Newsletter # 14 - Using LLDB for reverse engineering Dec 20 2019

Hello,

I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season. I like this season, everyone seems to be in a good mood, and also, there is an excuse to get hot chocolate more often than in any other season.

Did you see everything that Apple released yesterday? - Apple Platform Security (if you want the PDF link, it's here) - The document describes security aspects for all of its platforms and services. It's a must-read if you are into Apple security (and also if you own an Apple device). - Apple Security Bounty Program - This is the most exciting news I've read in a long time. I'll be having a look into this. I hope a good community of Bounty hunters come of this, I'll love to be part of it.

The security platform document will keep you busy during the weekend (157 pages if you were wondering). Have a look and let me know what you think.

Apple news aside, I wanted to share a couple of articles this week:

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/13/technology/tony-brooker-dead.html - This article is about the passing and history of Tony Brooker. Who some attribute the creation of the assembly language as we know. Read also the discussion on HN about the attribution to the creation of the Mark 1 Autocode. Very interesting read.
Another NYTimes article, this time on Location tracking cellphones. A sobering read on privacy and all the implications of the data we share with the big tech companies (Sometimes unknowingly).

And finally, this week's post is about using lldb as a debugger for reverse engineering. The post assumes you have some familiarity with assembly. If you are preparing yourself for the Apple Security Bounty program, you might find it useful ;). Here is the link

https://rderik.com/blog/using-lldb-for-reverse-engineering/

Let me know what you think.

Ok, that's it for this week. Enjoy the weekend.

Derik

Tip of the week

Ok, this tip of the week is more of a social service than a tip. If you have an iPhone (iOS 11+), it is good to know that if you are in an emergency, and you press the lock button of your iPhone 5 times, it'll start an emergency call. And you can also add emergency contacts that get notified after the emergency call finishes.

I think not many people know about this feature, but it is important to know. It might save a loved one. Please share it with your kids or parents or anyone you feel might benefit from it (everyone I guess).

Read more on Apple's SOS Emergency article, there are a lot of options and settings you can configure.

** If you want to check what else I'm currently doing, be sure to follow me on twitter @rderik or subscribe to the newsletter. If you want to send me a direct message, you can send it to derik@rderik.com.