09-05, 14:00–14:30 (Europe/Amsterdam), Main track
As an (offensive) security professional, building tools to support your operations is no longer optional. Not only do you need custom malware to stay undetected on your target, the large scope of modern environments requires many different variants of automation to stay ahead. This talk will discuss what having an "Offensive Development" capability means, how modern languages like Rust or Go can help (or work against you), and how to take your code beyond PoC with some good development practice.
As a security professional, building tools to support your operations is no longer optional. Offensive specialists need to build advanced and custom malware to effectively stay under the radar and simulate threats, and effectively automate full attack workflows to cover large scopes and ensure repeatable results.
In this talk, Cas will explore the concept of "Offensive Development", how it differs from malware development, and how choosing the right language from modern programming languages such as Rust, Golang, Python and Nim can significantly impact your tools (and your sanity).
Cas will provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of each language, supported by case studies that highlight their practical, real-world applications in offensive security. These case studies will also highlight the importance of good developer practice to ensure your next repository doesn't have to contain a disclaimer that says "POC CODE - DON'T RUN IN PRODUCTION" ;)
This talk is designed for both seasoned offensive security professionals and beginners with a foundational technical understanding. It will provide valuable insights not only for red teamers but for the broader security industry, emphasizing the importance of automation and a development mindset in today's complex security landscape.
Cas van Cooten is an offensive security enthusiast and Red Teamer at ABN AMRO Bank in The Netherlands. He is a champion for "offensive development" - building solid tools to support every aspect of offensive operations. Particularly, he likes evading defenses by developing offensive security tooling and malware that utilize modern features of languages like Rust, Golang or Nim. He loves sharing knowledge and responsibly open-sourcing tooling via his Twitter and Github to ultimately promote the collaboration between Red and Blue.