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IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

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Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#101

Post by kuroguro »

blincoln wrote: post #96
rjzzleep wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a lot of the people that say how much better ghidra is, just started reversing and use the decompiler a lot. The workflow and UX of IDA is so much better. I guess there are a lot of people that just click around in the UI but for a keyboard based workflow, Ghidra has a lot of catching up to do even to IDA 4.x.

I've been doing RE work off and on for about twenty years. IDA is a solid tool with some really neat features[1], but the only reason I use it anymore is if I need to look at a binary that's for an architecture so obscure that Ghidra doesn't support it yet. I like Ghidra's interface better, but I'm also not a keyboard-first type of user. I work with a lot of different OSes and software. I stopped trying to remember m…

There's an open source Lumina server, writing a plugin for Ghidra wouldn't be too difficult, here's some details on how they hash functions:

https://github.com/naim94a/lumen/issues/2

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#102

Post by colejohnson66 »

super256 wrote: post #57
stolen_biscuit wrote: post #7

Does anyone know what impact if any the release of Ghidra had on Hex-Rays? IDA never really accommodated to the hobbyist, so I wonder did it have any impact on the commercial side of things apart from the IDA Home release?

> Does anyone know what impact if any the release of Ghidra had on Hex-Rays? They added an undo button to IDA.

I get that undo support is hard, but twenty years?

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#103

Post by saagarjha »

Beached wrote: post #89
rychco wrote: post #65

This makes me hopeful that users will switch to Binary Ninja. I picked up Binja a while ago (because it’s actually affordable for an individual) & haven’t felt any need to return to IDA. There’s also Rizin which seems pretty robust from what I’ve seen (haven’t tried it myself), & of course there’s also Ghidra. IDA isn’t the only effective disassembler in town anymore.

I see people going to binja in waves. not only is it easier to acquire, but it's freaking good and intuitive to use. they cater to the hobbiest market to, with a free version that will honestly work for soooo many things. I don't understand why people use ghidra honestly. but hey, nsa has some good pr people

Ghidra’s decompiler is far better, and it’s free.

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#104

Post by asmr »

Test0129 wrote: post #26
pseudo0 wrote: post #8

Hopefully this works out for Hex-Rays, allowing them to invest more into developing IDA and expanding their low-cost product offerings. The general sentiment I have seen among people doing SRE is that IDA is rapidly losing market share to Ghidra. While it excels in some areas, the licenses are pricy even for tech employers, and entirely out of reach for students or colleges. It's hard to convince an employer to fork…

I am not going to hold my breath on extending their hobbyist offerings. I own a copy of IDA (legally). It was an absolute pain to purchase and it seems that a large portion of their margins are dedicated to piracy control. I won't detail the process...but it seems unusually personal. If I had to guess they will expand their decompilers (the actual flagship project). It will be years before Ghidra + a community catch…

I find it ironic that they go through such great lengths and their products end up being RE'd and cracked using their product...

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#105

Post by nebula8804 »

yakkityyak wrote: post #14
stolen_biscuit wrote: post #7

Does anyone know what impact if any the release of Ghidra had on Hex-Rays? IDA never really accommodated to the hobbyist, so I wonder did it have any impact on the commercial side of things apart from the IDA Home release?

I ended up buying Binary Ninja for hobbyist projects instead. Worked great for doing a bit of Gameboy Advance rom hacking. IDA Pro for ARM w/ a decompiler is the cost of a used car.

Have you seen the price of used cars due to inflation? Those prices ain't going down for years given the 2+ years long supply shortage of new cars. If anything software like IDA is one of the few things to avoid inflation (at least partially) so it becomes better value as time goes on.

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#106

Post by bitexploder »

rjzzleep wrote: post #87
Beached wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ooof, ghidra is great because it is free and works, but I wouldn't call it better. I'd still choose ida or binja over ghidra for work. IDC about license cost, I care about ease of use, and binja wins on ease of use for me (and. alot of people I talk to)

I think a lot of the people that say how much better ghidra is, just started reversing and use the decompiler a lot. The workflow and UX of IDA is so much better. I guess there are a lot of people that just click around in the UI but for a keyboard based workflow, Ghidra has a lot of catching up to do even to IDA 4.x.

I have not done it full time, but I find IDA is only useful for niche processors and out of the way things. I have still done it deeply and consistently for the last 16 years. For day to day use Ghidra is just better for me and I went pretty deep into the IDA well with tooling and Python scripting. Decompiler, yes, but it really depends on what features you need and what processor architectures you are reversing. IDA is still the most versatile and indispensable for some tasks, but that is not the majority of my work or interests these days and when it is, right tool, right job, etc.

Arguments of keyboard/mouse efficiency are dead to me. The limiting factor of any reverse engineering is definitely not how efficiently you can keyboard navigate a UI. People are too in love with efficiency of the wrong things and not what the real limiting factors of reversing are, which is comprehending the program. I don't love clicking around but it has never once slowed me down on a project.

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#107

Post by IYasha »

Thaxll wrote: post #70

Not sure why Hex-Rays spends so much time fighting piracy and making the purchase a very complicated process, it's a lost battle, there will always be pirated copy of IDA, stop fighting it and embrace it to make a better offering.

I've heard rumors of Ilfack's level of anality being legendary, but seeing so many confirmations!..

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#108

Post by bitexploder »

Beached wrote: post #84
bitexploder wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ghidra is just better overall now. Full stop. IDA still does some things better, but Ghidra is a great tool and most people still on IDA are there because of their existing tooling, scripts, and experience with the software. Starting from scratch, Ghidra would win. Been using IDA for like 16 years now.

ooof, ghidra is great because it is free and works, but I wouldn't call it better. I'd still choose ida or binja over ghidra for work. IDC about license cost, I care about ease of use, and binja wins on ease of use for me (and. alot of people I talk to)

Stuff like IDA refusing to have an undo feature and other dumb stuff until the market forced them to. No reason for it, just Ilfak's insistence on an outmoded philosophy of software design that does not benefit users. I do like Binja but Ghidra is free and works. I think Binja has the edge on the highest end features now. I have and use both. I like getting a second opinion on disassembly anyway. Some times they are just wrong and one tool catches something another doesn't. Can't count the hours lost to poor disassembly. Correctness is probably one of the most important features of any disassembler and reverse engineering tool.

Re: IDA cybersecurity software provider Hex-Rays acquired

#110

Post by jpleger »

I was a heavy ida pro user from 2008-2012. I have probably been responsible for or directly approved giving them 35-40k at different places over the years.

I wanted to do some pic disassembly a while back and out of curiosity asked if they had a low cost personal license for non commercial use and basically got told to pound sand. They said the price for the full version was what it was, no discounts. Then they came out with their ‘home’ edition which is an insult at $365 per architecture and not all architectures are available.

I don’t care how much better it is than open source stuff, until they have a full featured personal version and lower their price, they won’t be getting a dime of my (or my companies) money. It isn’t 2008 anymore.

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