What do you mean by "reverse engineer?" I have heard this word several times especially in the world of hacking, but... can someone tell me what it really meant?
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- An entity claiming to be Jerome Tan wrote: : : What do you mean by "reverse engineer?" I have heard this word several = : times especially in the world of hacking, but... can someone tell me = : what it really meant? : Reverse engineering is the process of taking a piece of executable code, be it a Win95 program or firmware for a cellular phone eeprom, and running it through a disassembler. The disassembler converts the machine code into assembly instructions. From there, a person with a lot of spare time, a good understanding of compiler design, and a lot of caffeine can translate the assembly instructions into a higher level language (ie. C, C++, VisualBasic). The first part is easy (and writing a disassembler is a good project for upper-level Comp Sci courses), but the second part is a real bear and people with the knowledge and drive to do it have my respect. - -- Mark Rogaski | Why read when you can just sit and | Member GTI System Admin | stare at things? | Programmers Local wendigo@gti.net | Any expressed opinions are my own | # 0xfffe wendigo@pobox.com | unless they can get me in trouble. | APL-CPIO -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2 iQCVAwUBMe+p8g0HmAyu61cJAQEyFAQAq+zOnHz6ZV+dtKZ08hSXkoLMEsteJXP3 NPnYRmfnGf+Xtl9GJaewMqYbXIbGTYePDlAqXw0Oxa3AI4+vtyQAe1u4PbqUdqHq rgvqW9xYnR41U3eFAgp1WjINAZa5am6C1CpQxwI6oETmF8S6uMtJpBQxpYMKBUSA 8NhOKhQfuaE= =+ZvY -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
Mark Rogaski <wendigo@pobox.com> writes:
: What do you mean by "reverse engineer?" I have heard this word several = : times especially in the world of hacking, but... can someone tell me = : what it really meant? :
Reverse engineering is the process of taking a piece of executable code, be it a Win95 program or firmware for a cellular phone eeprom, and running it through a disassembler. The disassembler converts the machine code into assembly instructions. From there, a person with a lot of spare time, a good understanding of compiler design, and a lot of caffeine can translate the assembly instructions into a higher level language (ie. C, C++, VisualBasic). The first part is easy (and writing a disassembler is a good project for upper-level Comp Sci courses), but the second part is a real bear and people with the knowledge and drive to do it have my respect.
Small correction: oftentimes one is trying to figure out the 'secret' algorithm used by the program, and that can be done by analyzing the assembler just as well. I did this a few times to break 'secret' cryptosystems. Certain programs encrypt their executable code and decrypt it at runtime to make reverse engineering more difficult. --- Dr.Dimitri Vulis KOTM Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps
What do you mean by "reverse engineer?" I have heard this word several times especially in
On Wed, 17 Jul 1996, Jerome Tan wrote: the world of hacking, but... can someone tell me what it really meant?
Speaking of reverse engineering something, what is a program that will allow you de-compile a visual basic app? Joe
participants (4)
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dlv＠bwalk.dm.com -
Jerome Tan -
Joseph Seanor -
Mark Rogaski