What happens when the lights go out. Power is gone and all you have left is your thoughts and a laptop that’s battery is quickly dieing? You write. Movies will take up too much power and it’s too dark to read so you write. What do you write about, does it really matter? You write.
I am a part of a great many projects but I can’t say that I have contributed to them very much. But I would like to in this post, since I have the time all of a sudden, take the time to acknowledge the real people who are making things happen:
First of we have Roelof Temmingh. His hard work and dedication to his project Maltego has created something as revolutionary as the search engine. Now, you may say that that is one hell of a statement and shouldn’t be tossed around like an Emmy. I am here to assure you I am not. Just as ArcSight, if implemented correctly and cared for is one of the greatest tools a Information System Incident Responder can have, Maltego is the information gatherer’s most valuable asset. From Intel bubbas to Social Engineers to Private Investigators. This tool is not something you can live without any longer. Why? Because your opponent is already using it.
The next project I would like to talk about is the WiFi Security mailing list. Dninja and Joshua Wright as some of the brightest minds in the field of 802.11. Joshua Wright is well recognized, but I think Dninja is less so. Both Josh and Dninja are working on incorporating Karma into embedded devices, mainly the Fon Router. The Fon is a extremely small form factor router that still has enough embedded memory to be useful for modding. Their continued research, by all of those in the WiFi Security mailing list, directly impact the 802.11 field. That impact is seen in the increased security we are seeing in WiFi devices and software every day.
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/137/description
The Mal-Aware team. Lance James and the gents over at Castle Cops are the main players in this team but collaboration from around the world is done on these mailing lists. Closely working with the FBI and other federal and foreign agencies. The brain power that make up the list of email addresses joined together in this list could swell any room. Like mythological super heroes, they dedicate their free time to making the internet a safer place each and every day. [
Last but not least is the crew over at Hak.5. Darren, Wess, Ally, Paul, and the latest addition Matt. I probably wouldn’t be as ingrained in the “Hacker” world as I am now without these guys. The videos they produce on such a limited budget are entertaining and, in my opinion, rival the professionalism of Hollywood. What they produce is always innovative and informative. Even if they mod the Guitar Hero guitar every other episode. Even though they criticism from all angles, they continue to produce and put out a video podcast that is as of yet unmatched in it’s market.
The reason I am writing this post, other than boredom, is to sort of tip my hat in humility to these innovators. Some of the readers of my blog think highly of me. I wish only to transfer that respect to those who deserve it. I am humbled to be apart of such amazing projects and be witness to their impact on the world.
— Rob Fuller (a.k.a. Mubix)
P.S. So basically, buy Maltego (or get your company/school to), join the WiFi Sec and Mal-Aware mailing lists, and watch Hak.5. Support these projects in any way you can, because they have already supported you in one way or another.