XVI32: Hex Editor of Champions

A good hex editor is an essential tool for anyone in the computer security field. In fact, it’s quite useful even if you aren’t in the computer security field… Hex editors allow you to view and edit the binary content of a file at the byte level by interpreting the data in easily-readable hexadecimal. This is beneficial for two reasons: First, binary files often contain data that looks like gibberish when interpreted as plain text. This makes it very hard to see and understand the data contained within these files using high level applications such as a simple text editor. Second, it is often difficult (if not impossible) to modify such data using such high level applications without breaking something in the file itself. With a good hex editor, these issues are mitigated.

XVI32 is a very robust, stable, and easy-to-use hex editor for Windows. Aside from the regular read and write functionality, it also has a built-in scripting engine, bit manipulation capabilities, and offers plenty of ways to interpret and display the data.

From a computer security perspective, this is great for the nitty gritty stuff– inspecting executables, checking out binary traffic or memory dumps, or maybe even peeking at a disk image.

XVI32 is definitely worth checking out.

Each Thursday, Security Musings features a security-related technology or tool. Featured items do not imply a recommendation by Gemini Security Solutions. For more information about how Gemini Security Solutions can help you solve your security issues, contact us!