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Ask HN: Getting started with reverse engineering

12 points by jmstfv 9y ago

What are some good resources for delving into reverse engineering? (apart from subreddit and Stack exchange forum)

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
alltakendamned 9y ago
Well, it depends a little bit what you want to learn. Do you want to focus on binary reversing or on e.g. protocol reversing or firmware reversing etc. That being said, you'll need to learn: - Disassemblers like IDA Pro or Radare2 - Internals of the operating system of your choice, so you know how it works - Internals of the file formats you want to reverse - What code constructs look like in disassembly so you can recognize them - Tons and tons of practice Many people start learning with so called Crackme challenges, google for that. challenges.re is a good start. There's free ebooks around like at https://beginners.re/ https://beginners.re/ Lists like https://github.com/fdivrp/awesome-reversing https://github.com/fdivrp/awesome-reversing will provide more pointers. It's important to understand that reverse engineering is not an easy topic to master. It'll take tons of time and practice, so be patient.
- phaus 9y ago
  I'm already working on binary reversing. Got any advice on learning protocol reversing? I've been looking for a couple of years and I haven't found much.
  - alltakendamned 9y ago
    There are indeed less resources available for protocol analysis, and I'm always on the lookout for them myself as this is an interesting topic. So far, it's mainly been studying existing protocols, as many protocols reuse the same ideas and techniques. Additionally, here's 2 resources that I found interesting and related: So you want to hack radios talk @HITB 2017, offering a good methodology for basic RF reversing. Very good talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeoGQwT0Z1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeoGQwT0Z1Y The upcoming book of James Forshaw on attacking network protocols, there are already some chapters available through early access: https://www.nostarch.com/networkprotocols https://www.nostarch.com/networkprotocols If you have good references, I'd love to hear about them.
    - phaus 9y ago
      Thanks! I actually pre-ordered that James Forshaw book a few months ago. I'll probably wait until release to begin reading.

12 points by jmstfv 9y ago

What are some good resources for delving into reverse engineering? (apart from subreddit and Stack exchange forum)

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

alltakendamned 9y ago

Well, it depends a little bit what you want to learn. Do you want to focus on binary reversing or on e.g. protocol reversing or firmware reversing etc. That being said, you'll need to learn: - Disassemblers like IDA Pro or Radare2 - Internals of the operating system of your choice, so you know how it works - Internals of the file formats you want to reverse - What code constructs look like in disassembly so you can recognize them - Tons and tons of practice Many people start learning with so called Crackme challenges, google for that. challenges.re is a good start. There's free ebooks around like at https://beginners.re/ https://beginners.re/ Lists like https://github.com/fdivrp/awesome-reversing https://github.com/fdivrp/awesome-reversing will provide more pointers. It's important to understand that reverse engineering is not an easy topic to master. It'll take tons of time and practice, so be patient.

phaus 9y ago
I'm already working on binary reversing. Got any advice on learning protocol reversing? I've been looking for a couple of years and I haven't found much.
- alltakendamned 9y ago
  There are indeed less resources available for protocol analysis, and I'm always on the lookout for them myself as this is an interesting topic. So far, it's mainly been studying existing protocols, as many protocols reuse the same ideas and techniques. Additionally, here's 2 resources that I found interesting and related: So you want to hack radios talk @HITB 2017, offering a good methodology for basic RF reversing. Very good talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeoGQwT0Z1Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeoGQwT0Z1Y The upcoming book of James Forshaw on attacking network protocols, there are already some chapters available through early access: https://www.nostarch.com/networkprotocols https://www.nostarch.com/networkprotocols If you have good references, I'd love to hear about them.
  - phaus 9y ago
    Thanks! I actually pre-ordered that James Forshaw book a few months ago. I'll probably wait until release to begin reading.