Virtual Machines vs. Containerized Environments: A Comparative Study for Malware Analysis

Abstract

Malware analysis is critical to cybersecurity because it enables researchers and security professionals to better understand threats, their indicators of compromise, and then provide mitigating measures. This paper presents the comparative analysis of two popular malware analysis environments, i.e, Virtual Machines (VMs) and Containerized Environments (CEs). The team evaluated these platforms based on key factors such as isolation, resource usage, startup time, scalability, operating system support and emulation capabilities. Our findings reveal that Virtual Machines offer stronger isolation and better operating system emulation, while Containerized Environments provide faster startup time, better scalability and a lower resource overhead. This study provides a valuable insight for cybersecurity professionals seeking to choose the most suitable environment for malware analysis.