{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01773049645390071, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.680473372781065, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
NETSS: a networked environment for testing suspicious software

The increasing popularity of malicious software attacks concerns computer security professionals. While several platforms exist to evaluate malware, this project aimed to create a physical system to verify and expand on previous research. The project developed NETSS: a networked environment for testing suspicious software, a system designed to emulate the Internet. Unlike virtual alternatives, NETSS consists of four physical machines that are sandboxed, directing all outbound Internet traffic to a single internal server that responds to popular network service requests. With logging functions enabled, analysts may run a suspicious piece of software for evaluation. During testing, NETSS was used to analyze and identify a popular worm that appeared in a suspicious e-mail. The project also began development of the Ashburn-Sulcoski index, which quantifies malware threat potential. This index provides US Government agencies and other professionals a standard to quantify malware threats. Although the project produced a working index, refinement continues