Anti-malware research has had to evolve to maintain pace with the increasing complexities

of modern malware. State-of-the-art research has focused on the development and

application of machine learning techniques for malware detection and classification, due to
its ability to keep pace with malware evolution. By and large, these methods use signatures
as features, which are extracted from either the static code or dynamic behaviours of the
malware samples. This requires intricate knowledge of the malware's internal binary
structure, which can involve labour-intensive manual analysis to isolate the signatures.
Furthermore, choosing incorrect features will negatively impact the overall performance of
the classification algorithms. New approaches that require no prior specialist subject-
specific or background knowledge can help simplify the process by negating the need for
specific feature extraction measures, while retaining important or relevant signature
information.

Your task is to write a research paper that investigates the ways in which malware can be
abstracted, such that intricate internal knowledge is not required to represent the malware.
For example, previous research has shown we can represent malware in image format, or by
using similarity hashing. More recently, compression-based algorithms have shown promise
in this field.

You should review all related research in this area and give a critical account of each
approach.

This includes your learned opinion on which methods are effective and which are not. You
should identify the strengths and limitations of the research reviewed. Are there any
emerging technologies in this domain that have potential?

Deliverables:
Your report should be 5,000 words maximum. You may use Latex or any other format of
your choosing.

The report should be completed by 23:59 (GMT) on the 1st of March.