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Looking for Malware on Windows Systems

>NOTE: This lab will take some time to start. This is because the Windows machine runs several preparation scripts once it starts, we ask the environment to wait until this is done before marking the lab as ready for your use. In this lab, we will investigate a suspicious process running on a Windows host, document key data points, and create a dump file of the process.

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Path Info

Level
Clock icon Beginner
Duration
Clock icon 30m
Last updated
Clock icon Aug 30, 2025

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Table of Contents

  1. Challenge

    Document suspicious process information.

    1. Use a Remote Desktop client to connect to the lab server on it's public IP address on port 3389. The Windows lab servers take a few minutes to come up so please be patient.
    2. Open up notepad.exe.
    3. Open up the Task Manager.
    4. On the Processes tab, find the process named amazon-ssm-agent, right click on the amazon-ssm-agent and select Go to details.
    5. From the Details tab, document the PID and Username for the amazon-ssm-agent process.
    6. Right click on the amazon-ssm-agent and select Go to service(s), document the service name.
    7. Go back to the Processes tab and right click on the amazon-ssm-agent process and select Open file location. Document the file path.
    8. Save all this information in a file named "investigation.txt" on the Desktop of the server.

  2. Challenge

    Create a dump file of the suspicious service.

    1. Open up the Task Manager.
    2. On the Proceses tab, find the procecess named amazon-ssm-agent, then right click on it and select Create dump file.
Pluralsight Skills - Labs - Pluralsight
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Pluralsight Skills

Pluralsight Skills gives leaders confidence they have the skills needed to execute technology strategy. Technology teams can benchmark expertise across roles, speed up release cycles and build reliable, secure products. By leveraging our expert content, skill assessments and one-of-a-kind analytics, keep up with the pace of change, put the right people on the right projects and boost productivity. It's the most effective path to developing tech skills at scale.

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