YARA: Open-source tool for malware research

YARA is a powerful tool designed primarily to aid malware researchers in identifying and categorizing malware samples, though its applications are broader.

malware research

The tool enables users to create detailed descriptions, or “rules,” for malware families or any other target based on textual or binary patterns. Each rule comprises a collection of strings and a logical expression, forming the criteria for its detection and classification.

YARA is a multi-platform tool compatible with Windows, Linux, and macOS. It can be used via a command-line interface or integrated directly into Python scripts using the yara-python extension.

If you intend to use YARA to scan compressed files (such as .zip or .tar), consider using yextend, an excellent extension developed and open-sourced by Bayshore Networks to enhance YARA’s capabilities.

YARA is available for free on GitHub.