Reverse Engineer / Malware Analyst

Reverse Engineering and Malware Analysis disassembles and examines binaries determining intended malicious intentions, impact, and potential countermeasures.

Role overview

Reverse Engineers, also known as Malware Analysts, use decompiling, disassembling, and de-obfuscating to gain a deeper understanding of how and what a malicious software operates. They identify, examine, and understand various forms of malicious software, such as adware, bots, rootkits, spyware, ransomware, Trojan horses, viruses, and worms.

Reverse Engineers

may also be referred to as:

Malware Analyst

Malware Reverse Engineer

Mobile Applications Software Reverse Engineer

Career Path

Map your career path by understanding role relationships

Average Salary

Based upon experience, salary for this role ranges from:

$142,500

National Average

$157,083

$171,667

* based upon those with two plus years of cybersecurity experience

Responsibilities

• Analyzing malware samples to support ongoing investigations.

• Working with the incident response team to disassemble, deconstruct, and reverse engineer malicious code to allow the organization to protect against similar attacks in the future.

• Conducting reverse engineering by disassembling software.

• Developing threat detection tools and methods for use in hunt and incident response activities.

• Researching and developing tracking methods and detecting malicious activity within a network.

• Compiling malware intelligence and research to present to business leaders and stakeholders.

• Staying up to date on the latest malware and keeping software updated to defend against it.

• Writing alerts to keep the security team informed on attacks.

Tools & Environment

Reverse Engineers, or Malware Analysts, use debugging tools regularly, including IDA Pro, WinDbg, OllyDbg, or Immunity Debugger. They also need to be able to use the relevant tools to reconstruct unknown formats, data structures, and unknown TCP/IP protocols, as well as scripting and coding tools.

Certifications

Category	Organization	Certification
Defense	SECO-Institute	S-ISF
Defense	SECO-Institute	S-ISP
Planning	SECO-Institute	S-ISME
Management	SECO-Institute	S-CISO
Defense	SECO-Institute	S-ITSF
Defense	SECO-Institute	S-ITSP
Defense	SECO-Institute	S-ITSE
Management	SECO-Institute	S-CITSO
GRC	SECO-Institute	S-DPF
GRC	SECO-Institute	S-DPP
Category	Organization