ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to thank you for reading my book; I hope you find it enlightening and of practical use. I’m grateful for the contributions from many different people.

I must start by thanking my lovely wife Huayi, who made sure I stuck to writing even if I really didn’t want to. Through her encouragement, I finished it in only four years; without her maybe it could have been written in two, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.

Of course, I definitely wouldn’t be here today without my amazing parents. Their love and encouragement has led me to become a widely recognized computer security researcher and published author. They bought the family a computer—an Atari 400—when I was young, and they were instrumental in starting my interest in computers and software development. I can’t thank them enough for giving me all my opportunities.

Acting as a great counterpoint to my computer nerdiness was my oldest friend, Sam Shearon. Always the more confident and outgoing person and an incredible artist, he made me see a different side to life.

Throughout my career, there have been many colleagues and friends who have made major contributions to my achievements. I must highlight Richard Neal, a good friend and sometimes line manager who gave me the opportunity to find an interest in computer security, a skill set that suited my mindset.

I also can’t forget Mike Jordon who convinced me to start working at Context Information Security in the UK. Along with owners Alex Church and Mark Raeburn, they gave me the time to do impactful security research, build my skills in network protocol analysis, and develop tools such as Canape. This experience of attacking real-world, and typically completely bespoke, network protocols is what much of the content of this book is based on.

I must thank Katie Moussouris for convincing me to go for the Microsoft Mitigation Bypass Bounty, raising my profile massively in the information security world, and of course for giving me a giant novelty check for $100,000 for my troubles.

My increased profile didn’t go amiss when the team for Google Project Zero—a group of world leading security researchers with the goal of making the platforms that we all rely on more secure—was being set up. Will Harris mentioned me to the current head of the team, Chris Evans, who convinced me to interview, and soon I was a Googler. Being a member of such an excellent team makes me proud.

Finally, I must thank Bill, Laurel, and Liz at No Starch Press for having the patience to wait for me to finish this book and for giving me solid advice on how to tackle it. I hope that they, and you, are happy with the final result.