A system and method for gathering exhibited behaviors of a .NET executable
module in a secure manner is presented. In operation, a .NET behavior
evaluation module presents a virtual .NET environment to a Microsoft
Corporation .NET code module. The .NET behavior evaluation module
implements a sufficient number of aspects of an actual Microsoft
Corporation .NET environment that a .NET code module can execute. As the
.NET code module executes, the .NET behavior evaluation module records
some of the exhibited behaviors, i.e., .NET system supplied
libraries/subroutines, that are associated with known malware. The
recorded behaviors are placed in a behavior signature for an external
determination as to whether the .NET code module is malware, i.e., an
unwanted computer attack.