🧬 Cyber Security Career Path: Malware Analyst Role Focus: Analyze, reverse-engineer, and understand malicious software to detect, mitigate, and prevent cyber threats.
🧠 About the Role Malware Analysts—also known as reverse engineers—dissect suspicious or malicious software to understand its behavior, capabilities, and impact. This role combines low-level programming, system internals, and forensic analysis to uncover how malware works and how to defend against it.
If you’re fascinated by how things work under the hood and enjoy breaking down binaries, this role is for you.
🎯 Responsibilities 🔎 Perform static analysis: reverse-engineer malware binaries without executing them, often using tools like IDA Pro, Ghidra, or Radare2
⚙️ Conduct dynamic analysis: execute malware in isolated environments (sandboxes) to monitor behavior in real-time
📝 Document technical findings and produce threat intelligence reports for use by other defenders and incident responders
🧭 Learning Paths on TryHackMe While there isn’t a single “Malware Analyst” path on TryHackMe, the following paths will build the core reverse engineering, malware analysis, and defensive investigation skills required:
Path Description Link SOC Level 1 Build foundational detection and triage skills Start Now JR Penetration Tester Understand attacker behavior and exploit techniques Start Now Offensive Pentesting Learn advanced techniques that malware may use to evade defenses Start Now
Search for TryHackMe rooms on reverse engineering, binary exploitation, and malware behavior for targeted skills.
🧰 Recommended Skills & Tools 🔡 Programming: Assembly, C/C++, and scripting (Python)
🔧 Reverse Engineering Tools: IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, Radare2
📦 Malware Analysis Platforms: Cuckoo Sandbox, Any.Run, Joe Sandbox
🧱 PE file structure, system calls, API hooking
🐧 OS internals: Windows/Linux system behaviors and memory architecture
💬 Communication: Write clear, detailed technical reports