This book was written for practicing Python programmers who want to become pro‐
ficient in Python 3. If you know Python 2 but are willing to migrate to Python 3.4 or
later, you should be fine. At this writing the majority of professional Python program‐
mers are using Python 2, so I took special care to highlight Python 3 features that may
be new to that audience.
The phrase most often heard at Immunity is probably,
“Is it done yet?” Common parlance usually goes some-
thing like this: “I’m starting work on the new ELF
importer for Immunity Debugger.” Slight pause. “Is it
done yet?” or “I just found a bug in Internet Explorer!”
And then, “Is the exploit done yet?” It’s this rapid pace of development, modi-
fication, and creation that makes Python the perfect choice for your next
security project, be it building a special decompiler or an entire debugger.
In the ever-changing world of information security, the Gray Hat Hacking books have proven a reliable resource for timely and relevant information. A definite recommendation for anyone looking for a crash course in the field.
Python is still the dominant language in the world of information security, even if the conversation
about your language of choice sometimes looks more like a religious war. Python-based tools include
all manner of fuzzers, proxies, and even the occasional exploit. Exploit frameworks like CANVAS are
written in Python as are more obscure tools like PyEmu or Sulley.
Bitcoin is starting to come into its own as a digital currency, but the
blockchain technology behind it could prove to be much more significant.
This book takes you beyond the currency (“Blockchain 1.0”) and smart
contracts (“Blockchain 2.0”) to demonstrate how the blockchain is
in position to become the fifth disruptive computing paradigm after
mainframes, PCs, the Internet, and mobile/social networking.