I’m far from a splendid writer and god knows how many drafts of this “introductory newsletter” I’ve “Ctrl-A + Backspace-ed” already. That said, I’ll be brief.
I’m wldfngrs, author of Crux of The Matter; a collection of my analytical writings on pre-existing malware samples, and - ahem - noob security researcher.
In my brief time programming computers (my proudest acheivement being attempting to build my own programming language and it's associated compiler - more of that in time) one lesson stuck - computers aren’t great at communicating what they need! Or they’re great and we’re just too stuck up to learn to listen and talk to them.
I’m on the side of the computers’ by the way; we are too stuck up. Most of us, at least. The others, huddled away, seemingly in the dark, do put in the effort; cue malware authors - don’t mention system and kernel developers, it’s only a fine line, I assure you - and their endearing mastery in crafting software to disrupt systems and truly make man master over computer is a testament to their technical proficiency. I mean, what other way to learn from these masters and improve not only security research but an understanding of computers than from their works themselves?
To achieve this software engineering zenith is the purpose of this newsletter. I will provide structured analysis on pre-existing maliciously written software samples; primarily aimed at beginner security researchers like myself, exposing their functionality, execution goal(s) and how said goals are accomplished. Do keep in mind that my analysis may be incomplete or lack information that the seasoned researcher might find obvious. As I continue to grow and develop my skills, previously analyzed samples will be revisited with a more comprehensive perspective.
Of final note, the book ‘Practical Malware Analysis’ and it’s accompanying malware labs will be the primary study material with more real world samples to be incorporated into my analysis overtime. Until then, grab a copy of the book, set up your lab and let’s get started.