Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Gdom: Granulometry For The Detection Of Obfuscated Malware, John A. Aruta, N. Paul Schembari

Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice

We describe the results of a master's thesis in malware detection and discuss the connection to the learning goals of the project. As part of the thesis, we studied obfuscation of malware, conversion of files into images, image processing, and machine learning, a process of benefit to both the student and faculty.

Malware detection becomes significantly more difficult when the malicious specimen is obfuscated or transformed in an attempt to avoid detection. However, computer files have been shown to exhibit evidence of structure when converted into images, so with image processing filters such as granulometry, it is possible to generate …