Are Both Signature & Behavioural Based Tools Necessary?

August 15, 2022 | Logical Talk

Now, malware has threatened computers, networks and infrastructures since the beginning of time. There are two known technologies to defend against the following. Sadly, most organizations exclusively use just one approach, the old signature-based methodology. The more advanced method is behaviour-based.

Signature-based technologies track known threats.

Specific cyber attacks have attributes that signature-based tools can be used to create a unique signature. For example, with algorithms, signature-based technologies can quickly and efficiently scan an object to determine its digital signature. 

The following is the primary technique when an anti-malware solution identifies an object of malicious activity; its signature is added to the database as known malware. There are many strengths to this form of prevention; it is well known, speedy, simple to run and widely available.

Unfortunately, determining if a NEW FILE is malicious can be complex and time-consuming; by the time it has been detected, it is too late. This delay in identifying new forms of malware will cause vulnerability and irreversible damage to organizations.

With the advancement of technology, known malware can alter its signature resulting in flying under the radar.

Behavioural-based tools apply statistics, AI and machine learning to analyze giant amounts of data and network traffic and pinpoint anomalies. 

Behaviour-based tools evaluate an object based on its intended actions before it can execute that behaviour. In the attempts, suspicious or abnormal behaviours would alert whether something is unauthorized or malicious.

They are also known as dynamic analysis.

However, No Cyber tool is entirely bulletproof. But behaviour-based tool detection is still in the lead today to uncover new and unknown threats in near real-time.

Benefits of Behavioural-Based Tool

1. Will prevent new and unimagined types of malware attacks in real-time. 
2. The ability to detect an individual instance of malware targeted at a person or organization.
3. Identifying what the malware does in a specific environment when files are opened.
4. Obtaining Logs about the malware. 

Both Signature & Behaviour-based malware detections will not replace the other but complement one another. As a result, the most up-to-date security will come from utilizing both.