Kaspersky has expanded its portfolio of online training for cybersecurity professionals by launching a course geared around reverse engineering. Targeted at those who already have a basic understanding of malware analysis, the self-study programme will enable both individuals and teams to master applied reverse engineering skills from the comfort of their own homes, as they follow best practices provided by the Kaspersky Global Research & Analysis Team.

According to a Kaspersky survey of IT business decision makers, 41% of enterprises globally that plan to increase their IT security budget, are driven by a need to improve their security specialist expertise. In this climate, those IT security professionals who wish to progress in their career should be looking to upskill themselves to meet this need.

Given the past year’s pandemic restrictions, the popularity of online classes has increased significantly as a result. To help those who want to improve their malware analysis and reverse engineering capabilities, and who would like to do so online, Kaspersky has introduced a new training course dedicated to this skill.

The course allows participants to transform existing malware analysis knowledge into practical experience. This is provided through hands-on learning around best practice, courtesy of Denis Legezo and Ivan Kwiatkowski, senior security researchers within the Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team. The Global Research Analysis Team (GReAT) is an internationally recognised cybersecurity group of malware researchers and threat hunters that focuses on sophisticated threats and how to defend and respond to them.

The course contains more than 50 step-by-step video tutorials based on 10 recent real-life APT cases which the trainers personally researched, including MontysThree, LuckyMouse and Lazarus.

Participants will master their skills through practical exposure thanks to 100 hours of dedicated virtual lab time, where they can analyse these cases thoroughly and efficiently using an array of tools, such as IDA Pro, Hex-Rays Decompiler, Hiew, 010Editor and many more. Objectives of the training also include the ability to perform analysis of samples written in numbers of programming or scripting languages; to handle obfuscated or encrypted content in malicious software; and to ensure greater familiarity with assembly processes.

The course materials can be learned at a pace that is convenient for each learner, as they are available for a six-month period. The overall programme is geared towards both individuals and wider cybersecurity units in the form of corporate training. It will be useful for security researchers, incident response personnel, malware analysts, security engineers, network security analysts, APT hunters, or security operations centre (SOC) staff.

“Working on real-life case studies, in dedicated labs and benefiting from Kaspersky’s expertise, participants can reshape their existing set of skills, making them better reverse engineers. This also brings more confidence and efficiency in applying existing skills to real-life cases in the future. As a result, the training will help them become more rounded cybersecurity professionals relative to today’s threat landscape,” comments Costin Raiu, Director Global Research & Analysis Team, Kaspersky.

The Targeted Malware Reverse Engineering course is part of an ever-growing training portfolio where Kaspersky hosts education programmes for security professionals. The portfolio also includes online education on how to hunt APTs with YARA like a ‘GReAT Ninja’. More courses will be released soon, and you can keep track of the portfolio, here.

More information on the new course and registration is available via this link.