Regex For Hackers
Adam 'BuildHackSecure' Langley, Ben 'nahamsec' Sadeghipour
DEF CON 33 · Day 1 · Main Stage
In their DEF CON talk, "Regex For Hackers," Adam Langley and Ben Sadeghipour, co-founders of Hackinghub, delivered a rapid-fire, comprehensive session on the critical role of **regular expressions** (regex) in cybersecurity. The presentation, packed with 198 slides, aimed to demystify regex for a hacker audience, transforming it from an intimidating concept into a powerful tool for vulnerability discovery, reconnaissance, and defensive strategies. The speakers underscored that a solid understanding of regex is not merely a niche skill but a fundamental requirement, often serving as the **root cause** of many client-side and server-side vulnerabilities.
AI review
Competent, well-structured tutorial on regex fundamentals and their security implications — solid educational content that belongs in a workshop or training platform, not on a DEF CON main stage. The vulnerability classes covered (PostMessage, CORS, SSRF, open redirects) are well-trodden ground, and the 'research' here is really just applied pedagogy rather than original findings.