Binary Analysis for Autonomous Hacking
Giovanni Vigna · 2016
Despite the rise of interpreted languages and the World Wide Web, binary analysis has remained the focus of much research in computer security. There are several reasons for this. First, interpreted languages are either interpreted by binary programs or Just-In-Time compiled down to binary code. Second, "core" OSconstructs and performance-critical applications are still writtenin languages (usually, C or C++) that compile down to binary code. Third, the rise of the Internet of Things is powered by devices that are, in general, very resource-constrained. Without cycles to waste on interpretation or Just-In-Time compilation, the firmware of these devices tends to be written in languages (again, usually C) that compile to binary.