One reason not to let women near computers...

richlevy · 10-26-2006, 10:24 PM

..is that they can get too f**cking good at it.

Quote:

Earlier this year, stealth malware researcher Joanna Rutkowska created a stir at the Black Hat Briefings when she demonstrated a way to infect Windows Vista with a rootkit and introduced Blue Pill, a new concept that uses AMD's SVM/Pacifica virtualization technology to create "100 percent undetectable malware."

In this interview with eWEEK senior editor Ryan Naraine, Rutkowska talks about her interest in computer security, the reality of stealth malware threats, the risks associated with hardware virtualization and why the anti-virus industry comes up short.

For the benefit of readers who may not have heard about you, can you introduce yourself?
I'm a security researcher focusing on stealth technology and system compromise detection. This includes topics like kernel rootkits, stealth malware and covert network communications. I currently work for COSEINC, a Singapore-based IT security company. I live in Warsaw, Poland.
At what age did you get your first computer? Can you describe it?
I think I was 11 when the first computer appeared at my home. It was the PC AT-286, 2MB of RAM and 40MB of hard disk, and it ran with blazing speed of about 16 MHz, if I remember correctly. Actually, that was a high-end machine in those days (beginning of 1990s). However, because of the poor graphics capabilities (Hercules card), I couldn't run most of the games on that computer, so, very quickly, I started my adventures with programming, first with BASIC.
What prompted your interest in computer security?
I have always been interested in how things work. So, when I started programming, I naturally became interested in how the operating system worked. I started learning x86 assembler (on MS-DOS back in those days) and got involved in virus research. Then, for a few years, I broke off from security, focusing on stuff like math and Artificial Intelligence. Then I became interested in networking, Linux and system programming and that eventually brought me back into security, this time focusing on exploit development for Linux x86 and then Win32.
After some time, I gravitated toward the what-to-do-after-successful-exploitation field (kernel backdoors, rootkits, covert channels, etc.) and how to defend against it. But I must say that I have always considered exploit-writing as a very sophisticated art, and I have always had lots of respect for people who could create reliable, "offset-independent" exploits. They're very aesthetically pleasing.

I have a feeling that it would be bad idea to get into an ugly breakup with this woman. You might end up with the world's first negative credit score.

BTW, does anyone think that she resembles Kim Possible?

footfootfoot · 10-26-2006, 11:03 PM

Not sure if she looks like Kim Possible, but she does look like Gorilla Mydreams.

SteveDallas · 10-26-2006, 11:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richlevy

..is that they can get too f**cking good at it

Been there, done that. I never had to compete with anybody for computer time until I showed Mrs. Dallas the Gilbert & Sullivan listserv. What was I thinking???

dar512 · 10-27-2006, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveDallas

Been there, done that. I never had to compete with anybody for computer time until I showed Mrs. Dallas the Gilbert & Sullivan listserv. What was I thinking???

One of the many reasons Mrs. Dar has her own computer.

BigV · 10-27-2006, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dar512

One of the many reasons Mrs. Dar has her own computer.

and each of the children...

SteveDallas · 10-27-2006, 03:59 PM

Well, we do too, now. We ended up getting a couple on-sale laptops for ourselves and letting the kids take over the old desktop. Funny thing was, she brought it up when she saw a flyer from Staples. I'd never have even suggested it.

xoxoxoBruce · 10-27-2006, 09:21 PM

HTML Code:

BTW, does anyone think that she resembles Kim Possible?

Where is the picture? Upper left of the first page of the link? I thought that was the columnist.

richlevy · 10-28-2006, 12:51 AM

Joanna Rutkowska

Kim Possible

10-26-2006, 11:03 PM	#2
footfootfoot To shreds, you say? Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet! Posts: 18,449	Not sure if she looks like Kim Possible, but she does look like Gorilla Mydreams. __________________ The internet is a hateful stew of vomit you can never take completely seriously. - Her Fobs

10-27-2006, 09:21 PM	#7
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	HTML Code: BTW, does anyone think that she resembles Kim Possible? Where is the picture? Upper left of the first page of the link? I thought that was the columnist. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

10-28-2006, 12:51 AM	#8
richlevy King Of Wishful Thinking Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Philadelphia Suburbs Posts: 6,669	Joanna Rutkowska Kim Possible __________________ Exercise your rights and remember your obligations - VOTE! I have always believed that hope is that stubborn thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us so long as we have the courage to keep reaching, to keep working, to keep fighting. -- Barack Hussein Obama Last edited by richlevy; 10-28-2006 at 12:56 AM.

10-27-2006, 03:59 PM	#6
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	Well, we do too, now. We ended up getting a couple on-sale laptops for ourselves and letting the kids take over the old desktop. Funny thing was, she brought it up when she saw a flyer from Staples. I'd never have even suggested it.

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