Paperghost Postbag - Answers Galore

Here we go with some more rambles from the Deadliest Man Alive.

That's me, by the way. Bang bang.

Oh, I didn't manage to cover all the questions, so (as always), the ones left out will be included next time. And away we go...

Did the airline ever return your dainties? Rob

Sadly, no. My underwear - super sexy underwear, it should be noted - is still totally MIA. If anyone out there happens to see a random pair of men's undergarments that sort of glow like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, do not approach them without shades on lest you go blind.

We all know each year will be different. As we are entering the darker months. Do you think this year so far has been a quiet one or similar to other years in regards to new malware appearing/reported? AndyAtHull

Ooh, dunno. There's definitely a shift away from people like me complaining about Ye Olde Skool Adware vendors such as Zango and all the rest of them. Contrary to popular belief, this is a good thing and I'd really rather be writing about all the crazy crap coming out of places like China. All those Adware guys have set sail for Moneybags Island, and they're not coming back for the most part. This presents an interesting problem for people who write about security stuff on a daily basis.....half the content of an Anti-whatever blog will usually be stuff related to legit Adware vendors.

A lot of that has suddenly been thrown under a bus, and of course, a lot of potential additional things to write about goes with it. It's a lot easier to tell people about things and make them understand when there's a specific entity or company or whatever at the heart of it. The moment you start going on about "gangs" (they're always gangs, aren't they? Where did all the groups go?) with silly names like "Zhelatin" (that sounds like a kind of cream for intimate areas), people start to go a bit misty eyed.

So the increase in anonymity with regards "who to blame this week for some random disaster" doesn't really help.

I'd still rather never have to write about Zango or Direct Revenue ever again, though. People will just have to get used to the shift in "where this weeks biggest ever problem with something" lies.

Would you go on a tour of the Zango offices if you were asked? Alex

Funnily enough, Zango did ask me to take a tour - I think it was last year or thereabouts. At the time I declined, as I was busy with something else. Would I do it now? Possible, though I'm just as likely to be busy with something else again - and seeing as how Homeland apparently don't like me very much, I'd rather use up what remaining trips I have to get into the States for Conference purposes, than turning up on Zangos doorstep to basically tell them in person what I've already said on this website. And like I said, they're slowly drifting out of the target site lately...I don't think there would be much point.

How does someone go about getting a career like yours. Basically how to get into Anti-Malware and hunting scum bags down but getting some kind of monetry reward for it? I love hunting scumware creators, but it is time consuming and I have very little "free" time, but would love to do it as a career? KiD

All I can really say is, a lot of luck combined with a lot of misfires. Before I started working for FaceTime, I was doing this security stuff in my spare time while holding down a sucktacular job in Insurance, with a few nifty arts-related detours along the way. It depends what bit of the security industry you want, too - the bit that falls under Antispyware seems to be a lot more flexible in terms of the previous backgrounds of the people doing it. A lot of people I talk to were doing something completely different before they got into this, and probably didn't imagine they'd be doing this full time either. Ask around, check out the forums where security guys post job offers (EMail me and I'll see if I can remember the sites!), maybe set up a blog and start publishing your research. You never know what will happen.

And hey, for what it's worth, you have my personal recommendation, because I happen to know you kick ass.

List your top three / favorite busts? LoPhat

Oh man, there's a toughie. If I'm in the middle of a whirlwind of aggro, then you can be sure everything is coming up roses as far as I'm concerned. In no particular order....

1) "Spyware Floods in Through BitTorrent" - Well, this definitely kicked off, didn't it? An absolutely rampant distribution of Adware and Spyware packed bundles pushed across BitTorrent sites, accusations of illegal porn, websites hacked, John Dvorak kicking off, EWeek firing back...this thing had it all. Oh, and this wonderful swipe from John himself:

This was all begun by a Microsoft MVP character named Chris Boyd, who is always described as a "renowned" security expert. By whose standards is he renowned? Has he written books? Academic papers? Articles? What exactly besides blogging? So where does this assertion come from? The blog?

....hi John, I hunt down and terrorise the scum of the net on a daily basis. That's pretty much it, I guess. Take it or leave it.

Oh, I also got my first ever death threats as a result of this one. And a lot of stuff like this (previously unpublished comedy gold coming up, kids!):

"Comments :
1. Please _un_subscribe me from your newsletter.
2. Please provide details on your site about your credentials. 'Microsoft MVP' means little.
3. You indicate where your are _not_ affiliated in your right-hand home page banner. For the sake of better disclosure, please also indicate your past and current affiliations, and the source of past and current monetary and non-monetary comepensation, especially from Microsoft.

Why do I ask these things? See this article. I've been a PC Magazine reader since 1989, long before your 2001 foray onto the web. Dvorak's opinions trump yours by a mile, in my book."

....well crap, can't argue with that. I resign.

2) Zango on Myspace. This was absolutely bezerk, and gathered some sort of terrifying, inexorable momentum until it (predictably enough) culminated in a totally kickass "smoking gun" Email that showed how people at Zango HAD, in fact, targetted Myspace as an avenue for distributing their Adware all along (despite claims to the contrary). Awesome fun for all the family.

3) Well come on, I have to include this, don't I? I told that punk what I was going to do to him, and then I went and did it. In as emphatic a fashion as possible. And then he cried.

Hahaha.