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Protocol reverse engineering (ProtocolREing) consists of taking streams of network data and inferring the communication protocol. ProtocolREing is critical task in malware and system security analysis. Several ProtocolREing automation tools have been developed, however, in practice, they are not used because they offer limited interaction. Instead, reverse engineers (ProtocolREs) perform this task manually or use less complex visualization tools. To give ProtocolREs the power of more complex automation, we must first understand ProtocolREs processes and information and interaction needs to design better interfaces. We interviewed 16 ProtocolREs, presenting a paper prototype ProtocolREing automation interface, and ask them to discuss their approach to ProtocolREing while using the tool and suggest missing information and interactions. We designed our prototype based on existing ProtocolREing tool features and prior reverse engineering research’s usability guidelines. We found ProtocolREs follow a flexible, hypothesis-driven process and identified multiple information and interaction needs when validating the automation’s inferences. We provide suggestions for future interaction design. 

Abstract The existence of a neural representation for whole words (i.e., a lexicon) is a common feature of many models of speech processing. Prior studies have provided evidence for a visual lexicon containing representations of whole written words in an area of the ventral visual stream known as the visual word form area. Similar experimental support for an auditory lexicon containing representations of spoken words has yet to be shown. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging rapid adaptation techniques, we provide evidence for an auditory lexicon in the auditory word form area in the human left anterior superior temporal gyrus that contains representations highly selective for individual spoken words. Furthermore, we show that familiarization with novel auditory words sharpens the selectivity of their representations in the auditory word form area. These findings reveal strong parallels in how the brain represents written and spoken words, showing convergent processing strategies across modalities in the visual and auditory ventral streams.