SentinelOne and Intezer Tackle Rust Malware with New Initiative

SentinelOne, a global AI-powered security company, and Intezer, a specialist in autonomous security operations, have joined forces to address the growing threat of Rust malware. The collaborative project, dubbed 0xA11C, aims to shed light on the complexities of the Rust malware ecosystem, enabling threat researchers to better understand and counter these emerging threats.

The initiative brings together experts from SentinelLabs and Intezer to develop new methodologies that make reverse engineering Rust malware more accessible. By engaging the broader security community, the project hopes to create and release tools specifically designed to tackle the challenges posed by Rust malware.

Juan Andrés Guerrero-Saade, AVP of Research at SentinelLabs, emphasized the importance of this initiative, stating, “The arrival of a new programming language like Rust introduces significant challenges for malware analysis. Our current tools make it nearly impossible to reverse engineer Rust malware, leading many analysts to avoid it altogether. Our partnership with Intezer aims to change this.”

This approach mirrors SentinelLabs’ previous efforts in 2021 when they developed a methodology to analyze Go malware, leading to the creation of ‘AlphaGolang.’ Their work demonstrated that once the underlying data is correctly contextualized, reverse engineering Go malware could be more straightforward than traditional programming languages.

Nicole Fishbein, Security Researcher at Intezer, noted the parallels between Go and Rust malware, highlighting Rust’s complexity due to features like memory safety and intricate types. “Rust’s complexity surpasses even C++, making it a challenging task for reverse engineers. By leveraging insights from AlphaGolang, we aim to better understand the Rust malware ecosystem and equip researchers with the necessary tools to combat it,” she said.

This collaborative effort between SentinelOne and Intezer represents a significant step forward in the fight against evolving malware threats, ensuring that the cybersecurity community remains equipped to handle the complexities of modern programming languages.