A Comprehensive Solution for Obfuscation Detection and Removal Based on Comparative Analysis of Deobfuscation Tools

Obfuscation is the technique of making code difficult to read or comprehend. Nowadays, attackers often hide their malicious code using obfuscation and use it as a tool to exploit users. In order to grasp the internal logic of the code and formulate countermeasures against malicious code (hidden by obfuscation), obfuscated code must be detected or eliminated (“deobfuscated”). The current technology is evolving in terms of securing software from obfuscated malware. This paper proposes a comprehensive solution to detect obfuscation using techniques like Taint Analysis, Symbolic Execution of Code, Construction of Control Flow Graph. Further, this study also includes a comprehensive comparative analysis of existing deobfuscation tools and gives a complete solution to tackle some of the most prevalent obfuscation techniques like Javascript, Packer and XOR Obfuscation.