Finding rules for heuristic detection of malicious PDFs: with analysis of embedded exploit code

Paul Baccas Sophos

  download slides (PDF)

The use of PDFs as a vector for the installation of malicious content has been on the rise over the last few years. This has been for numerous reasons, some of which are the ubiquity of the file format (not browser or platform dependent); the update mechanisms for Adobe; and also the many and various exploit kits.

Methods for detection and classification of malware have been focused on EXE, MS Office and HTML analysis and the lack of research in PDF is telling. In this paper we show some tips and tricks to help classification and detection of malicious PDFs. This will be achieved by both static and dynamic analysis of malicious files and Internet-derived corpuses of, potentially, clean files.

As well as communicating these results, the presentation will augment them with analysis of current threats and case studies of whole attacks.



twitter.png
fb.png
linkedin.png
hackernews.png
reddit.png

We have placed cookies on your device in order to improve the functionality of this site, as outlined in our cookies policy. However, you may delete and block all cookies from this site and your use of the site will be unaffected. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to Virus Bulletin's use of data as outlined in our privacy policy.