Gray Hat Hacking, Second Edition, 2nd Edition

Chapter 6. Programming Survival Skills

• C programming language

  • Basic concepts including sample programs

  • Compiling

  • Computer memory

• Random access memory

  • Structure of memory

  • Buffers, strings, pointers

• Intel processors

  • Registers

  • Internal components

• Assembly language basics

  • Comparison with other languages

  • Types of assembly

  • Constructs of language and assembling

• Debugging with gdb

  • Basics of gdb

  • Disassembly

• Python survival skills

Why study programming? Ethical gray hat hackers should study programming and learn as much about the subject as possible in order to find vulnerabilities in programs and get them fixed before unethical hackers take advantage of them. It is very much a footrace: if the vulnerability exists, who will find it first? The purpose of this chapter ...