Blackhoodie at BSidesPDX 2024
Linux malware binary close up!
Hello hackers! We’re stoked to bring BlackHoodie to Portland, homeland of me myself and I, pinkflawd :) Thanks to our friends at BSides PDX we’re able to bring two days of joy and reverse engineering to women in Portland. Come join us on a journey from your first mov instruction to understanding binary code and analyzing a piece of dummy malware. This 2-day training is packed with practical information and a comprehensive hands-on exercise, and its gonna be fun, challenging, and prepare students to tackle RE problems on their own.
TL;DR:
What: class on Linux malware reverse engineering, introductory
When: October 25th and 26th - 11am-5pm
Where: Smith Memorial Student Union, room 294 (second floor)
Who: Women
Registration: fill form here (registration open until we reach capacity)
Fees: The training is free; food, travel and hotel is responsibility of attendees (a food token will be provided from BSides PDX)
COVID: We want everyone to feel comfortable; masks and testing prior to the event are encouraged yet not required
Agenda
Introduction to Linux Malware Reverse Engineering
Teachers: Marion Marschalek (@pinkflawd)
Topic: Ever wanted to know what a Linux malware looks like from the inside? Wonder no more, we’ll grab our scalpels and teach you autopsy in this class. We’ll go from 0 to hey ransomware! in just one day. This training is very busy, from file formats, loaders and process execution, disassemblers and debuggers, to hey this is encrypting files isn’t it. But don’t worry, we’ll arm you with all the necessary skills! The target will be x86-64 Linux ELF executables.
Prerequisites: Bring a laptop with IDAPro Free installed, class materials will be hosted on github.
What is BlackHoodie?
BlackHoodie is a free, women only reverse engineering workshop and community. More information can be found here: https://www.blackhoodie.re/about/
Why women-only?
One qualifies to attend an in-person bootcamp either if born and raised female, or if one identifies as a woman. This concept of women-only has no intention of putting up walls or feeling exclusive. Blackhoodie is about creating space in an industry that’s very competitive. It is a comfortable place, where attendees feel encouraged to grow skills without pressure. We do what we do, not to create women-only bubbles, as contradicting as it might sound, but to enable a minority to enter the security space, learn skills that are otherwise expensive to learn, find their interests and grow a professional network.
And, it works. BlackHoodie alumnae have gone far beyond being successful in the classroom since the workshop series started. They ventured out to start community projects and collaborations, got themselves new jobs in the security industry, went to speak at major security conferences, joined review boards and become influencers in our community. Many went on to mentor others after they had found their spot, came back to BlackHoodie to give trainings on their own or are now conference trainers and teach classes to the community.
Finally, why does the security industry need more women at all? The industry is growing and facing a talent shortage. More importantly, jobs are typically well paid, come with certain privileges, and are challenging and often fulfilling. And we do firmly believe our society as a whole can only benefit from having more women with money, independence and confidence. Likewise, the tech sector has grown in size and influence, and with great power comes great responsibility – responsibility best shared among a diverse body of decision makers.