Reverse Engineering & Malware Analysis

Reverse Engineering and Malware Analysis from Scratch

Master Static & Dynamic Malware Analysis, PE Files, IDA Pro, WinDbg, APIs, Assembly Language & Windows Internals

Learn the foundations of reverse engineering, malware analysis, and native Windows program analysis from the ground up. This practical course takes you from CPU architecture, registers, memory, and assembly language to analyzing real executable files and tracing program behavior with professional reverse-engineering tools.

You will learn how programs work at the machine-code level, how Windows executables are structured, how analysts examine suspicious binaries, and how static and dynamic analysis techniques can be combined to understand program behavior.

The course begins with the fundamentals of CPU architecture and assembly language—the core knowledge required to understand native code. You will explore registers, virtual memory, machine code, instruction sets, mnemonics, operands, opcodes, bitwise operations, endianness, and program segments.

You will then move into Windows native code and the Portable Executable (PE) format, learning how Windows executables are structured and how analysts can inspect and parse their contents. Practical demonstrations and labs will help you apply these concepts rather than simply learning theory.

The course also introduces the Windows API and shows how APIs, strings, and program behavior can provide valuable clues during reverse engineering and malware analysis.

For static analysis, you will work with tools such as IDA Pro, hexadecimal editors, and binary/PE analysis tools. You will learn how to examine executable code, identify important structures, follow program logic, and understand what a binary is doing without executing it.

For dynamic analysis, you will learn how to use debuggers and WinDbg to observe programs while they are running. You will explore debugger commands, tracing techniques, breakpoints, registers, memory, and instruction-level execution to understand the actual behavior of native applications.

The course also covers practical assembly concepts including functions, stack frames, calling conventions, conditionals, control structures, arrays, and program flow. These concepts are essential for understanding disassembled code and reconstructing the logic of compiled applications.

You will learn strategies for tracing program behavior, leveraging strings and Windows APIs, identifying interesting code paths, and combining static and dynamic analysis techniques to build a clearer picture of a program.

What You Will Learn

• Understand the complete reverse-engineering process

• Understand CPU architecture, registers, memory, and machine code

• Learn the fundamentals of x86/x64 assembly language

• Understand ISA, mnemonics, operands, opcodes, and instruction execution

• Work with bitwise operations, data sizes, and endianness

• Understand native Windows code and program segments

• Explore the Portable Executable (PE) file format

• Learn how Windows executables are structured

• Understand and analyze Windows APIs

• Parse and inspect PE files

• Perform practical static analysis

• Use IDA Pro to examine native binaries

• Work with hexadecimal and binary analysis tools

• Understand disassembly and program flow

• Use WinDbg for dynamic analysis and debugging

• Learn essential debugger commands

• Trace program execution and behavior

• Understand functions, stack frames, and calling conventions

• Analyze conditionals, loops, arrays, and control structures

• Use strings and APIs as clues during analysis

• Combine static and dynamic analysis techniques

• Develop the mindset and methodology needed for reverse engineering and malware analysis

A Practical Journey from Machine Code to Malware Analysis

Rather than treating reverse engineering as a collection of tools and commands, this course focuses on understanding what is happening underneath the tools.

You will first understand the architecture and instructions that make native programs work. Then you will learn how those instructions are stored inside Windows executable files, how reverse-engineering tools expose that information, and finally how to observe the program dynamically using a debugger.

By connecting Assembly → CPU Architecture → PE Files → Static Analysis → Windows APIs → Debugging → Dynamic Analysis, you will develop a strong foundation for analyzing native Windows applications and suspicious binaries.

No previous professional reverse-engineering experience is required. The course builds the essential concepts progressively and combines theory with demonstrations and practical labs.

By the end of the course, you will have a solid foundation in assembly language, CPU architecture, Windows internals, PE files, static analysis, dynamic analysis, IDA Pro, WinDbg, APIs, and practical reverse-engineering methodology—the core skills needed to continue toward advanced reverse engineering and malware analysis.