Welcome back to one of our favourite blog series, where a different member of the team is introduced on the second Monday of each month. In these posts, you can find out more about the hoodies behind Zerocopter.
This month we have talked with Maarten Boone, our Security Researcher who has hands-on various projects from our clients!
Please tell us a bit about yourself, who is Maarten Boone?
I’m Maarten and I’ve been working for Zerocopter for a little over 2 years now. I’ve been interested in programming and reverse engineering since the age of 12. Previously, I worked at Fox-IT, and currently I live in Rotterdam with my 2 cats Alice and Bob, who are named after the fictional characters commonly used as placeholders in discussions about cryptographic systems and protocols.
How would you describe your job title in a couple of words?
I work as a security researcher on a variety of topics including specific research projects from customers like hackathons.
What do you like about working as a Security Researcher at Zerocopter?
The freedom to develop new ideas and the diversity that comes with security research in general.
How did you end up at Zerocopter?
I’ve known Edwin for years and we ended up talking and one thing led to another.
If you could trade positions with anyone in Zerocopter for a day, what would it be and why?
I would love to do triage every now and then because between all the “standard” reports there are always a few gems you can learn new things from.
What have you learned from working at Zerocopter?
I did my first hardware reverse engineering while working at Zerocopter and I think that it is one of the coolest things I’ve learned so far.
What resources would you recommend to someone (new) in this industry?
To be honest I don’t read a lot of books but I can recommend “Practical Reverse Engineering: x86, x64, ARM, Windows Kernel, Reversing Tools, and Obfuscation” by Bruce Dang. And that’s not because my name is in the acknowledgment section, I promise:)
When was the first time that you heard about the term “Bug Bounty” or “Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure”?
I think the first time I heard about a bug bounty (program) was back in 2012, when Katie Moussouris launched the precursor of what would become the Microsoft Bug Bounty Program at Black Hat USA.
What is your favourite stereotype about the hacking industry and why?
Hoodies, I love Hoodies.
We hope you enjoyed the blog and got to know more about Maarten. Stay tuned for the new blog in January, and find out more about hoodies behind Zerocopter!
