Vmware vs VirtualBox: Which do you prefer for Malware testing?

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MalwareBlockerYT

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Hi all,

I personally test all my malware samples without VMWare Workstation Pro but I was wondering what most people prefered VMWare or VirtualBox?

Obviously VirtualBox is free but VMWare does also produce a free version as far as I know...
 

kev216

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They are both good products, but I personally prefer VMware. On my computer it works a little smoother than Virtualbox. The VMWare tools you can install are also better than the ones Virtualbox has in my opinion. For example, the drag and drop between host and guest is far better. The only downside of VMWare is that it doesn't offer a snapshot feature right away in the free version, while Virtualbox has a simple button to create one. But you can do this manually by copying the hard disk files you want to make a snapshot of into a separate folder, and once you need to go back to the 'snapshot', you replace the current hard disk files by them again. So in fact you can do that in VMWare too.
 
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MalwareBlockerYT

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Still like VMware better, the interface eye's more professional :)
Same :)

They are both good products, but I personally prefer VMware. On my computer it works a little smoother than Virtualbox. The VMWare tools you can install are also better than the ones Virtualbox has in my opinion. For example, the drag and drop between host and guest is far better. The only downside of VMWare is that it doesn't offer a snapshot feature right away in the free version, while Virtualbox has a simple button to create one. But you can do this manually by copying the hard disk files you want to make a snapshot of into a separate folder, and once you need to go back to the 'snapshot', you replace the current hard disk files by them again. So in fact you can do that in VMWare too.
The only reason I switched from VirtualBox to VMWare was because VirtualBox give me so many errors that it just became a hassle...But yeah I agree that both are great applications.
 
W

Wave

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VMWare will be better than VirtualBox; it's expensive for a reason, and no one would purchase it otherwise when they could just use VirtualBox. VirtualBox is also really good and very useful if you cannot get hold of VMWare Workstation, though.

In terms of security, it is biased on both sides; VMWare is closed-source meaning only the employees have access to the source code which does make it harder to exploit (since the attacker cannot just read the source code to find problems but would have to spend lots of time manually reversing and testing on repeat), however VirtualBox is open source which can ease things for the attacker (that being said, this also helps keep it secure since people will report security problems/bugs in general which they identify from the source code if anyone actually goes through it).

To stay better protected whilst using Virtual Machine software (in general - includes both VirtualBox and VMWare): disable shared clipboard; disable shared folders; disable drag-and-drop and any other similar features... When you are performing the testing or browsing, since these features can be good attack vectors for a VMWare exploit (guest escape -> host access) potentially.

You can use whichever one, I'd base your decision on preference.
 
M

MalwareBlockerYT

Thread author
VMWare will be better than VirtualBox; it's expensive for a reason, and no one would purchase it otherwise when they could just use VirtualBox. VirtualBox is also really good and very useful if you cannot get hold of VMWare Workstation, though.

In terms of security, it is biased on both sides; VMWare is closed-source meaning only the employees have access to the source code which does make it harder to exploit (since the attacker cannot just read the source code to find problems but would have to spend lots of time manually reversing and testing on repeat), however VirtualBox is open source which can ease things for the attacker (that being said, this also helps keep it secure since people will report security problems/bugs in general which they identify from the source code if anyone actually goes through it).

To stay better protected whilst using Virtual Machine software (in general - includes both VirtualBox and VMWare): disable shared clipboard; disable shared folders; disable drag-and-drop and any other similar features... When you are performing the testing or browsing, since these features can be good attack vectors for a VMWare exploit (guest escape -> host access) potentially.

You can use whichever one, I'd base your decision on preference.
Very well said :)

VMWare Workstation Pro or the free version
The one feature I liked in VB was the ability to change the MAC address.
I have however been using VMWare for quite a few years.
Yeah I agree with you but I never used that MAC address feature - I left it alone. I've been using VMWare for about 6 months now & am really liking it.
 

Dani Santos

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This is like the Windows vs Linux. Closed source paid product vs free open source. Both have problems, both are really safe. It all depends on your usage and what you prefer. I think both have similar features and performance. But because vmware was buggy on my pc I use virtual box and so far no problem. You should try both and choose what is best for you.
 
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_CyberGhosT_

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Those that follow me know I purchased Workstation Pro a couple
months ago and in my free time am learning the in's and outs of
utilizing the tool for testing purposes.
Those that have used both should have a valid opinion, I am not
one of those, so I will not be comparing them.
I have only ever used VMWare and based on my experiences
so far, I have no plans to use V-Box in the near future.
 
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