This first-of-its-kind guide to detecting stealthy Mac malware gives you the tools and techniques to counter even the most sophisticated threats targeting the Apple ecosystem. Macs have become a popular target of cyber-criminals, and there are few effective defenses against these pernicious threats — until now. The second volume of Mac Malware Detection is the first book to cover state-of-the-art programming techniques and security tools for detecting and countering malicious code running on a macOS system. Author Patrick Wardle, a former NSA hacker and a leading authority on macOS threat analysis, shares real-world examples from his own research to reveal the many strategies used by actual malware specimens to evade detection. As you dive deep into the Mac operating system’s internals, you’ll learn about: Apple’s public and private frameworks and APIs How to build heuristic-based security tools for the macOS Using the macOS Endpoint Security framework to develop real-time monitoring software Objective-See’s suite of anti-malware tools, including KnockKnock, BlockBlock, and OverSight But this book is not just aimed at practitioners — for anyone interested in understanding the current threats facing the Apple ecosystem, it’s a must-read.

A comprehensive guide to the threats facing Apple computers and the foundational knowledge needed to become a proficient Mac malware analyst. Defenders must fully understand how malicious software works if they hope to stay ahead of the increasingly sophisticated threats facing Apple products today. The Art of Mac Malware: The Guide to Analyzing Malicious Software is a comprehensive handbook to cracking open these malicious programs and seeing what’s inside. Discover the secrets of nation state backdoors, destructive ransomware, and subversive cryptocurrency miners as you uncover their infection methods, persistence strategies, and insidious capabilities. Then work with and extend foundational reverse-engineering tools to extract and decrypt embedded strings, unpack protected Mach-O malware, and even reconstruct binary code. Next, using a debugger, you’ll execute the malware, instruction by instruction, to discover exactly how it operates. In the book’s final section, you’ll put these lessons into practice by analyzing a complex Mac malware specimen on your own. You’ll learn to: Recognize common infections vectors, persistence mechanisms, and payloads leveraged by Mac malware Triage unknown samples in order to quickly classify them as benign or malicious Work with static analysis tools, including disassemblers, in order to study malicious scripts and compiled binaries Leverage dynamical analysis tools, such as monitoring tools and debuggers, to gain further insight into sophisticated threats Quickly identify and bypass anti-analysis techniques aimed at thwarting your analysis attempts A former NSA hacker and current leader in the field of macOS threat analysis, Patrick Wardle uses real-world examples pulled from his original research. The Art of Mac Malware: The Guide to Analyzing Malicious Software is the definitive resource to battling these ever more prevalent and insidious Apple-focused threats.

A comprehensive guide to the threats facing Apple computers and the foundational knowledge needed to become a proficient Mac malware analyst. Defenders must fully understand how malicious software works if they hope to stay ahead of the increasingly sophisticated threats facing Apple products today. The Art of Mac Malware: The Guide to Analyzing Malicious Software is a comprehensive handbook to cracking open these malicious programs and seeing what’s inside. Discover the secrets of nation state backdoors, destructive ransomware, and subversive cryptocurrency miners as you uncover their infection methods, persistence strategies, and insidious capabilities. Then work with and extend foundational reverse-engineering tools to extract and decrypt embedded strings, unpack protected Mach-O malware, and even reconstruct binary code. Next, using a debugger, you’ll execute the malware, instruction by instruction, to discover exactly how it operates. In the book’s final section, you’ll put these lessons into practice by analyzing a complex Mac malware specimen on your own. You’ll learn to: • Recognize common infections vectors, persistence mechanisms, and payloads leveraged by Mac malware • Triage unknown samples in order to quickly classify them as benign or malicious • Work with static analysis tools, including disassemblers, in order to study malicious scripts and compiled binaries • Leverage dynamical analysis tools, such as monitoring tools and debuggers, to gain further insight into sophisticated threats • Quickly identify and bypass anti-analysis techniques aimed at thwarting your analysis attempts A former NSA hacker and current leader in the field of macOS threat analysis, Patrick Wardle uses real-world examples pulled from his original research. The Art of Mac Malware: The Guide to Analyzing Malicious Software is the definitive resource to battling these ever more prevalent and insidious Apple-focused threats.

Memory forensics provides cutting edge technology to help investigate digital attacks Memory forensics is the art of analyzing computer memory (RAM) to solve digital crimes. As a follow-up to the best seller Malware Analyst's Cookbook, experts in the fields of malware, security, and digital forensics bring you a step-by-step guide to memory forensics—now the most sought after skill in the digital forensics and incident response fields. Beginning with introductory concepts and moving toward the advanced, The Art of Memory Forensics: Detecting Malware and Threats in Windows, Linux, and Mac Memory is based on a five day training course that the authors have presented to hundreds of students. It is the only book on the market that focuses exclusively on memory forensics and how to deploy such techniques properly. Discover memory forensics techniques: How volatile memory analysis improves digital investigations Proper investigative steps for detecting stealth malware and advanced threats How to use free, open source tools for conducting thorough memory forensics Ways to acquire memory from suspect systems in a forensically sound manner The next era of malware and security breaches are more sophisticated and targeted, and the volatile memory of a computer is often overlooked or destroyed as part of the incident response process. The Art of Memory Forensics explains the latest technological innovations in digital forensics to help bridge this gap. It covers the most popular and recently released versions of Windows, Linux, and Mac, including both the 32 and 64-bit editions.

An in-depth look into Mac OS X and iOS kernels Powering Macs, iPhones, iPads and more, OS X and iOS are becoming ubiquitous. When it comes to documentation, however, much of them are shrouded in mystery. Cocoa and Carbon, the application frameworks, are neatly described, but system programmers find the rest lacking. This indispensable guide illuminates the darkest corners of those systems, starting with an architectural overview, then drilling all the way to the core. Provides you with a top down view of OS X and iOS Walks you through the phases of system startup—both Mac (EFi) and mobile (iBoot) Explains how processes, threads, virtual memory, and filesystems are maintained Covers the security architecture Reviews the internal Apis used by the system—BSD and Mach Dissects the kernel, XNU, into its sub components: Mach, the BSD Layer, and I/o kit, and explains each in detail Explains the inner workings of device drivers From architecture to implementation, this book is essential reading if you want to get serious about the internal workings of Mac OS X and iOS.

Like Sun Tzu's Art of War for Modern Business, this book uses ancient ninja scrolls as the foundation for teaching readers about cyber-warfare, espionage and security. Cyberjutsu is a practical cybersecurity field guide based on the techniques, tactics, and procedures of the ancient ninja. Cyber warfare specialist Ben McCarty’s analysis of declassified Japanese scrolls will show how you can apply ninja methods to combat today’s security challenges like information warfare, deceptive infiltration, espionage, and zero-day attacks. Learn how to use key ninja techniques to find gaps in a target’s defense, strike where the enemy is negligent, master the art of invisibility, and more. McCarty outlines specific, in-depth security mitigations such as fending off social engineering attacks by being present with “the correct mind,” mapping your network like an adversary to prevent breaches, and leveraging ninja-like traps to protect your systems. You’ll also learn how to: Use threat modeling to reveal network vulnerabilities Identify insider threats in your organization Deploy countermeasures like network sensors, time-based controls, air gaps, and authentication protocols Guard against malware command and-control servers Detect attackers, prevent supply-chain attacks, and counter zero-day exploits Cyberjutsu is the playbook that every modern cybersecurity professional needs to channel their inner ninja. Turn to the old ways to combat the latest cyber threats and stay one step ahead of your adversaries.

Website security made easy. This book covers the most common ways websites get hacked and how web developers can defend themselves. The world has changed. Today, every time you make a site live, you're opening it up to attack. A first-time developer can easily be discouraged by the difficulties involved with properly securing a website. But have hope: an army of security researchers is out there discovering, documenting, and fixing security flaws. Thankfully, the tools you'll need to secure your site are freely available and generally easy to use. Web Security for Developers will teach you how your websites are vulnerable to attack and how to protect them. Each chapter breaks down a major security vulnerability and explores a real-world attack, coupled with plenty of code to show you both the vulnerability and the fix. You'll learn how to: Protect against SQL injection attacks, malicious JavaScript, and cross-site request forgery Add authentication and shape access control to protect accounts Lock down user accounts to prevent attacks that rely on guessing passwords, stealing sessions, or escalating privileges Implement encryption Manage vulnerabilities in legacy code Prevent information leaks that disclose vulnerabilities Mitigate advanced attacks like malvertising and denial-of-service As you get stronger at identifying and fixing vulnerabilities, you'll learn to deploy disciplined, secure code and become a better programmer along the way.