Comments on: Great Read: “Zero Day”, by Mark Russinovich

By: Home Server 2011 and its Backup Madness: Complete and #epicfail so far | doncho.net

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:36:52 +0000

[…] have the time (and effort needed) to keep it up to date and tremble all the time if someone has not Zero-dayed such installation. window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({appId: "333651144442", xfbml: true}); […]

By: Stilgar

Stilgar — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 14:25:08 +0000

In reply to Doncho. I think the people who use this slang use it to defy the rules and to show that they are part of a certaing group not because it makes communication efficient. So what is the problem with clever people using this suboptimal way of communication if the characters have the mentality of people who would abuse the written language for fun?

By: Doncho

Doncho — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 13:34:08 +0000

In reply to Stilgar. No, I do not. Please read more carefully. It's hard to write and hard to read and is quite distinctive, that this could be "cracker slang".

By: Stilgar

Stilgar — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:25:55 +0000

Doncho do you actually think that hackers(crackers or whatever) write the way they do because it is easier to write or read?

By: Doncho

Doncho — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:21:43 +0000

In reply to Sasho.

Hey! Not fair, you’re giving plot details and destroying the pleasure from potential readers! I’m still thinking shall I censor your comment or not… hmmm… maybe I shall!
Anyway: you know that once a system goes crazy, any side effects are possible. I can’t tell you how many times I was quite close to ritual goat sacrifice, because I was suspecting an evil ghost was in the system, making (my) code behave almost like it’s alive and predicting my actions. So you can’t complain about these *beep* details!

By: Doncho

Doncho — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:19:28 +0000

In reply to Sasho. I've got also signed copy of Win Internals, but the previous edition :). I'm jealous now, since I won't attend TR, i.e. won't be able to get signed copy of this book as well :)

By: Sasho

Sasho — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:17:59 +0000

And hey, it was a good read for $11.99, anyway. And I’ve got a signed (paper) copy of Windows Internals 🙂

By: Sasho

Sasho — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:11:39 +0000

I'm not saying I want more technical details, I'm saying I want them to paint plausible story. What bugs me is not that kernel debugging is not described correctly and in detail, but that same piece of malware can **beep***, turn off **beep** and make **beep** chop people heads off, for example. Or that zero day vulnerabilities can be bought by dozens a dime on Gorbushka market in Moscow.. If you read comments on Mark's blog, you'll see a lot of people share my opinion. Problem is not that Mark cannot write a really good techno-triller for a layperson, but that he published almost decade-old book with decade-old plot and decade-old tech details. And I don't like Dan Brown ;-P

**beepy** changes above are mine, since I did not want to spoil all reading pleasure from future readers of the book :). Sorry, Alex, I hope you understand! Doncho

By: Doncho

Doncho — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:26:09 +0000

@Sasho: Although I do agree that the books could not surprise (from security details standpoint) you or me, I disagree this is a disadvantage of the book :). Sasho, you’re since five (ten?) years into security and Windows infrastructure. I’m sure that if Mark wanted, he could dig in details to astonish you too, but please do remember that the book is popular-read book, not for Microsoft employees only 🙂 (although I’m sure at least 20-40K of MSFT FTEs will get the book).
So considering the widespread audience, I think the details are just right! Dan Brown would get it much worse and funny, and he’s one of my favorite authors, too!

By: Sasho

Sasho — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 13:49:56 +0000

I’ve got the book on my Kindle the day it was published and I’ve read it on one of my “non-emergency” trips to Moscow. Funny, I was able to discuss it with a guy in Metro, who was reading it on his iPad. I guess it could have been the Superphreak himself 😉
The book is a good read, but doesn’t rise above usual techno-triller stuff. The way it represents the security and BlackHat communities, malware and SCADA systems is barely plausible. If it was Dan Brown, it would be great achievement. From Mark I’ve expected more. Also, the book is written in 2003-2004 and it shows..