Firmware & Embedded Systems Reverse Engineering
The device is a computer you don't control yet. I read what it actually does, not what the datasheet claims.
Every connected device on your network is a black box running someone else's code. I open the box. Firmware extraction, disassembly, and analysis reveal the hardcoded credentials, the undocumented services, the broken update mechanism, and the backdoor the vendor swears isn't there.
This matters whether you build the device or merely trust it. Manufacturers get their product audited before an attacker does it in public. Buyers get to know what they are actually plugging into their estate before it earns a foothold.
- Firmware extraction via flash dump, JTAG/SWD, UART, and update-package analysis
- Bootloader, secure-boot, and chain-of-trust review
- Static and dynamic analysis of extracted binaries and RTOS images
- Hardcoded secret, key, and credential discovery
- Update-mechanism and signature-verification auditing
- Hardware interface and debug-port exposure assessment
- Cryptographic implementation review on-device
- Exploit development against discovered embedded flaws where authorized
Work happens on a controlled bench with the physical device in hand. I document the toolchain and methodology so findings are reproducible, and I keep extracted firmware and secrets under the same strict NDA controls as any other sensitive client material.
Every engagement runs under a signed NDA and, where testing is involved, a Safe Harbor agreement. Legal and ethical, start to finish.
- A firmware analysis report cataloguing services, secrets, and attack surface
- A findings list ranked by exploitability and real-world reachability
- Hardening guidance covering secure boot, update integrity, and secret storage
We make the device — can you audit it pre-launch?+
Yes. Pre-release firmware audits catch the hardcoded key and the weak update path while they are still cheap to fix, instead of after they ship to a hundred thousand units.
Can you work from just the binary?+
Often, yes. With physical access I can extract firmware directly; with only an image or update package I can usually still unpack and analyze it.
Hire me for Firmware.
Signed NDA and Safe Harbor on every engagement. Projects from five figures to nine. Discreet, relentless, done right.
I only do legal, ethical hacking — under a Safe Harbor contract and NDA.