What I learned from Teaching Malware Analysis to University Students

So recently, I had the honor of teaching Malware analysis at Swinburne University in Vietnam! For context, I am the Vice President of the ISC Vietnam Chapter and have been teaching in some capacity for roughly 10 years. I was quite excited to teach this subject because malware analysis is a subject I thoroughly enjoy.

Teaching Static Analysis

I have always been a big fan of doing manual testing because I felt sometimes it can be the most accurate, and I wanted to teach this to the students. So during the lesson, I taught the fundamentals of inspecting malware without actually detonating it. The students seemed to enjoy it because they had the opportunity to see malware from Malware Bazaar! This was the students first time really doing something hands-on! They were excited and thankful to go through the lab I prepared for them!

Safety Safety Safety

So I took the time to really hammer home the point of safety for the students! This was instilled in me by Husky Hacks, which created the practical malware analysis and triage course, and I feel it is highly applicable to malware analysis because everyone loves the idea of unraveling malware but doesn't take the necessary precautions to do so. I could tell this was not the students' favorite portion of the lesson, but they respected it and took the time to understand where I was coming from! At the end they were more aware of the dangers.

Detonating the malware

So, finally, after going through all the static analysis, we had some remaining time in the class to detonate some malware and look for visual clues about what it was doing. I shared my screen, and we went through the process of detonating ransomware in my flare vm! This was the most interesting part for students because they got to experience firsthand what real malware does and how it affects machines! I felt this was such an important portion of the course because I think many people fear malware, which is a good thing, but I think we should also be exposed to it so we don't panic when the real time comes, and boy, the students sure enjoyed it. I could see their curiosity growing and their attitudes changing as they witnessed the malware takeover! Overall, this was their favorite portion of the course!

What did I learn?

I know kind of weird that the instructor learned something in their own class! But I felt I learned how students think, and their curiosity grows when it's a unique subject. I could see their eyes light up with interest, and they could really see themselves doing this type of work! It was also interesting for me because I feel malware analysis is a hard subject to explain, let alone perform so the fact that I could do that made me happy. But I also learned I could lead students well during that time, and that's important, I think presentations and teaching are hard, so I feel excited about it! But it was also great to see some students reach out to me after class to seek advice and ask questions. This was shocking for me because now I have become the expert and knowledge leader, and that was truly inspiring and meaningful!

P.S

I am truly thankful to Swinburne and ISC2 for giving me the opportunity to go out and perform these workshops! This really helped me grow as an educator and professional, and I am glad I had the opportunity! I can't wait to do it again!