Behind the Binary by Google Cloud Security
Welcome to Behind the Binary, the podcast that introduces you to the fascinating people, technology, and tools driving the world of reverse engineering. Join your host, Josh Stroschein, a reverse engineer with the FLARE team at Google, and someone passionate about sharing knowledge and shedding light on the art of reverse engineering, as he sits down with intriguing guests to explore the human side of this profession.
Behind the Binary goes beyond the code, sharing the stories, motivations, and unique perspectives of the individuals who dedicate their lives to unraveling the complexities of technology. We'll hear about their journeys into the field, the challenges they face, and the impact their work has on securing our digital world.
Whether you're a seasoned malware analyst, a software developer, a security researcher, or just someone curious about the world of reverse engineering, Behind the Binary offers insightful and engaging conversations for everyone interested in this fascinating field.
Episodes
25 episodes
EP25 The Future of Debugging: A Paradigm Shift with Xusheng Li
"TTD is a paradigm shift in the way you interact with the target... Potentially, five years from now, when we talk about debugging, we will just by default go to TTD."In this episode, we are joined by Xusheng Li, a debugger architect and...
EP24 The Glupteba Takedown: What Happens When Botnet Operators Show Up in Court with Pierre-Marc Bureau
"I thought that we would never hear about these people after they were named. But what was a surprise is that they actually hired a lawyer in New York... and they were like, 'Yeah, we're going to be taking part in this trial."In this epi...
EP23 Immutable C2: How EtherHiding and Frontend Attacks are Weaponizing the Blockchain
In this episode, we are joined by Robert Wallace, Joseph Dobson, and Blas Kajusner to dissect the new "Hybrid Heist." The panel argues that the era of isolated crypto-theft is over; sophisticated actors are now targeting the Web2 layer—the fron...
EP22 Jailbreaking, Prompt Injection, and the "Agentic" Flaw in MCP with Kevin Harris
"Skilled adversaries have a 100% success rate against all of the defenses that we know about."In this episode, Kevin Harris defends that claim. We move past the standard "AI Safety" talking points to distinguish between the two attack ve...
EP21 From HITB Origins to Agentic AI: Web3, Music & The Future of Hacking with Dhillon Kannabhiran
In this episode, Dhillon Kannabhiran shares the gritty origin story of Hack in the Box (HITB), detailing how he dug a $20k financial hole to launch the first event in Malaysia before building it into a global brand.The conversation moves...
EP20 Windows Under the Hood: Kernel Design, EDRs, and the Shift to VBS with Pavel Yosifovich
In this episode, we get a unique look at the history of Windows through the eyes of one of its leading experts, Pavel Yosifovich. We delve into his fascinating origin story, including the "fluke" that led him to become the author of the legenda...
EP19 The Art of Deconstructing Problems: Tools, Tactics, and the ScatterBrain Obfuscator with Nino Isakovic
In this episode, we’re joined by Nino Isakovic, a long-time low-level security expert, for a thought-provoking conversation that spans the foundational and the cutting-edge. Nino discusses the art of deconstructing problems—sharing insights on ...
EP18 10,000 DLLs and Too Much Math - Wrapping Up FLARE-On 12 with the FLARE Team
In this episode, we sit down with Nick Harbour, Blas Kojusner, Moritz Raabe, and Sam Kim — members of the FLARE Team and some of this year’s challenge authors — for a deep dive into the design and execution of FLARE-On 12. The team discusses th...
EP17 What Lurks Beneath: Building a Robust Network at Black Hat with Mark Overholser
In this episode, we're asking the question: "What Lurks Beneath?" We're joined by Mark Overholser, a Technical Marketing Engineer at Corelight who's part of the team running the Black Hat Network Operations Center (NOC). We discuss the incident...
EP16 The Machine Learning Revolution in Reverse Engineering with Hahna Kane Latonick
In this episode of Behind the Binary, we're joined by renowned security researcher Hahna Kane Latonick for a deep dive into the powerful world where reverse engineering meets data science. Hahna shares her expertise on how techniques like super...
EP15 Getting Ready for FLARE-On 12 - An Inside Look at the Reverse Engineering Gauntlet
In this episode, we're "Getting Ready for FLARE-On 12" with an inside look at the world-renowned reverse engineering competition. We’re joined by long-time FLARE-On host and challenge author Nick Harbour and regular challenge author Blas Kojusn...
EP14 Web3's Dark Side: Unmasking the New Age of Financial Crime
Web3 promised a new era of decentralized finance, but it has also created a new frontier for crime, with thefts and hacks far surpassing those in the traditional financial sector. In this episode, we sit down with experts Blas Kojusner, Robert ...
EP13 Beyond the Bug: Scaling Bug Bounty Programs & Launching a Cyber Startup with Dr. Jared DeMott
In this episode of Behind the Binary, we sit down with Dr. Jared DeMott to pull back the curtain on the world of cybersecurity. Formerly with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC), Jared shares invaluable wisdom on managing bug bounty p...
EP12 Unpacking Malware & Minds: A Reverse Engineer's Journey with Danny Quist
Join us as we explore the world of reverse engineering with pioneer and CTO, Danny Quist. We'll examine the evolving landscape of binary analysis tools, the constant battle with malware obfuscation, and what it was like building one of the very...
EP11 Tracing Lazarus: Greg Sinclair on Attributing North Korean Cyber Threats Through Binary Similarity
Ever wonder who names the world's most notorious APTs? In this episode, we sit down with Greg Sinclair, a reverse engineer from the FLARE team at Google. Greg not only hunts down sophisticated malware but also shares the behind the scenes story...
EP10 Tim Blazytko - Protecting Intellectual Property: Obfuscation & Anti-Reverse Engineering in Software
What goes into creating effective software protections? This episode features a conversation with Tim Blazytko, Chief Scientist and Head of Engineering at Emproof, about the essential strategies for protecting software intellectual property. We...
EP09 Thomas Roccia - AI, Data Visualization, and the Future of Security Research
In this episode, we’re joined by Thomas Roccia, a security researcher at Microsoft. Thomas discusses the growth of the Unprotect Project, how AI is changing security research, and the impact of data visualizations for conveying technical inform...
EP08 Roman Hussy - Inside AbuseCH: A Community's Fight Against Malware
This episode shines a light on abuse.ch, a vital non-profit project built by and for the global cybersecurity community. We chat with founder Roman Huessy about the collective effort behind tracking malware and botnets for over a decad...
EP07 Jordan Wiens - Inside the Mind of a Binary Ninja: CTFs, AI and the Future of Cyber Security
In this episode, we have a fascinating conversation with Jordan Wiens, developer of the widely used Binary Ninja, and co-founder of Vector 35. Jordan brings his expertise as an avid CTF player to a discussion about the complexities of building ...
EP06 Duncan Ogilvie - Piano Tuning & Debugging: The Story of x64dbg
In this episode, we're sitting down with Duncan Ogilvie, the creator of x64dbg! We'll dive deep into how one of the most popular Windows debuggers got its start, explore the real-world challenges of running a major open-source software project,...
EP05 Saumil Shah - From Black Hat to RingZer0: Shaping the World of Reverse Engineering
Saumil Shah, a security researcher, discusses his journey into reverse engineering, starting with his early interest in patching games and analyzing viruses. He emphasizes the evolution of reverse engineering tools and techniques, from manual a...
EP04 Stephen Eckels - A Journey From Game Modding to SolarWinds: How One Gamer Became a Renowned Reverse Engineer
In this episode, we are joined by Stephen Eckels of the FLARE team at Google (Mandiant). Stephen discusses his journey into the field, starting with his early interest in video game modding and hacking. He shares his experience in discovering t...
EP03 Ryan Chapman - From Software Cracking to Threat Hunting: A Reverse Engineering Story
Join us as I sit down with renowned threat hunter, Ryan Chapman. Ryan shares his incredible journey from a curious young hacker to a formidable force in cybersecurity. Discover how his early fascination with software cracking ignited a passion ...
EP02 Victor Manuel Alvarez - Motivation, Community, and the Future with YARA-X: Building the Future of Threat Detection
In this episode we’re sitting down with Victor Manuel Alvarez, the creator of YARA. YARA is one of the most powerful tools in cybersecurity. We discuss his early career, what motivated him to create YARA, and the role the community has played i...
EP01 Nick Harbour - Early Days of Incident Response, Mandiant History and FLARE-ON
Nick Harbour discusses his career journey from his early days in the Air Force to his work at Mandiant. He shares insights into the evolution of malware, his contributions to the field of malware analysis, and the development of the Flare-On co...