A virus file is a malicious program that can infect a computer and spread from it to other computers. Depending on the type of virus, it can perform various tasks such as stealing personal information, deleting files, or corrupting other files. Viruses are often distributed through email attachments, downloaded from websites, and uploaded to file-sharing networks.
Virus file analysis is a process that examines suspicious files for evidence of malicious intent. It may be performed using static or dynamic analysis. Static analysis examines the contents of a file for signs of malware and is often combined with dynamic analysis, which runs a suspect file in a controlled (sandboxed) environment to observe its behavior.
Virus File Analysis: Detect Hidden Malware in Your Files
Dynamic analysis is critical for identifying the full scope of a threat. This method is especially important for observing how malware communicates with its command and control (C&C) servers or data exfiltration systems. It also allows security teams to sift through malware samples at scale.
The Relationships tab provides valuable insights for security analysts such as the list of IP addresses and domains that a file connects to. These indicators can be pivot points for analyzing the file in more detail.
For example, in this screenshot of the Intezer report for a file that contains VBA macros, clicking on TTPs reveals that it is capable of executing code and installing itself to automatically run upon Windows startup. This information can help you identify orphaned files that are vulnerable to privilege escalation and eliminate unnecessary disk space usage by removing non-business, duplicate files.