Described systems and methods allow conducting computer security operations, such as detecting malware and spyware, in a bare-metal computer system. In some embodiments, a first processor of a computer system executes the code samples under assessment, whereas a second, distinct processor is used to carry out the assessment and to control various hardware components involved in the assessment. Such hardware components include, among others, a memory shadower configured to detect changes to a memory connected to the first processor, and a storage shadower configured to detect an attempt to write to a non-volatile storage device of the computer system.