The Finest Hand-Selected Downloads
Individually reviewed & tested
Store News

Paranoid Fish 58

Can malware see that it's running in your sandbox?

Rating:
(0)
Operating Systems:
Windows 10, Windows 7 (32 bit), Windows 7 (64 bit), Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP
License:
Open Source
Developer:
Alberto Ortega
Software Cost:
Free
Category
Security
Date Updated:
11 September 2016
Downloads To Date:
775
Languages:
English
Download Size:
619.00 KB

If you think an application is suspicious, then you might run it in a sandbox or virtual machine, and monitor what it does. If nothing happens then that means it's safe, right?

Well, maybe not. Malware will often try to detect whether it's running in a virtual machine, and if that's the case, avoid doing anything harmful.

Paranoid Fish is a tiny open-source tool which uses various tricks to see if it's running in a VM, giving you an idea of whether malware could do the same.

Launch pafish.exe in your testing environment, the program opens a command window and begins running its checks. These can sometimes take a while - it may appear to hang for 3 or 4 minutes - but the individual test names and results are displayed as the program works.

Some of these test name are relatively easy for experienced users to understand (Debuggers Detection, Checking hypervisor bit in cpuid feature bits), others more complex (Checking function ShellExecuteExW method 1), but you don't have to understand every detail. Just look at the verdict after each test: green OK's mean the program hasn't detected any anti-malware tricks, but any red "traced" mean it has. And malware could, too.

v058
- Bugfix release
- Fix "LocalFree after advanced list" #49
- Fix typo
- Add Wpedantic

Verdict:

Paranoid Fish is a handy tool for anyone who regularly uses debuggers/ VMs/ sandboxes to analyse program behaviour. Go fetch a copy right now.

Your Comments & Opinion

Related Downloads Other Downloads From This Category

A command line malware remover

Freeware

Protect yourself from dangerous and untrustworthy web sites with this free browser plug-in

Freeware

A free bootable CD to help you fix your malfunctioning computer

Freeware
42,968,306
Downloads
Secure & Tested Software
6,454
Reviews
Instant Download 24/7
312,615
Members
10+ Years of Service