As someone who is not very knowledgeable about the field, I find reverse engineering fascinating. One thing I've been curious about is the economics of the security industry and the role reverse engineering plays in it.
To my novice eyes it seems that reverse engineering is more of an academic exercise and I don't see any direct ways to commercialize that skillset. How do you make a living doing this? Are you essentially paid a stipend to conduct fundamental research (finding zero days) that is inherently risky (no exploits = no return on investment)?
To my novice eyes it seems that reverse engineering is more of an academic exercise and I don't see any direct ways to commercialize that skillset. How do you make a living doing this? Are you essentially paid a stipend to conduct fundamental research (finding zero days) that is inherently risky (no exploits = no return on investment)?