What is sandboxing in cybersecurity?
A sandbox is a malware detection system that runs a suspected item in a virtual machine (VM) with a full-featured operating system and analyzes the object’s behavior to detect harmful activity. The sandbox detects malware if the object conducts malicious operations in a VM. Virtual machines are insulated from the actual business infrastructure. Sandboxes assess an object’s behavior while it operates, making them useful against malware that evades static analysis. At the same time, a sandbox is safer than alternative behavior analysis designs since it avoids the possibility of executing a questionable object in the real business infrastructure. It aids in classifying files and URLs as dangerous or benign and offers information on their activities that can be used to create detection criteria.
Techniques for Avoiding Sandboxes
Malware authors are always attempting to respond to the most recent and sophisticated threat detection. Some of the most common sandbox evasion strategies are as follows.
- Detecting the Sandbox: Sandbox environments differ slightly from the real system of an end user. When malware identifies a sandbox, it can either terminate or pause the execution of dangerous actions.
- Exploiting Sandbox Weaknesses and Gaps: Regardless of how sophisticated a sandbox is, malware developers may frequently uncover and exploit its flaws. Using esoteric file formats or big file sizes that the sandbox cannot process is one example. Alternatively, if the sandbox’s monitoring approach is bypassed, the sandbox gains a “blind spot” in which malicious malware can be deployed.
- Including Context-Aware Triggers: Context-aware malware operates by taking advantage of flaws in automated sandbox technologies. For example, what are sometimes referred to be “logic bombs” might postpone code detonation for a set amount of time or until triggers occur that generally occur solely on an end user’s system, such as system reboots or keyboard and mouse activity.
