In my research this summer, we collected and compiled cryptographic-related projects from Github (e.g., OpenSSL) by different compilation options such as O0-O2, arches (x64, x86, arm, MIPS), obfuscation, identified the cryptographic functions from the binaries, and classified the functions with the specific algorithms.

Before conducting the research, I thought I knew a lot already, but when I followed the PhD students, I realized that I still had a lot of knowledge that I didn’t know much about, such as reverse engineering, the kernel of linux, and the training of various models. Half of my time is spent learning new things, and the more I learn, the more I realize how ignorant I am, and how much I have to learn. The only way to realize how small I am is to keep learning.
After this research, I became more humble, I met a lot of very capable people and learned a lot about the latest techniques and research on language modeling and reverse engineering, which will help me a lot in the future.
After this research I became more humble, I met a lot of competent people and learned a lot about the latest techniques and research on language modeling and reverse engineering, which will help me a lot in the future. When the task was assigned to me, I realized there were many terms and techniques I had never heard of, which was a big shock to me.
After the frustration, I started a cycle of learning and completing the tasks, I tend to look for videos on YouTube about the relevant techniques and put them into practice as soon as I finish learning them, which made me grasp the new techniques very quickly, and I also realized that practice is the best way to understand the knowledge.
Due to my learning-by-doing approach, we didn’t progress as fast as we had hoped, and I was frustrated that we didn’t complete all of the tasks until the scheduled end of the study, but I will continue to work until the study is complete.
This research has made me realize what the sea of learning is, and I will maintain a humble and studious attitude in the future. Learning is the only navigational light when exploring new areas, and only through continuous learning can we discover new things, innovation should be built on a solid foundation. Such a shift will surely help me to go farther in my future learning path.