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Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering 1st Edition
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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
- ISBN-100764574817
- ISBN-13978-0764574818
- Edition1st
- PublisherWiley
- Publication dateApril 15, 2005
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions7.4 x 1.4 x 9.2 inches
- Print length624 pages
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Editorial Reviews
From the Inside Flap
Sometimes, the best way to advance is in reverse
If you want to know how something works, you take it apart very carefully. That's exactly what this book shows youhow to deconstruct software in a way that reveals design and implementation details, sometimes even source code. Why? Because reversing reveals weak spots, so you can target your security efforts. Because you can reverse- engineer malicious code in order to neutralize it. Because understanding what makes a program work lets you build a better one. You'll learn how here.
- Learn to read compiler-generated assembly language code for IA-32 compatible processors
- Decipher an undocumented file format or network protocol
- Understand when reverse engineering is legal, and when and whyit may not be
- See how hackers use reversing to defeat copy protection technology
- Find out how to pull the plug on malicious code
- Determine how to prevent others from reversing your code, and find out how effective such steps can be
- Explore reverse engineering on the .NET platform and its assembly language, MSIL
- Observe the dissection of a real-world malicious program and see how the attacker used it to control infected systems
Companion Web site
Visit www.wiley.com/go/eeilam for a complete list of the sample programs in the book and links to valuable papers and products.
From the Back Cover
Sometimes, the best way to advance is in reverse
If you want to know how something works, you take it apart very carefully. That's exactly what this book shows you how to deconstruct software in a way that reveals design and implementation details, sometimes even source code. Why? Because reversing reveals weak spots, so you can target your security efforts. Because you can reverse- engineer malicious code in order to neutralize it. Because understanding what makes a program work lets you build a better one. You'll learn how here.
- Learn to read compiler-generated assembly language code for IA-32 compatible processors
- Decipher an undocumented file format or network protocol
- Understand when reverse engineering is legal, and when and why it may not be
- See how hackers use reversing to defeat copy protection technology
- Find out how to pull the plug on malicious code
- Determine how to prevent others from reversing your code, and find out how effective such steps can be
- Explore reverse engineering on the .NET platform and its assembly language, MSIL
- Observe the dissection of a real-world malicious program and see how the attacker used it to control infected systems
Companion Web site
Visit www.wiley.com/go/eeilam for a complete list of the sample programs in the book and links to valuable papers and products.
About the Author
Eldad Eilam is a consultant in the field of reverse engineering. He assists clients with operating system and in-depth software reverse engineering, and has devoted several years to developing advanced reverse engineering techniques.
Product details
- Publisher : Wiley; 1st edition (April 15, 2005)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 624 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0764574817
- ISBN-13 : 978-0764574818
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.4 x 1.4 x 9.2 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #579,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #135 in Software Design & Engineering
- #697 in Software Development (Books)
- #1,926 in Computer Software (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book easy to read and understand. It provides a comprehensive reference for modern software engineering techniques. They find it concise and detailed, making it a good introduction for beginners. The topics are interesting and applicable to other subject matter. Readers describe the book as a leisure reading pace with no dull moments.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book pedagogic and concise. It provides a comprehensive reference for understanding modern software engineering techniques. The author walks readers through the techniques, which can be used in reverse/anti-reverse engineering. The book illustrates concepts with examples and exercises, and there is plenty of relatively pain-free discussion of high-level theory.
"...Written by a true master, the book is very pedagogic; every chapter is accompanied by detailed examples -- which make the discussed topics crystal-..." Read more
"...It will walk you through completing several daunting tasks and does not shy away from getting neck-deep in the nitty gritty details, including pages..." Read more
"...Besides this book is very well written thus very enjoyable to read...." Read more
"While the author gives a lot of useful high-level information about reverse engineering, he makes some fairly blatant errors from time to time when..." Read more
Customers find the book interesting and useful for analyzing topics. They say it provides an opportunity to think in a certain way, which is applicable to other subjects as well.
"...explains reverse-engineering-related topics in a fascinating and unique manner, and, within this work, he actually cements the way..." Read more
"...Over all a very good book on an interesting topic." Read more
"...information on reverse engineering for security, and is applicable to other subject matter, too." Read more
"...School and I have to say that this book gives the opportunity to think in a certain way in order to analyze things and fully understand them!" Read more
Customers enjoy the book's reading pace. They find it engaging, with no dull moments.
"...There is no dull moment in this book...." Read more
"Books fall into three categories - rigorous, technical, and leisure reading...." Read more
"Interesting book; Looking forward to reading..." Read more
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2010I am sorry for having written this review so late. This book is a true gem; a must-have for any serious software engineer. Understanding how software works under the hood is key to writing code properly -- and this book provides an insight on that topic in an absolutely BRILLIANT MANNER.
Having a fair bit of reverse engineering experience myself, I have found this book to be extremely concise and detaild -- and I have learned a fair bit of new material while reading it.
There is no dull moment in this book. The author (who is clearly a gifted writer) explains reverse-engineering-related topics in a fascinating and unique manner, and, within this work, he actually cements the way in which reverse engineering should always be taught. Written by a true master, the book is very pedagogic; every chapter is accompanied by detailed examples -- which make the discussed topics crystal-clear.
I would have given this book more than five stars, had I been able to -- and I can recommend it to every software deveopler without a trace of hesitation; actually, it is now that I have bought an additional copy as a gift to a friend. Rest assured that this book will be a crucial part in your collection of tech books, just like it is in mine.
To sum it all up (and as it becomes clear from the above written): I think that this book is a magnificent work of art (no less), and I would even dare to say that I enjoyed it more than any tech book I ever owned. With all the aforementioned complements and my vain attempts to describe the magnificence of this work, words still can't fully do justice to this book. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
- Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2012This well written gem contains everything needed for a solid foundation in x86 reversing. It will walk you through completing several daunting tasks and does not shy away from getting neck-deep in the nitty gritty details, including pages upon pages of groan-inducing disassembler listings. Be warned that if you just read the book and don't try following the examples on your computer, you will be missing out on a lot and may get the impression that reversing is as easy as the author makes it out to be in this book. There is also plenty of relatively pain-free discussion of high level theory, which comes as a nice relief after going through those previously mentioned pages of disassembler listings.
I picked up this book to get better at exploiting software, and was not disappointed. However, this is not a book about exploit development. If anything, it is a book about software cracking, complete with a 50 page walkthrough of an intermediate level protection scheme. The chapter on finding security vulnerabilities is actually very weak, as is the chapter on malware analysis. Despite this, I was not disappointed because the fundamental reversing skills acquired by working through this book are also invaluable base skills for exploit development.
My main gripe with this book is it's sole focus on the Windows x86 evironment. I would expect a hypothetical second edition to include many pages on reversing x86-64 code, as well as a chapter on Android and iOS reversing.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2007This is a good introductory book on reverse engineering. I would say it best suits somebody that has some years of developing experience in high-level languages such as C/C++ or Delphi/Pascal, while also knows something about Assembly language -- and of course with a strong curiosity for any "secrets" under the hood. From time to time I found myself nodding while reading this book.
My work invloves using some software for modeling transportation systems but most of the time the details of the underlying models that software relies on are not well documented. The information in this book helps me quickly learn how to reverse and get the information I want to know. Besides this book is very well written thus very enjoyable to read. In this regard, I would like to say - as an extra bonus I learned a lot from the author's writing ! (Sure, English is not my native lanuage but I have to write a lot technical reports in English for my daily work)
I love this book. Highly recommended!
- Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2013As a preliminary review without having completed the text yet, I have to say that this book is very well focused for the Windows developer. Focus is important because reverse engineering really puts one directly into nearly any possible aspect of the modern computer.
This text will please even the moderately advanced programmer, although the first quarter or so might seem like too much review for the Windows C++ programmer. The .NET programmer will really benefit, though, since the focus through the Windows layers and into machine code will reveal a lot to the high-level person who hasn't yet had a chance to delve into 'internals.'
I think the book serves as a "pro" book for someone with C++/Windows experience by tying things together and moving to its reversing core while at the same time serving as an "intermediate" book, ironically, for the high-level programmer who will read it more for a qualitative comprehension and have to go out and read more 'internals' books (like Jeff Richter's books) if interested in deeper understanding.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 29, 2006While the author gives a lot of useful high-level information about reverse engineering, he makes some fairly blatant errors from time to time when it comes to details. These errors are scattered throughout the book, and don't seem to be specific to any one topic. I suspect it may just be a matter of fast writing, poor editing, and a lack of diligence on the part of the technical reviewers. In any event, it's a good idea to have a secondary source of information available to verify what the author says.
Top reviews from other countries
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JadsonReviewed in Brazil on May 30, 20235.0 out of 5 stars Execelente
Livro veio excelente conforme o anuncio.
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FoX MulderReviewed in Mexico on December 12, 20215.0 out of 5 stars buen libro
de los mejores libros
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BlancaReviewed in Spain on October 12, 20235.0 out of 5 stars Genial.
Genial.
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FabrizioReviewed in Italy on June 19, 20195.0 out of 5 stars Da avere
Che dire, si tratta di un grande classico del reverse engineering da avere assolutamente.
Non fatevi ingannare dall’anno di scrittura di questo manuale, i contenuti sono comunque ancora validi e di grande valore.
Una chicca: vengono descritti i ransomware e crypto locker (seppure con altro nome) con molti anni di anticipo rispetto alla loro effettiva comparsa avvenuta solo recentemente.
M. L. E. RobertsReviewed in the United Kingdom on December 30, 20145.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, waiting on a newer version!
Excellent book for understanding everything around the world of Reversing. A little dated now but still quite relevant. The author did state in the book that there will be a newer version when 64bit is more mainstream, so hopefully that isn't too far away. But still, this will give you a flying start to the world of reversing.









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