Starting out in reverse engineering can be daunting, but with the right tools and resources, you can build a solid foundation. Here are some of the top reverse engineering tools and learning materials recommended by Redditors for beginners:

Essential Tools for Beginners

• Ollydbg: A powerful debugger that is often recommended for beginners due to its user-friendly interface and extensive features. "Absolutely learn low-level languages (i.e. C and assembly). Figure out how to use Ollydbg or IDA (if you have money to burn). Make your own simple programs and "reverse-engineer" them for practice."

• IDA (Interactive Disassembler): While expensive, IDA is a industry-standard disassembler that is highly recommended if you have the budget. "Absolutely learn low-level languages (i.e. C and assembly). Figure out how to use Ollydbg or IDA (if you have money to burn). Make your own simple programs and "reverse-engineer" them for practice."

• Cheat Engine: A popular tool for game hacking that can be a great starting point for understanding memory manipulation and reverse engineering basics. "I started with game hacking, personally. First, finding data and structures using Cheat Engine."

• Ghidra: A free and open-source reverse engineering tool developed by the NSA, often seen as a viable alternative to IDA. "Ghidra is a commonly used free tool, but you have to be somewhat familiar with assembly and shellcode to really dive into it."

• Procmon and Regshot: Tools for dynamic analysis, which involve observing the behavior of a program or malware in real-time. "Like Kbang20 mentioned above- +1 for procmon and regshot, it’s a great start for dynamic malware analysis."

Recommended Learning Resources

• beginners.re: A comprehensive guide for beginners in reverse engineering. "https://beginners.re/"

• Lena's Tutorials: Classic tutorials that cover various aspects of reverse engineering, still relevant despite their age. "Lena's tuts are starting to show their age a bit, but still very relevant. http://tuts4you.com/download.php?view.2876"

• NYU Lectures: Informative lectures on reverse engineering for beginners. "There is a good lecture available from NYU: http://prezi.com/a5tm-lf0879-/reverse-engineering-101-nyupoly-2010/ and its follow-up, http://prezi.com/e5a2tumdqocj/reverse-engineering-102-nyupoly-2010/"

• OpenSecurityTraining2: Offers open-source training, including a Malware Analysis learning path. "Folks from OpenSecurityTraining have launched a new portal for their training - OpenSecurityTraining2. All of their training is open source and they are working on releasing new courses. They have a Malware Analysis learning Path here: https://opensecuritytraining.info/Learning%20Paths.html"

• "Assembly step by step" book: Recommended for understanding the basics of assembly language. "Start with the book "Assembly step by step" for the basic conceptual understanding of assembly language."

• reversing.ctfd.io: A platform for practicing reverse engineering skills with various challenges. "You can then try solving questions on https://reversing.ctfd.io for practice."

• Free Reverse Engineering Masterclass: A comprehensive masterclass covering x86 and more, suitable for beginners. "Today, I finished publishing a free Reverse Engineering "masterclass": For beginners, we cover x86 extensively; For intermediates, we build on your foundations; For pros, we have a CrackMe challenge w/ a Wall of Fame for those who find the flag."

Subreddits for Further Learning