Advanced Malware Analysis

Advanced Malware Analysis Training Near Washington, DC

TrainACE delivers instructor-led Advanced Malware Analysis training in Greenbelt, MD, and live online for analysts who already handle malware and now need to take apart the samples built to resist them. This is the final course in TrainACE's three-level malware analysis track, and it focuses on the techniques that defeat standard tools: anti-disassembly, anti-debugging, anti-VM checks, custom packers, encoded command-and-control traffic, and shellcode.

Every session is hands-on. You work through two to three labs per session in an isolated VMware Workstation environment using free and open-source tools, so the workflow you build in class is one you can keep using on the job.

Quick decision snapshot

• Best for: Malware analysts, reverse engineers, incident responders, and threat hunters who are comfortable in a debugger and disassembler and are hitting samples that fight back.
• Where it fits: Level three of the TrainACE malware track, after Intermediate Malware Analysis.
• What you leave with: A repeatable process for defeating anti-analysis protections, unpacking protected binaries, writing network signatures from reversed C2 protocols, and analyzing shellcode and 64-bit malware.

Advanced Malware Analysis is a skills-based course, not a certification prep class. It teaches you to reverse engineer software designed to resist analysis, including encrypted and polymorphic malware, samples protected by commercial and custom packers, and code that detects debuggers, disassemblers, and virtual machines. Students receive a TrainACE certificate of completion.

This is an advanced course. It assumes you already read x86/x64 assembly, navigate Ghidra and x64dbg confidently, and have unpacked at least simple samples by hand. If you are still building those skills, start with Intermediate Malware Analysis or, if you are new to the field, Basic Malware Analysis.

 

Why Choose TrainACE for Advanced Malware Analysis Training?

At this level, the gap between a useful course and a wasted week comes down to two things: an instructor who has fought the same evasion techniques in the field, and enough lab time to practice beating them yourself. TrainACE builds the course around both.

• A complete three-level malware track: Advanced Malware Analysis builds directly on the skills taught in Basic and Intermediate Malware Analysis, so there are no gaps or repeated material between levels.
• Instructors with real-world offensive and defensive experience: TrainACE malware classes are led by practitioners who have spent their careers in DoD environments, red team events, and penetration testing. See below for an example.
• Lab-heavy by design: Every three-hour session includes two to three hands-on labs, finishing with a full capstone analysis on the last day.
• A toolchain you keep: Every tool used in class is free or open source, so you can rebuild the same lab at work the week after class.
• Price & Quality Guarantee: Included with every enrollment.
• Small class sizes: Enrollment is capped so you get direct instructor attention when a sample does not behave the way the lab guide expects.
• Lifetime Career Support: Free Skills Clinics, Study Groups, and Career Path Recommendations after you graduate.

The Caliber of Instructor You Can Expect

All TrainACE instructors hold active certifications in the subjects they teach and have a minimum of three years of classroom experience. To give you a concrete sense of what that means, here is one of our core malware analysis instructors, Timber Wolfe.

Timber has spent more than 22 years as a computer consultant, his entire career in the DoD world, and holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Florida. He has worked from low-level electronics and microcontrollers up through high-level applications. He has conducted penetration tests on software and hardware systems for more than ten years and takes part in government-sponsored Red Team events and cyber defense competitions. He also authored TrainACE's HoneyNetting and Honey Pot training course.

Selected certifications

• EC-Council Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI)
• EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
• EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)
• EC-Council Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT)
• CompTIA Security+

That combination of hardware-level depth, offensive testing experience, and forensic training is the standard behind every TrainACE advanced security class: instructors who know how attackers build evasion into their code because they have worked on both sides of it.

Advanced Malware Analysis Prerequisites

Students should have completed Intermediate Malware Analysis or have equivalent hands-on experience. The course moves quickly and does not review assembly language or basic tool navigation, so the material below should already feel familiar.

You are likely a fit if you

• Read x86 and x64 assembly and can follow a function's logic in Ghidra or IDA
• Set breakpoints, step through code, and patch instructions in x64dbg
• Have manually unpacked simple packed samples and rebuilt an import table with Scylla
• Use Volatility 3, Wireshark, and YARA as part of your normal analysis workflow
• Work in a SOC, incident response, threat hunting, or reverse engineering role and are running into samples your current process cannot handle

You may need a different first step if you

• Are new to malware analysis or have not yet worked with PE files, hashing, and basic static and dynamic analysis. Start with Basic Malware Analysis.
• Can triage samples but are not yet comfortable with manual unpacking, injection analysis, or debugger-driven work. Start with Intermediate Malware Analysis.

Advanced Malware Analysis Course Details

• Duration: 5 days, 30 hours of instruction
• Daily structure: A three-hour morning session and a three-hour afternoon session
• Labs: Two to three hands-on labs per session, plus a full capstone analysis on Day 5
• Lab environment: Isolated VMware Workstation virtual machines running FLARE-VM and REMnux
• Certification exam: None. Students receive a TrainACE certificate of completion.

Because there is no exam to study for, all class time goes to analysis. You spend the week reversing protected samples rather than memorizing objectives.

What You'll Learn in This Advanced Malware Analysis Class

Each day takes on one category of protection that malware authors use against analysts. You study how the technique works, see it in real samples, and then defeat it yourself in the lab.

Day 1: Network Signatures and Malware Communication

• Reverse engineering custom command-and-control (C2) protocols from code instead of from traffic alone
• How malware mimics legitimate protocols, encodes beacons, and hides data in normal-looking traffic
• Turning reversed protocol logic into durable network indicators
• Writing and tuning Snort and Suricata signatures, and avoiding brittle detections
• Thinking from the attacker's perspective: how adversaries test and evade network defenses

Labs: Decode a sample's encoded beacon in CyberChef, reconstruct its C2 protocol in Ghidra, and write and test Suricata signatures against captured and simulated (FakeNet-NG) traffic.

Day 2: Anti-Disassembly Techniques

• How linear-sweep and flow-oriented disassemblers can be deceived
• Jump-into-instruction tricks, opaque predicates, and rogue opcode bytes
• Return pointer abuse and structured exception handler (SEH) misuse to hide control flow
• Obscuring stack frame analysis and function boundaries
• Patching and re-analyzing protected code in Ghidra and IDA Free

Labs: Identify and repair anti-disassembly constructs in Ghidra, restore correct function analysis, and script repetitive fixes.

Day 3: Anti-Debugging

• Windows API debugger checks such as IsDebuggerPresent, CheckRemoteDebuggerPresent, and NtQueryInformationProcess
• Manual checks against the Process Environment Block (BeingDebugged, NtGlobalFlag, ProcessHeap flags)
• Timing checks, registry and window inspection, and debugger-artifact detection
• TLS callbacks that run before the entry point, and exception-based debugger disruption
• Malformed PE headers that crash or mislead analysis tools

Labs: Locate and bypass anti-debugging checks in x64dbg by patching and with ScyllaHide, and catch TLS callback execution before a sample's main entry point.

Day 4: Unpacking and Anti-VM

• How malware detects virtual machines: hardware artifacts, CPUID, registry keys, processes, and MAC addresses
• Hardening an analysis VM against common detection checks
• Packer internals and the unpacking stub's path to the original entry point (OEP)
• Finding the OEP, dumping the unpacked image, and rebuilding the Import Address Table (IAT)
• Multi-stage and custom packers, and unpacking samples that hollow out or inject into other processes

Labs: Bypass a sample's anti-VM checks, manually unpack a protected binary to its OEP, and rebuild its imports with Scylla. Recover injected payloads from memory with PE-sieve.

Day 5: Advanced Code Analysis and Capstone

• Analyzing C++ malware: objects, the this pointer, constructors, and virtual function tables (vtables)
• Shellcode analysis: position-independent code, PEB walking, and API hashing
• 64-bit malware and x64 calling conventions
• Capstone: end-to-end analysis of a protected, unknown sample using the full course toolchain
• Reporting advanced findings with MITRE ATT&CK mapping, YARA rules, and network signatures

Labs: Reconstruct C++ class structures in Ghidra, emulate and analyze shellcode, and complete the capstone analysis and report.

The toolchain

All tools used in class are free, open source, or offer a free edition: FLARE-VM, REMnux, Ghidra, IDA Free, x64dbg, ScyllaHide, Scylla, PE-sieve, Wireshark, Suricata, Snort, FakeNet-NG, CyberChef, Volatility 3, and YARA.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is the Advanced Malware Analysis training?

The course runs five days, with a three-hour morning session and a three-hour afternoon session each day, for 30 hours of instruction in total. It is offered in person in Greenbelt, MD and live-online.

Is this the right level for me?

If you have completed Intermediate Malware Analysis, or you already unpack samples by hand and work comfortably in a debugger and disassembler, yes. If you are still learning static and dynamic analysis fundamentals, you will get much more from Basic or Intermediate Malware Analysis first. Call us and an advisor will help you choose the right level.

Do I need to take Basic and Intermediate first?

Not formally. Experienced analysts can enroll directly if they already have the skills listed under prerequisites. Most students, though, move through the track in order, because each course assumes the skills taught in the one before it.

Is there a certification exam?

No. Advanced Malware Analysis is a skills-based course, and students receive a TrainACE certificate of completion. The time that would go to exam prep goes to hands-on analysis instead.

Is it safe to work with live malware in class?

Yes. All analysis takes place inside isolated VMware Workstation virtual machines on host-only networks, with snapshots you revert after every detonation. Safe handling practices are part of the workflow from the first lab.

Do I need special equipment or software?

No. In-person students use TrainACE lab workstations with the full analysis environment preloaded. Live-online students need a reliable internet connection and a computer capable of joining the class sessions. Because every tool in the course is free, you can rebuild the same lab at your own organization after class.

Where Does Advanced Malware Analysis Take You Next?

Advanced Malware Analysis completes the TrainACE malware track. From here, graduates usually take their reverse engineering skills in one of three directions.

• Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR)
  Apply your analysis skills across a whole enterprise investigation, from network forensics to real malware families like Formbook, IcedID, and RedLine Stealer.
• Exploit Development
  Move to the offensive side: the SEH abuse, shellcode, and low-level control flow you reversed this week become the building blocks of exploits you write yourself.
• Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst (CTIA)
  Turn your findings into intelligence that drives decisions, and add an industry certification to your hands-on skills.

Not sure which direction fits your role? Call us at (301) 220-2802 and an advisor will recommend a path based on your background and goals.

Ready to Enroll?

Select a class date from the schedule below, or call us at (301) 220-2802 to speak with an advisor. Do not settle for anonymous, online-only training. Learn to defeat evasive malware from DC-area practitioners who have spent their careers doing it.

Got Questions?

For more information about your specific needs, call us at (301) 220 2802 or complete the form below:

Get your Advanced Malware Analysis training in our convenient IT training centers in Greenbelt, Maryland or live-online from anywhere.