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The Book of PoC||GTFO
This highly anticipated print collection gathers articles published in the much-loved International Journal of Proof-of-Concept or Get The Fuck Out.
PoC||GTFO follows in the tradition of Phrack and Uninformed by publishing on the subjects of offensive security research, reverse engineering, and file format internals. Until now, the journal has only been available online or printed and distributed for free at hacker conferences worldwide.
Consistent with the journal's quirky, biblical style, this book comes with all the trimmings: a leatherette cover, ribbon bookmark, bible paper, and gilt-edged pages. The book features more than 80 technical essays from numerous famous hackers, authors of classics like "Reliable Code Execution on a Tamagotchi," "ELFs are Dorky, Elves are Cool," "Burning a Phone," "Forget Not the Humble Timing Attack," and "A Sermon on Hacker Privilege." Twenty-four full-color pages by Ange Albertini illustrate many of the clever tricks described in the text.
PoC||GTFO follows in the tradition of Phrack and Uninformed by publishing on the subjects of offensive security research, reverse engineering, and file format internals. Until now, the journal has only been available online or printed and distributed for free at hacker conferences worldwide.
Consistent with the journal's quirky, biblical style, this book comes with all the trimmings: a leatherette cover, ribbon bookmark, bible paper, and gilt-edged pages. The book features more than 80 technical essays from numerous famous hackers, authors of classics like "Reliable Code Execution on a Tamagotchi," "ELFs are Dorky, Elves are Cool," "Burning a Phone," "Forget Not the Humble Timing Attack," and "A Sermon on Hacker Privilege." Twenty-four full-color pages by Ange Albertini illustrate many of the clever tricks described in the text.
788 pages, Leather Bound
First published July 1, 2017
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544 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 19, 2022
There are a lot of adjectives that can be used for this book, but for me the most important is "inspiring". The research in here is weird, a lot of it is pure genius and long hours banging on the keyboard (sometimes with your head), and you might feel that none of it is relevant to you - until some ideas start popping into your head, and you go around telling people - look, we can use this weird thing to accomplish what we've been trying for ages...
Also, one big edition to me seems like the easier way to read than all the issues that get published and I can never get around to.
Also, one big edition to me seems like the easier way to read than all the issues that get published and I can never get around to.
December 12, 2021
This book captures the feel or gestalt of security-hacker thinking and the ethos better than anything I've ever read.
It's not practical unless you're an advanced red teamer, and pretty impractical then. It's like a bunch of the more clever RSA Engineering Track or Blackhat conference presentations.
The fact that I understood almost all of this book (according to other reviewers, this is vanishingly rare) is both an accomplishment, a stroke for the ego, and makes me feel more justified in my ridonkulous total compensation package.
I've never been a red teamer or offensive security practitioner beyond reversing and writing some rootkits in my teenage years (the age of EP_X0FF, Hacker Defender, TDSS, the Blue Pill, and the Rootkit Wars) and later getting the OCSP because it was free, before the Snowden revelations when people who thought firmware rootkits or rootkits running in various embedded components like disk controllers were possible were viewed as cranks by everyone else, before the age of Kernel Patch Protection and GRSEC Linux.
This book is the fun of security, the fun of hacking in finding out how things work and making systems do things they weren't designed to do.
My little corner specialty is so highly specialized that just to name it would be to half-dox myself and it's represented in this book multiple times.
-- Architect, Specialist, Protocol Designer; has never implemented a secure CSPRNG in 4 lines of JS using clock asynchonization for entropy.
It's not practical unless you're an advanced red teamer, and pretty impractical then. It's like a bunch of the more clever RSA Engineering Track or Blackhat conference presentations.
The fact that I understood almost all of this book (according to other reviewers, this is vanishingly rare) is both an accomplishment, a stroke for the ego, and makes me feel more justified in my ridonkulous total compensation package.
I've never been a red teamer or offensive security practitioner beyond reversing and writing some rootkits in my teenage years (the age of EP_X0FF, Hacker Defender, TDSS, the Blue Pill, and the Rootkit Wars) and later getting the OCSP because it was free, before the Snowden revelations when people who thought firmware rootkits or rootkits running in various embedded components like disk controllers were possible were viewed as cranks by everyone else, before the age of Kernel Patch Protection and GRSEC Linux.
This book is the fun of security, the fun of hacking in finding out how things work and making systems do things they weren't designed to do.
My little corner specialty is so highly specialized that just to name it would be to half-dox myself and it's represented in this book multiple times.
-- Architect, Specialist, Protocol Designer; has never implemented a secure CSPRNG in 4 lines of JS using clock asynchonization for entropy.
December 5, 2018
I don't know what compelled me to pick this up. I only understand about 20% of the articles' concepts, and of those only about 20% of the content therein. But this was fascinating and kind of inspiring and now I feel like I'm part of a secret club of very intelligent people but trying to hide in the corner and praying nobody asks me anything.
I'm gonna go learn some stuff now. Enemies of the heir beware.
I'm gonna go learn some stuff now. Enemies of the heir beware.
April 22, 2024
I think I understood maybe 40%, and could independently reproduce less than 1% of the ideas, but it is always great to read about different kinds of arcane magic that some can cast.
This book introduced me to the concept of file polyglots, and I actually managed to create one that combines a picture of myself with my CV, and opens either one or the other, depending on which extension you give it (.jpg vs. .pdf).
I also liked the non-technical, philosophical articles, for example the one exalting the virtue of this type of science, hacking on "junk" and so on.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
This book introduced me to the concept of file polyglots, and I actually managed to create one that combines a picture of myself with my CV, and opens either one or the other, depending on which extension you give it (.jpg vs. .pdf).
I also liked the non-technical, philosophical articles, for example the one exalting the virtue of this type of science, hacking on "junk" and so on.
Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
January 3, 2024
Great fun for those of us in the industry, who think we're pretty smart then suddenly discover that there's a lot we don't know and a lot of people far smarter. However not a casual read and probably not suited for most. For those confused by the title, it means "Proof of concept or get the f out." In each article the author has developed a PoC for that which they discuss. It's not just theory.
February 23, 2020
It's a beautifully bound book. It's also a collection essays. At first glance, I thought this author needs to take a writing course, but it was my fault. It looks like a good reference book. This would be the perfect gift to the guy whom loves computers. The quality binding, reminded me how much I miss quality bound books.
May 2, 2025
The book itself is very well presented, it has a Bible aesthetic with gold trimmed parchment-esq paper. The layout and written presentation are of similar std. The series of arrangements of PoC || GTFO are worth a read even if you arent technologically inclinded. If you do, maybe try calling the numbers see what happens.
November 21, 2025
It is impossible for me to put down a date started and date finished for this book. I read many of the articles in this collection in their original digital format. However, in any format, this book and it's contents are amazing. Should be read by anyone who tinkers, hacks, or just has a curious mind.
November 11, 2018
I understood very little of this but that only encourages me.
March 21, 2019
This is am amazing book that goes in depth on several concepts of using some ordinary things for no so ordinary purposes.
January 15, 2020
So much nerd fun - polygot files, assembler, security issues, low-level implementation and hacks.
March 7, 2021
Definitely a long way to go on knowing most of the technologies described in this compilation of hacks but anyways. For clarification PoC is proof of concept, not people of color lol
June 16, 2021
If you know what this is, no review matters. If not, think of it as a tome for the modern technological thinker. It's full of ideas executed, and reading it prompts more ideas.
March 10, 2022
I'm not going to review all the amazing details of this masterwork. The Bible-like printing on thin pages with sewn-in ribbon bookmark, the PDF version that runs its own web server, the endless amounts of technical content that I could spend my life reading. This is why I fell in love with the book.
Instead, I need to talk about this book sitting on my shelf, at eye level, directly across from the couch where we receive visitors in our house. It's impossible for them not to scan the titles from 15 feet away. Many of the slim poetry volumes are illegible. There's also a big, thick paperback copy of Dune that stands out like a sandworm. Other, more encyclopedic volumes, are noticeable but take effort to discern the title. Then there's PoC||GTFO. Its goldleaf letters set against jet black leather cover call to you if you are listening.
But like too much technical language, many folks can't read even the title.
Most of them are drawn in by "GTFO" because they have figured out this means "Get The Fuck Out". They are not wrong.
Next they move to PoC. This is where it starts to go sideways. Given the amount of poetry, art, and humanities material this book shares a shelf with, they can be forgiven. But god bless. They think it means "People of Color".
They don't even perceive the double vertical bar. They think it's a decorative flourish or design element meant to serve as a demarcation between a couple of acronyms they maybe, probably understand. I hate to be this condescending, but this is where some people decide to take extreme leaps from || meaning 'logical OR' to "I dunno, a comma or something."
And here we are, many visitors to my home thinking I have a prominent book titled, "People of Color, Get the Fuck Out". I only know the courageous souls who call me out on this and open up a conversation about books. You are the real heroes. I can't even imagine the timid readers who see this and leave my house with preconceived notions. It's not even like I have that many people over intently scanning my shelves wondering out loud about my reading habits. But enough I had to write this.
I love this book so much. In some ways it serves as a Proof of Concept of who I'd like to have a conversation with and who is better left assuming they know someone by a couple of books on that person's shelf. However, I'm not trying to troll. I just love this book and it belongs in a prominent spot on my shelf.
Instead, I need to talk about this book sitting on my shelf, at eye level, directly across from the couch where we receive visitors in our house. It's impossible for them not to scan the titles from 15 feet away. Many of the slim poetry volumes are illegible. There's also a big, thick paperback copy of Dune that stands out like a sandworm. Other, more encyclopedic volumes, are noticeable but take effort to discern the title. Then there's PoC||GTFO. Its goldleaf letters set against jet black leather cover call to you if you are listening.
But like too much technical language, many folks can't read even the title.
Most of them are drawn in by "GTFO" because they have figured out this means "Get The Fuck Out". They are not wrong.
Next they move to PoC. This is where it starts to go sideways. Given the amount of poetry, art, and humanities material this book shares a shelf with, they can be forgiven. But god bless. They think it means "People of Color".
They don't even perceive the double vertical bar. They think it's a decorative flourish or design element meant to serve as a demarcation between a couple of acronyms they maybe, probably understand. I hate to be this condescending, but this is where some people decide to take extreme leaps from || meaning 'logical OR' to "I dunno, a comma or something."
And here we are, many visitors to my home thinking I have a prominent book titled, "People of Color, Get the Fuck Out". I only know the courageous souls who call me out on this and open up a conversation about books. You are the real heroes. I can't even imagine the timid readers who see this and leave my house with preconceived notions. It's not even like I have that many people over intently scanning my shelves wondering out loud about my reading habits. But enough I had to write this.
I love this book so much. In some ways it serves as a Proof of Concept of who I'd like to have a conversation with and who is better left assuming they know someone by a couple of books on that person's shelf. However, I'm not trying to troll. I just love this book and it belongs in a prominent spot on my shelf.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews