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Malware Analyst

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March 29, 2024 Updated April 14, 2025 17 minute read

Exploring a Career as a Malware Analyst

A Malware Analyst stands on the front lines of digital defense, dissecting malicious software to understand its behavior, purpose, and origin. This role is crucial in the broader field of cybersecurity, involving the intricate process of picking apart viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, and other harmful code. By understanding how malware operates, these professionals help organizations protect their systems, data, and users from cyber threats.

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Salaries for Malware Analyst

City
Median
New York
$113,000
San Francisco
$149,000
Seattle
$153,000
See all salaries
City
Median
New York
$113,000
San Francisco
$149,000
Seattle
$153,000
Austin
$120,000
Toronto
$98,000
London
£55,000
Paris
€67,000
Berlin
€54,000
Tel Aviv
₪327,000
Singapore
S$124,000
Beijing
¥323,000
Shanghai
¥382,000
Shenzhen
¥230,000
Bengalaru
₹800,000
Delhi
₹369,000
Bars indicate relevance. All salaries presented are estimates. Completion of this course does not guarantee or imply job placement or career outcomes.

Path to Malware Analyst

Take the first step.
We've curated 24 courses to help you on your path to Malware Analyst. Use these to develop your skills, build background knowledge, and put what you learn to practice.
Sorted from most relevant to least relevant:

Reading list

We haven't picked any books for this reading list yet.
Practical Malware Analysis: The Hands-On Guide to Dissecting Malicious Software provides a comprehensive overview of malware analysis techniques, including static and dynamic analysis, unpacking, and debugging. It is an excellent choice for those seeking to gain practical skills in malware analysis.
This hands-on guide provides a step-by-step approach to malware analysis, covering reverse engineering, static analysis, and dynamic analysis techniques. It includes practical exercises and real-world examples.
Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering provides a comprehensive guide to reverse engineering techniques, which can be essential for analyzing and understanding malware. It covers various topics, including disassembly, debugging, and binary analysis.
Provides a comprehensive overview of exfiltration techniques, countermeasures, and best practices for protecting sensitive information.
This captivating narrative tells the true story of Clifford Stoll's investigation into a computer intrusion, providing a firsthand account of the challenges and rewards of malware analysis.
Gray Hat Hacking: The Ethical Hackers Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of ethical hacking techniques, including malware analysis and penetration testing. It valuable resource for those seeking to gain a broader understanding of the field.
Focuses on the application of data science techniques to malware analysis. It covers data collection, feature engineering, and machine learning algorithms for detecting and attributing malware attacks.
Delves into the art of reverse engineering, a technique used to analyze and understand the inner workings of software. It covers essential principles, tools, and techniques relevant to malware analysis.
Metasploit: The Penetration Tester's Guide provides a detailed look at the Metasploit framework, which is widely used for penetration testing and vulnerability assessment. While not directly focused on malware analysis, it offers valuable insights into how attackers exploit vulnerabilities that malware can leverage.
This academic book provides a theoretical and practical foundation for understanding computer viruses. It covers the history, classification, and behavior of viruses, as well as methods for detection and prevention.
This specialized book focuses on rootkits, a type of malware that gains privileged access to a computer system. It provides an in-depth analysis of rootkit techniques, detection methods, and countermeasures.
The Art of Memory Forensics: Detecting Malware and Threats in Windows, Linux, and Mac Memory focuses specifically on memory forensics, providing techniques for analyzing memory dumps to detect and investigate malware infections.
The Cuckoo's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage classic book that tells the true story of an investigation into a computer security breach. While not directly focused on malware analysis, it provides a fascinating insight into the world of cybersecurity and the techniques used by attackers.
Discusses the national security implications of exfiltration, examining the threats posed by foreign intelligence services and cybercriminals.
This specialized book explores the field of memory forensics, focusing on detecting malware and threats in computer memory. It provides advanced techniques and case studies for experienced cybersecurity professionals.
Windows Internals, Part 1 provides a deep dive into the internal workings of the Windows operating system. While not directly focused on malware analysis, it provides valuable background knowledge for understanding how malware interacts with the system.
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