VB2018 preview: Unpacking the packed unpacker: reversing an Android anti-analysis library

Seven years ago, the first VB

conference paper

on

Android

malware looked at what was then a new, but growing trend. Since then both the threat and the research community have grown enormously, and every VB conference since has featured several talks on

Android

malware.

VB2018

is no exception.

One of this year’s

Android

talks will by Maddie Stone, a researcher from the developer of

Android

itself,

Google

. Maddie will

present

her analysis of an anti-analysis library used by thousands of malicious APKs to obfuscate their functionality.

The library, named ‘WeddingCake’ because of its many layers, uses techniques also commonly seen in

Windows

malware, from dynamic decryption to attempts to detect being run inside a research environment. Maddie’s analysis demonstrates the challenges faced by those researching the still growing threat of

Android

malware.

For a taste of Maddie’s VB2018 talk and paper, take a look at the slides (

pdf

) of a talk she gave at

Black Hat USA

last week, in which she focused on the same library.


fig5-stone.jpg
The library checks for the presence of the

Monkey

tool commonly run in emulators.

Don’t forget to

register

for VB2018 to guarantee your place in Montreal, where you will also be able to

Sophos

‘s Rowland Yu

discuss

how to perform network analysis of

Android

malware as well as attend a

workshop

on

Android

malware analysis by

Fortinet

‘s Axelle Apvrille.

And if you yourself have performed some hot research on

Android

malware (or any other security topic), note that the

call for last-minute papers

remains open until 2 September!


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