One of the ways to detect malware is to run it in a sandbox, i.e. in an isolated environment where you can monitor the program’s behavior. In this article, we will explain how sandboxes work and examine techniques allowing malicious programs to evade detection (including methods not covered in specialized literature and Internet blogs).

As you are likely aware, Metasploit is the most acclaimed exploitation and post-exploitation framework in the world. Even if you don’t use it, you had definitely encountered numerous references to Metasploit in our materials. In this article, I will give a brief overview of this framework, explain how our security team uses it, and provide some practical tips.

Empire is a popular post-exploitation tool for Windows, Linux, and macOS. This article addresses all key aspects of this framework, including its most frequently used functions. Even if you are a seasoned pentester, you will likely find something new and useful in this material.

PWN challenges are my favorite tasks at CTF contests. Such tasks effectively train you in real-life code analysis, while their write-ups usually describe all fine details, even those already addressed by other authors. Today, I will explain how to solve a task named “Useless Crap” by its author (it’s available on TG:HACK 2020). The author estimates its difficulty as hard. The task is very challenging indeed, and it took me almost twelve hours to complete it at the contest.