Excel Malware Investigation: Tools & Techniques

Post published:22 October, 2025
Post category:StudyBullet-22
Reading time:5 mins read

Learn How to Detect and Analyze Malicious Excel Files
⏱️ Length: 34 total minutes
⭐ 4.15/5 rating
👥 8,682 students
🔄 December 2024 update

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Course Overview
- “Excel Malware Investigation: Tools & Techniques” offers a vital introduction to malicious Excel files, a prominent threat in modern cybersecurity. This 34-minute course equips learners with essential skills to detect, analyze, and understand Excel-borne malware, often initial access vectors in cyberattacks.
- Excel’s features like macros, OLE objects, and external links make it a prime target for attackers delivering payloads or executing code. This course focuses specifically on Excel’s unique attack surface, moving beyond generic malware analysis to file-format specific vulnerabilities.
- With an impressive 4.15/5 rating from 8,682 students, this offering demonstrates its relevance and effectiveness. It highlights the critical need for security professionals and enthusiasts to understand how commonplace office documents are weaponized by threat actors.
- Updated in December 2024, the curriculum ensures content aligns with evolving adversary tactics (TTPs) in document-based malware. This commitment to current information means learners gain insights into contemporary threats and relevant investigative methodologies.
- This course provides a practical, actionable approach to understanding the lifecycle of an Excel malware infection, from delivery to payload execution. It demystifies complex document malware analysis into an accessible format for immediate skill application.
Requirements / Prerequisites
- Participants should have a basic working understanding of Microsoft Excel’s core functionalities, including spreadsheets, formulas, and navigation, to effectively grasp course examples and explanations.
- Familiarity with common file types and extensions is beneficial for understanding internal Excel file components and how they can be manipulated for malicious purposes.
- A cursory understanding of basic cybersecurity concepts like malware, phishing, and threat vectors will enhance comprehension of Excel’s targeting and broader attack implications.
- Access to a Windows operating environment, ideally a virtual machine, is highly recommended for safely replicating and observing suspicious Excel file behaviors without risking your primary system.
- No prior experience in reverse engineering, advanced scripting, or deep malware analysis is required, making this an ideal starting point for specialized document-based threat investigation.
Skills Covered / Tools Used
- Gain proficiency in applying static analysis techniques to Excel files, examining internal structure, metadata, OLE objects, and stream content to extract potential indicators of compromise without execution.
- Learn to conduct effective dynamic analysis of suspicious Excel documents in controlled environments, observing runtime behavior, process creation, network connections, and file system modifications for malicious intent.
- Develop the ability to dissect and de-obfuscate VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) macros, identifying common obfuscation techniques and understanding malicious VBA script logic to determine their true purpose.
- Become adept at recognizing and investigating various Excel-specific attack vectors beyond VBA, including abused XL4 (Excel 4.0) macros, Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) formulas, and external links for remote content or command execution.
- Acquire practical experience with essential specialized tools for Excel analysis, such as utilities for parsing OLE compound files, VBA parsers/de-obfuscators, secure sandbox environments for dynamic execution, and hex editors.
- Master identifying and interpreting indicators of compromise (IOCs) specific to malicious Excel documents, including unusual file sizes, suspicious internal structures, embedded executables, or odd network traffic originating from Excel processes.
- Understand the nuances of different Excel file formats (.xls, .xlsm, .xlsb) and how each format presents unique opportunities for attackers and defenders, adapting analysis techniques accordingly.
Benefits / Outcomes
- Upon completion, you will possess the immediate capability to proactively identify and triage suspicious Excel documents, significantly bolstering your security posture against prevalent document-based threats.
- Develop an enhanced ability to perform initial incident response and analysis on potential Excel malware infections, enabling quicker, more informed reactions to security alerts and effective containment.
- Gain a profound and practical understanding of the current threat landscape concerning document-based malware, offering insight into why Excel files are targeted and how to anticipate future attack trends.
- Equip yourself with actionable, practical skills to protect personal and organizational systems from diverse attacks leveraging malicious Excel files, translating directly into tangible security improvements.
- Foster increased confidence in utilizing common tools and methodologies specifically tailored for document malware investigation, making you a more effective and efficient threat hunter or security analyst.
- This course provides an excellent foundational understanding for aspiring advanced malware analysts, serving as a stepping stone into deeper reverse engineering or threat intelligence roles in cybersecurity.
PROS
- Highly Focused and Targeted Learning: Directly addresses the persistent threat of malicious Excel files, providing concentrated knowledge applicable to a common and exploited attack vector in the current cyber landscape.
- Beginner-Friendly Approach: Introduces complex malware investigation without extensive prior reverse engineering or scripting, making it accessible to a broad audience, including IT professionals and security enthusiasts.
- Practical Skill Development: Emphasizes hands-on detection and analysis techniques, ensuring learners gain actionable skills immediately applicable in real-world scenarios to enhance practical defense capabilities.
- Efficient Time Commitment: At only 34 minutes, it offers an incredibly rapid and impactful learning experience for busy individuals looking to quickly acquire essential, high-demand skills without significant time investment.
- High Student Satisfaction & Engagement: Evidenced by an excellent 4.15/5 rating from 8,682 students, indicating the course effectively delivers on its promise, meets expectations, and provides tangible value.
- Up-to-Date Content: The December 2024 update ensures tools, techniques, and threat intelligence are current, reflecting the latest threats and mitigation strategies in evolving Excel-based malware, keeping learners informed.
CONS
- Limited Depth for Advanced Practitioners: Due to its concise nature and introductory scope, the course may not delve into intricate details of advanced reverse engineering, complex shellcode analysis, or custom tool development sought by experienced malware analysts or seasoned security researchers.