statistical methods to data science, tells you how to avoid their misuse, and gives you advice on what's important and what's not. Many data science resources incorporate statistical methods but lack a deeper statistical perspective. If you’re familiar with the R programming language, and have some exposure to statistics, this quick reference bridges the gap in an accessible, readable format. With this book, you’ll learn: Why exploratory data analysis is a key preliminary step in data science How random sampling can reduce bias and yield a higher quality dataset, even with big data How the principles of experimental design yield definitive answers to questions How to use regression to estimate outcomes and detect anomalies Key classification techniques for predicting which categories a record belongs to Statistical machine learning methods that “learn” from data Unsupervised learning methods for extracting meaning from unlabeled data