Malware protection

Learn how Cortex XDR detects and prevents malware on endpoints.

Malware protection

Malicious files, known as malware, are often disguised as or embedded in non-malicious files. These files can attempt to gain control, gather sensitive information, or disrupt the normal operations of the system. Cortex XDR prevents malware by employing the Malware Prevention Engine. This approach combines several layers of protection to prevent both known and unknown malware from causing harm to your endpoints. The mitigation techniques that the Malware Prevention Engine employs vary by endpoint type.

The Malware Prevention Engine uses mitigation methods that implements malware protection on endpoints based on the different operating systems.

Windows

Malware protection type	Description
Anti tampering protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against tampering attempts.
Anti webshell protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoint processes from dropping malicious web shells.
ASP and ASPX file protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoint from malicious ASP and ASPX files being written to the file system.
Credential gathering protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints from processes trying to access or steal passwords and other credentials.
Cryptominers protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against attempts to locate or steal cryptocurrencies.
Dynamic kernel protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints from kernel-level threats such as bootkits, rootkits, and susceptible drivers.
Endpoint scanning	Enables Cortex XDR to scan endpoints and attached removable drives for dormant, inactive malware.
Financial malware threat protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against techniques specific to financial and banking malware.
Global behavioral threat protection rules	Enables Cortex XDR to use rules to protect endpoints from malicious causality chains.
IIS protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against Internet Information Server (IIS) attacks.
In-process shellcode protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against in-process shellcode attack threats.
JAVA Files Examination	Enables Cortex XDR to detect and prevent malicious JAVA files from being executed or written to disk.
JScript file examination	Enables Cortex XDR to detect and prevent malicious JScript files from being executed or written to disk on Windows-based endpoints.
LDAP query protection	Enables Cortex XDR to analyze and act upon suspicious LDAP queries sent by the agent to a Domain Controller, to detect and block Active Directory reconnaissance attacks.
Malicious causality chain response	Enables Cortex XDR to respond automatically when malicious causality chains are identified.
Malicious child process protection	Enables Cortex XDR to prevent script-based attacks. Such attacks can be used to deliver malware by blocking targeted processes that are commonly used to bypass traditional security methods.
Malicious device protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints against malicious hardware by detecting and blocking rogue Human Interface Devices (HIDs), such as Rubber Duckies, keyboards, mice, gamepads, and barcode scanners, that masquerade as trusted peripherals to perform automated keystroke injections, bypass UI prompts, or execute unauthorized scripts.
Network packet inspection	Enables Cortex XDR to analyze network packet data for malicious behavior.
Office files with macros examination	Enables Cortex XDR to analyze and prevent malicious macros embedded in Microsoft Office files (Word, Excel) from running on Windows endpoints.
On-demand file examination	Enables Cortex XDR to scan endpoints and attached removable drives for dormant, inactive malware.
On-write file examination	Enables Cortex XDR to monitor and take action on malicious files during the on-write process.
Password theft protection	Enables Cortex XDR to prevent attacks that extract passwords from memory using the Mimikatz tool.
Portable executable and DLL	Enables Cortex XDR to analyze and prevent malicious executable files and DLL files from running on Windows endpoints.
PowerShell script file examination	Enables Cortex XDR to analyze and prevent malicious PowerShell script files from running on Windows endpoints.
Ransomware protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against encryption-based activity associated with ransomware attacks.
Security measure bypass protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints from malicious actors attempting to bypass Windows built-in security controls.
UAC bypass prevention	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against the User Access Control (UAC) bypass mechanism that is associated with privilege elevation attempts.
UEFI protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints from Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) manipulation attempts.
VB script file protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints from malicious VB script files.

macOS

Malware protection type	Description
Anti tampering protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against tampering attempts.
Anti webshell protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoint processes from dropping malicious web shells.
Credential gathering protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints from processes trying to access or steal passwords and other credentials.
Cryptominers protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against attempts to locate or steal cryptocurrencies.
DMG file examination	Enables Cortex XDR to check DMG files for malware.
Endpoint scanning	Enables Cortex XDR to scan endpoints and attached removable drives for dormant, inactive malware.
Financial malware threat protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against techniques specific to financial and banking malware.
Global behavioral threat protection rules	Enables Cortex XDR to use rules to protect endpoints from malicious causality chains.
Local file threat examination	Enables Cortex XDR to detect malicious files on the endpoint.
Mach-O file examination	Enables Cortex XDR to check Mach-O files for malware upon loading, and upon execution.
Malicious child process protection	Enables Cortex XDR to prevent script-based attacks. Such attacks can be used to deliver malware by blocking targeted processes that are commonly used to bypass traditional security methods.
Malicious device protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints against malicious hardware by detecting and blocking rogue Human Interface Devices (HIDs), such as Rubber Duckies, keyboards, mice, gamepads, and barcode scanners, that masquerade as trusted peripherals to perform automated keystroke injections, bypass UI prompts, or execute unauthorized scripts.
Network Packet Inspection Engine	Enables to detect abnormal network traffic patterns and prevent malicious activity.
Ransomware protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against encryption-based activity associated with ransomware attacks.

Linux

Malware protection type	Description
Anti webshell protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoint processes from dropping malicious web shells.
Container escaping protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against container-escaping attempts.
Credential gathering protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect endpoints from processes trying to access or steal passwords and other credentials.
Cryptominers protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against attempts to locate or steal cryptocurrencies.
ELF file examination	Enables Cortex XDR to detect and prevent malicious ELF files from being executed or written to disk on Linux-based endpoints. On-write file examination - Enables Cortex XDR to monitor and take action on malicious files during the on-write process.
ELF file loading	Enables Cortex XDR to intercept ELF files and Shared Objects at the moment they are loaded into a process. On-load file examination - Enables Cortex XDR to monitor and take action on malicious files during the on-load process.
Endpoint scanning	Enables Cortex XDR to scan endpoints and attached removable drives for dormant, inactive malware.
Financial malware threat protection	Enables Cortex XDR to protect against techniques specific to financial and banking malware.
Global threat behavioral threat protection rules	Enables Cortex XDR to use rules to protect endpoints from malicious causality chains.
JAVA Files Examination	Enables Cortex XDR to detect and prevent malicious JAVA files from being executed or written to disk.
Local file threat examination	Enables Cortex XDR to detect malicious files on the endpoint.
Malicious child process protection	Enables Cortex XDR to prevent process creation based on examination of suspicious relations between parent and child processes.
Reverse shell protection	Enables Cortex XDR to prevent attempts to redirect standard input and output streams to network sockets.

iOS

Malware protection type	Description
Call and messages blocking	Enables Cortex XDR to act on incoming calls and messages from known spam numbers.
Network and EDR security module	This module lets you configure granular control and monitoring of network traffic on iOS-based supervised devices. The devices' profiles must be also configured for this on the MDM side as explained in the Cortex XDR Agent iOS Guide.
Safari browser security module	This security module can provide proactive gating of suspicious sites accessed using Safari, and provides informative site analysis to the device user. This option is recommended for iOS devices that do not belong to your organization and do not use the Network Shield feature.
Spam reports	Enables Cortex XDR to report calls and messages as spam.
URL filtering	Enables Cortex XDR to analyze and block or report malicious URLs, and to block or allow custom URLs.

Android

Malware protection type	Description
APK files examination	Enables Cortex XDR to analyze and prevent malicious APK files from running on endpoints. Note From Cortex XDR agent for Android version 9.0 and later, part of this module, which performs local analysis on the Android device itself, is deprecated. APK analysis will be handled only by Wildfire.