X86 Software Reverse Engineering Cracking And Counter Measures

A crystal-clear and practical blueprint to software disassembly x86 Software Reverse-Engineering, Cracking, and Counter-Measures is centered around the world of disassembling software. It will start with the basics of the x86 assembly language, and progress to how that knowledge empowers you to reverse-engineer and circumvent software protections. No knowledge of assembly, reverse engineering, or software cracking is required. The book begins with a bootcamp on x86, learning how to read, write, and build in the assembly that powers a massive amount of the world’s computers. Then the book will shift to reverse engineering applications using a handful of industry favorites such as IDA, Ghidra, Olly, and more. Next, we move to cracking with techniques such as patching and key generation, all harnessing the power of assembly and reverse engineering. Lastly, we’ll examine cracking from a defensive perspective. Providing learners with techniques to be a better defender of their own software, or knowledge to crack these techniques more effectively. Assembly: computer Architecture, x86, system calls, building and linking, ASCII, condition codes, GDB, control flow, stack, calling conventions Reverse Engineering: reconnaissance, strings, RE strategy, stripping, linking, optimizations, compilers, industry tools Cracking: patching, key checkers, key generators, resource hacking, dependency walking Defense: anti-debugging, anti-tamper, packing, cryptors/decryptors, whitelist, blacklist, RASP, code signing, obfuscation A practical and hands-on resource for security professionals to hobbyists, this book is for anyone who wants to learn to take apart, understand, and modify black-box software. x86 Software Reverse-Engineering, Cracking, and Counter-Measures is a vital resource for security researchers, reverse engineers and defenders who analyze, research, crack or defend software applications.

More practical less theory KEY FEATURES ● In-depth practical demonstration with multiple examples of reverse engineering concepts. ● Provides a step-by-step approach to reverse engineering, including assembly instructions. ● Helps security researchers to crack application code and logic using reverse engineering open source tools. ● Reverse engineering strategies for simple-to-complex applications like Wannacry ransomware and Windows calculator. DESCRIPTION The book ‘Implementing Reverse Engineering’ begins with a step-by-step explanation of the fundamentals of reverse engineering. You will learn how to use reverse engineering to find bugs and hacks in real-world applications. This book is divided into three sections. The first section is an exploration of the reverse engineering process. The second section explains reverse engineering of applications, and the third section is a collection of real-world use-cases with solutions. The first section introduces the basic concepts of a computing system and the data building blocks of the computing system. This section also includes open-source tools such as CFF Explorer, Ghidra, Cutter, and x32dbg. The second section goes over various reverse engineering practicals on various applications to give users hands-on experience. In the third section, reverse engineering of Wannacry ransomware, a well-known Windows application, and various exercises are demonstrated step by step. In a very detailed and step-by-step manner, you will practice and understand different assembly instructions, types of code calling conventions, assembly patterns of applications with the printf function, pointers, array, structure, scanf, strcpy function, decision, and loop control structures. You will learn how to use open-source tools for reverse engineering such as portable executable editors, disassemblers, and debuggers. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN ● Understand different code calling conventions like CDECL, STDCALL, and FASTCALL with practical illustrations. ● Analyze and break WannaCry ransomware using Ghidra. ● Using Cutter, reconstruct application logic from the assembly code. ● Hack the Windows calculator to modify its behavior. WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR This book is for cybersecurity researchers, bug bounty hunters, software developers, software testers, and software quality assurance experts who want to perform reverse engineering for advanced security from attacks. Interested readers can also be from high schools or universities (with a Computer Science background). Basic programming knowledge is helpful but not required. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Impact of Reverse Engineering 2. Understanding Architecture of x86 machines 3. Up and Running with Reverse Engineering tools 4. Walkthrough on Assembly Instructions 5. Types of Code Calling Conventions 6. Reverse Engineering Pattern of Basic Code 7. Reverse Engineering Pattern of the printf() Program 8. Reverse Engineering Pattern of the Pointer Program 9. Reverse Engineering Pattern of the Decision Control Structure 10. Reverse Engineering Pattern of the Loop Control Structure 11. Array Code Pattern in Reverse Engineering 12. Structure Code Pattern in Reverse Engineering 13. Scanf Program Pattern in Reverse Engineering 14. strcpy Program Pattern in Reverse Engineering 15. Simple Interest Code Pattern in Reverse Engineering 16. Breaking Wannacry Ransomware with Reverse Engineering 17. Generate Pseudo Code from the Binary File 18. Fun with Windows Calculator Using Reverse Engineering

Analyzing how hacks are done, so as to stop them in thefuture Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing hardware orsoftware and understanding it, without having access to the sourcecode or design documents. Hackers are able to reverse engineersystems and exploit what they find with scary results. Now the goodguys can use the same tools to thwart these threats. PracticalReverse Engineering goes under the hood of reverse engineeringfor security analysts, security engineers, and system programmers,so they can learn how to use these same processes to stop hackersin their tracks. The book covers x86, x64, and ARM (the first book to cover allthree); Windows kernel-mode code rootkits and drivers; virtualmachine protection techniques; and much more. Best of all, itoffers a systematic approach to the material, with plenty ofhands-on exercises and real-world examples. Offers a systematic approach to understanding reverseengineering, with hands-on exercises and real-world examples Covers x86, x64, and advanced RISC machine (ARM) architecturesas well as deobfuscation and virtual machine protectiontechniques Provides special coverage of Windows kernel-mode code(rootkits/drivers), a topic not often covered elsewhere, andexplains how to analyze drivers step by step Demystifies topics that have a steep learning curve Includes a bonus chapter on reverse engineering tools Practical Reverse Engineering: Using x86, x64, ARM, WindowsKernel, and Reversing Tools provides crucial, up-to-dateguidance for a broad range of IT professionals.

Beginning with a basic primer on reverse engineering-including computer internals, operating systems, and assembly language-and then discussing the various applications of reverse engineering, this book provides readers with practical, in-depth techniques for software reverse engineering. The book is broken into two parts, the first deals with security-related reverse engineering and the second explores the more practical aspects of reverse engineering. In addition, the author explains how to reverse engineer a third-party software library to improve interfacing and how to reverse engineer a competitor's software to build a better product. * The first popular book to show how software reverse engineering can help defend against security threats, speed up development, and unlock the secrets of competitive products * Helps developers plug security holes by demonstrating how hackers exploit reverse engineering techniques to crack copy-protection schemes and identify software targets for viruses and other malware * Offers a primer on advanced reverse-engineering, delving into "disassembly"-code-level reverse engineering-and explaining how to decipher assembly language

Detect potentials bugs in your code or program and develop your own tools using the Ghidra reverse engineering framework developed by the NSA project Key FeaturesMake the most of Ghidra on different platforms such as Linux, Windows, and macOSLeverage a variety of plug-ins and extensions to perform disassembly, assembly, decompilation, and scriptingDiscover how you can meet your cybersecurity needs by creating custom patches and toolsBook Description Ghidra, an open source software reverse engineering (SRE) framework created by the NSA research directorate, enables users to analyze compiled code on any platform, whether Linux, Windows, or macOS. This book is a starting point for developers interested in leveraging Ghidra to create patches and extend tool capabilities to meet their cybersecurity needs. You'll begin by installing Ghidra and exploring its features, and gradually learn how to automate reverse engineering tasks using Ghidra plug-ins. You'll then see how to set up an environment to perform malware analysis using Ghidra and how to use it in the headless mode. As you progress, you'll use Ghidra scripting to automate the task of identifying vulnerabilities in executable binaries. The book also covers advanced topics such as developing Ghidra plug-ins, developing your own GUI, incorporating new process architectures if needed, and contributing to the Ghidra project. By the end of this Ghidra book, you'll have developed the skills you need to harness the power of Ghidra for analyzing and avoiding potential vulnerabilities in code and networks. What you will learnGet to grips with using Ghidra's features, plug-ins, and extensionsUnderstand how you can contribute to GhidraFocus on reverse engineering malware and perform binary auditingAutomate reverse engineering tasks with Ghidra plug-insBecome well-versed with developing your own Ghidra extensions, scripts, and featuresAutomate the task of looking for vulnerabilities in executable binaries using Ghidra scriptingFind out how to use Ghidra in the headless modeWho this book is for This SRE book is for developers, software engineers, or any IT professional with some understanding of cybersecurity essentials. Prior knowledge of Java or Python, along with experience in programming or developing applications, is required before getting started with this book.

Implement reverse engineering techniques to analyze software, exploit software targets, and defend against security threats like malware and viruses. Key Features Analyze and improvise software and hardware with real-world examples Learn advanced debugging and patching techniques with tools such as IDA Pro, x86dbg, and Radare2. Explore modern security techniques to identify, exploit, and avoid cyber threats Book Description If you want to analyze software in order to exploit its weaknesses and strengthen its defenses, then you should explore reverse engineering. Reverse Engineering is a hackerfriendly tool used to expose security flaws and questionable privacy practices.In this book, you will learn how to analyse software even without having access to its source code or design documents. You will start off by learning the low-level language used to communicate with the computer and then move on to covering reverse engineering techniques. Next, you will explore analysis techniques using real-world tools such as IDA Pro and x86dbg. As you progress through the chapters, you will walk through use cases encountered in reverse engineering, such as encryption and compression, used to obfuscate code, and how to to identify and overcome anti-debugging and anti-analysis tricks. Lastly, you will learn how to analyse other types of files that contain code. By the end of this book, you will have the confidence to perform reverse engineering. What you will learn Learn core reverse engineering Identify and extract malware components Explore the tools used for reverse engineering Run programs under non-native operating systems Understand binary obfuscation techniques Identify and analyze anti-debugging and anti-analysis tricks Who this book is for If you are a security engineer or analyst or a system programmer and want to use reverse engineering to improve your software and hardware, this is the book for you. You will also find this book useful if you are a developer who wants to explore and learn reverse engineering. Having some programming/shell scripting knowledge is an added advantage.

When it comes to network security, many users and administrators are running scared, and justifiably so. The sophistication of attacks against computer systems increases with each new Internet worm.What's the worst an attacker can do to you? You'd better find out, right? That's what Security Warrior teaches you. Based on the principle that the only way to defend yourself is to understand your attacker in depth, Security Warrior reveals how your systems can be attacked. Covering everything from reverse engineering to SQL attacks, and including topics like social engineering, antiforensics, and common attacks against UNIX and Windows systems, this book teaches you to know your enemy and how to be prepared to do battle.Security Warrior places particular emphasis on reverse engineering. RE is a fundamental skill for the administrator, who must be aware of all kinds of malware that can be installed on his machines -- trojaned binaries, "spyware" that looks innocuous but that sends private data back to its creator, and more. This is the only book to discuss reverse engineering for Linux or Windows CE. It's also the only book that shows you how SQL injection works, enabling you to inspect your database and web applications for vulnerability.Security Warrior is the most comprehensive and up-to-date book covering the art of computer war: attacks against computer systems and their defenses. It's often scary, and never comforting. If you're on the front lines, defending your site against attackers, you need this book. On your shelf--and in your hands.

If you want to master the art and science of reverse engineering code with IDA Pro for security R & D or software debugging, this is the book for you. Highly organized and sophisticated criminal entities are constantly developing more complex, obfuscated, and armored viruses, worms, Trojans, and botnets. IDA Pro's interactive interface and programmable development language provide you with complete control over code disassembly and debugging. This is the only book which focuses exclusively on the world's most powerful and popular took for reverse engineering code. *Reverse Engineer REAL Hostile Code To follow along with this chapter, you must download a file called!DANGER!INFECTEDMALWARE!DANGER! ... 'nuff said. *Portable Executable (PE) and Executable and Linking Formats (ELF) Understand the physical layout of PE and ELF files, and analyze the components that are essential to reverse engineering. *Break Hostile Code Armor and Write your own Exploits Understand execution flow, trace functions, recover hard coded passwords, find vulnerable functions, backtrace execution, and craft a buffer overflow. *Master Debugging Debug in IDA Pro, use a debugger while reverse engineering, perform heap and stack access modification, and use other debuggers. * Stop Anti-Reversing Anti-reversing, like reverse engineering or coding in assembly, is an art form. The trick of course is to try to stop the person reversing the application. Find out how! *Track a Protocol through a Binary and Recover its Message Structure Trace execution flow from a read event, determine the structure of a protocol, determine if the protocol has any undocumented messages, and use IDA Pro to determine the functions that process a particular message. *Develop IDA Scripts and Plug-ins Learn the basics of IDA scripting and syntax, and write IDC scripts and plug-ins to automate even the most complex tasks.