alt Hacker NewsHow to get started reverse engineering? That's a big topic for a HN comment, but in brief... Either get a metallurgical microscope and start opening up chips, or look at chip photos from a site like Zeptobars. Then start tracing out simple chips and see how transistors are constructed, and then learn how larger circuits are built up. This works well for chips from the 1970s, but due to Moore's Law, it gets exponentially more difficult for newer chips.
I also have a video from Hackaday Supercon on reverse engineering chips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKi1xX7KKOI
Do you have any good tips on what to look out for when buying a used metallurgical microscope for looking at decapped chips? Even if not a complete set constraints, I'd appreciate some off the cuff thoughts if you have the time.