The document explores the history and evolution of malware, detailing its various forms and notable examples from the first known virus, Brain, in 1986 to sophisticated threats like Stuxnet in 2010. It includes discussions on malware types such as viruses, worms, Trojans, and rootkits, as well as analysis techniques for understanding and combating these threats. The document emphasizes the ongoing challenges in cybersecurity and the methods used to track and reverse-engineer malicious code.

1. History and Evolution of Malware
How to fight malicious code
Nikola Milošević
nikola.milosevic@owasp.org

2. About Me
• My name is Nikola Milošević
• OWASP Serbia local chapter leader
• OWASP anty-malware project contributor
• Interested in topic, wrote and analyzed some
keyloggers, spam bombers for self
amusement and educational purposes
• Working at ManageWP, Company
Logo
Prelovac Media

3. What is malware?
• Malware, short for malicious (or malevolent)
software, is software used or created by
attackers to disrupt computer operation,
gather sensitive information, or gain access to
private computer systems.

4. How it started?
• Brain.A – January 1986.
• Welcome to the Dungeon © 1986 Basit * Amjad (pvt) Ltd. BRAIN COMPUTER
SERVICES 730 NIZAM BLOCK ALLAMA IQBAL TOWN LAHORE-PAKISTAN PHONE:
430791,443248,280530. Beware of this VIRUS.... Contact us for vaccination...

5. Then it continued
• Stoned -1987
• Cascade – 1987
• Form - 1990
• Omega – showing omega sign on Friday 13
• Michelangelo – 1992
• V-Sign – 1992
• Walker...

6. Mutation
• 1992. MtE or Mutation Engine
• Creating polimorph viruses, hard to detect
• Author – Dark Avenger

7. GUI
• Virus Creation Labor

8. Windows came out
• WinVir – 1992 – first capable of infecting PE
files
• Monkey – again Master Boot Record
• One_half – polimorphism, crypting
• Concept – 1995 – infecting Office files

9. Windows...
• Laroux (X97M/Laroux) 1996.
• Boza (jan 1996.)
• Marburg (1998)
– Wargames CD
– PC Power Play CD
– Slow polimorphism
– After 3 months he shows:

11. Mail worms...
• Happy99 (1998) - first mail virus
• Melissa – macro virus+mail worm
• LoveLetter (2001) – one of the
bigest outbreak in history
• Anakournikova – social engineering
• Mimail (2003)

12. Real worms
• Morris Worm (1988) – first internet worm
• CodeRed (2000) – no user interaction
– Spread around the globe in few hours(attacked
IIS)
– After 19. days lunched DoS attacks (White House)

13. Real worms 2
• Nimda – mail virus with attachemnt affecting
Win 95,98,Me,NT4,2000
– Worm affecting IIS using unicode exploit
– Modifies website to offer downloading of
infecting files
– Used end user machines to scan network
– Can reach PC behing firewalls
– Has bug that causes crashes or inability to spread

14. Money, money, money
• In 2003 was found first virus made for
financial gain
• Fizzer – sending spam
– Attachment that takes over PC and send spam

15. Malware authors

16. Malware authors

17. Getting destructive
• Slapper (September 13th 2002)
– used OpenSSL vulnerability to spread.
– Had backdoor that listened on port UDP2002.
– Infected Linux hosts (Apache servers)
• Slammer (2003)
– Attacks SQL Server,
– never writes anything to HDD.
– Generates trafic.
– Root nameservers down (5 of 13)

18. Getting destructive 2
• Blaster (august 2003)
– Buffer overflow in DCOM RPC
– SYN flood on windowsupdate.com (Aug 15 2003)
– 2 messages :
• I just want to say LOVE YOU SAN!!soo much
• billy gates why do you make this possible ? Stop making money
and fix your software!!
• Sasser (April 2004.)
– Used buffer overflow in Local Security Authority
Subsystem Service
– Spread over network
– Crushed infected PC in minute

19. Getting destructive 3

22. Rootkits
• Sony BMG (2005)
– First rootkit was created by SONY
– Kelly Minogue, Ricky Martin and 50 more titles
– Intension was copy protection
– Hides files that stats with $sys$
– Virus writers used it to hide
– Great scandal
– Bad PR handling by SONY

23. Rootkits
• Mebroot (2008)
– Uses browser explot (used Monica Beluci web
site), infects MBR
– Hides as rootkit
– Sends keystrokes to attacker, if it crashes sends
trace to attacker/creator
• Conficker(2008)
– Created botnet
– Spread using USB, NS, LAN
– 9-15 million infected

24. Ransomware
• Blackmailing

25. Let the war begin
• Spyware, keyloggers
• Cyber espionage, industrial espionage
• German police released Troyan spyware in
2010

26. When the war get serious
• Stuxnet (2010)
– Big game changer, first intended phisical sabotage
of industrial system
– Spread over USB, used 5 exploits (4 was 0days)
– When it was discovered it already did what it was
made for
– Kills itself on June 24th 2012.
– To do something PC has to be connected to
particular PLC that is connected to particular
industry

27. When the war get serious 2
• DoQu (September 2011)
– Similar codebase as Stuxnet
– Used for information retrieval and espionage of victim, but has
injection and rootkit capabilities
– Written in higher languages, it is believed OO C, compiled with MS
Visual Studio 2008
• Flame(2012)
– Can spread using USB or LAN
– Can record audio, video, skype calls, network trafic, steal files (Office,
PDF, txt)...
– About 20MB!!! But modular, so attacker can add more modules
– Written in Lua and C++
– Remotly controled and killed
– As DoQu and Stuxnet has valid stolen cerificate

28. Quick classification
• Virus
• Worm
• Troyan horse
• Malicious mobile code
• Backdoor
• User and Kernel level rootkits
• Combination malware

29. Malware analysis
• Its all about reverse engineering
– Reverse engineer how malware works
– Specifiy algorithm for protection
– Develop protection
• Some malware analysis labs automated some
processes
• Not everything can be automated

30. Reverse engineering
• Dinamic reverse engineering
– Have system diagnostic tools and loggers
– Run the code
– Observe what is happening to system, network,
files...
• Static reverse engineering
– Decompile the code
– Analyze it and find out what is code doing

31. Questions