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Interview question · Systems, OS & Memory Safety

How does function hooking work (inline trampolines, import tables, preloading, instrumentation), and how do defenders detect it?

EDR products, profilers, game cheats and banking trojans all use the same trick: make a call to function A run your code first. Knowing the mechanics tells you both how to detect it and why user-mode hooks are a weak place for security controls.

mediumEssentialNewPreparation tags: CrowdStrike, Microsoft, AppleUpdated Nov 2026

EDR products, profilers, game cheats and banking trojans all use the same trick: make a call to function A run your code first. Knowing the mechanics tells you both how to detect it and why user-mode hooks are a weak place for security controls.

Make your first attempt

What would you say before reading the answer?

  1. 01 State the assumptions your answer depends on.
  2. 02 Explain the mechanism and choose a control.
  3. 03 Name a condition that would change your decision.

The worked answer includes an approach, scoring criteria and follow-up questions. Compare the reasoning with your own.

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What if · the follow-ups in this answer

The answer works through 6 follow-ups like an interviewer would

In an authorised mobile assessment, you need to see the plaintext requests an app sends, and the app uses certificate pinning.

  1. What is hooking?
  2. How do inline hooks and import hooks differ?
  3. How do dynamic instrumentation frameworks help?
  4. What does this mean for the app's defenders?
  5. What should the assessment report?
  6. How would you conduct and report the test?

Each rung has a nudge, a model answer, the principle that carries over and the weak answer to avoid. Premium opens every answer and ladder.

UP NEXT ON YOUR JOURNEY
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