[ISN] Security Threat Analysis: Interview With Dino A. Dai Zovi

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/dino-dai-zovi,2260.html

By Alan Dang
Tom's Hardware US
April 6, 2009

Introduction

In our continuing series on personal computing security, today we’re 
talking with Dino A. Dai Zovi. Three years ago, the organizers of 
CanSecWest started a contest titled Pwn2Own. This contest involved the 
challenge of exploiting fully-patched retail laptops. Hack the laptop 
and you’d win the machine as the prize. Dino A. Dai Zovi was the first 
person to take down a Mac during the first Pwn2Own. Last year and this 
year, Charlie Miller took the honor of taking down two fully patched 
Macs. Dino and Charlie are co-authors on the The Mac Hacker's Handbook.


Alan: Thank you for taking the time to chat with us. So, before we 
begin, why don't you tell a little bit about yourself?

Dino: I am a computer security professional and independent security 
researcher. My professional experience spans penetration testing, 
software security auditing, and security management. I am a co-author of 
two books, the most recent being The Mac Hacker's Handbook with Charlie 
Miller. I often speak at security conferences about my security research 
on exploitation techniques, 802.11 wireless client security, and 
hardware virtualization-based rootkits. I focus on offensive security 
research because I believe that it is necessary to view systems as an 
attacker would in order to design more secure systems.


Alan: Is “offensive” security research what’s most commonly practiced 
now?

Dino: It is in the rarity of the computer security industry, and still 
considered “taboo” by many practitioners. While some conferences, such 
as the Black Hat Briefings and CanSecWest, have a large number of talks 
that discuss security weaknesses, the larger conferences such as the RSA 
Expo cover it significantly less.

[...]


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