JAIT 2023 Vol.14(2): 284-294
doi: 10.12720/jait.14.2.284-294

Analysis of Ransomware Using Reverse Engineering Techniques to Develop Effective Countermeasures

Naif Alsharabi1,2,* , Mariam F. Alshammari1 , Yasser Alharbi1

  • 1Department of Computer Engineering, College of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Ha’il, Ha’il 55476, Saudi Arabia
  • 2College of Engineering and IT, Amran University, Amran 00977, Yemen

* Corresponding author

  • Manuscript receivedOctober 28, 2022
  • revisedDecember 12, 2022
  • acceptedFebruary 2, 2023
  • publishedApril 4, 2023

Abstract

Ransomware is the most severe threat to companies and organizations, snowballing daily. Ransomware comes in various types that are difficult for non-specialists to distinguish and evolve and change encryption techniques to avoid detection. Ransomware has become a worldwide incidence during the Corona pandemic and remote work, accountable for millions of dollars of losses annually; This malware threatens victims to lose sensitive data unless they pay a ransom, usually by encrypting the victims’ hard drive contents until the ransom is paid. The study focused on literature reviews and publications issued by international organizations interested in ransomware analysis to build a strong background in this field. Used static analysis and reverse engineering methodology to investigate ransomware to understand its purpose, functionality, and effective countermeasures against it. Finally, after Dearcry and Babuk ransomware were analyzed, written the Yara rule to detect and suggested countermeasures against them to help cybersecurity professionals better understand the inner workings of real ransomware and develop advanced countermeasures against similar attacks in the future.

Keywords

  • ransomware
  • encryption
  • malware
  • crypto
  • reverse engineering
  • static analysis
JAIT-V14N2-284

How to Cite

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Naif Alsharabi, Mariam F. Alshammari, and Yasser Alharbi, "Analysis of Ransomware Using Reverse Engineering Techniques to Develop Effective Countermeasures," Journal of Advances in Information Technology, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 284-294, 2023. https://doi.org/10.12720/jait.14.2.284-294

Copyright & License

Copyright © 2023 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).

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