Steve Gibson (computer programmer)

For other people named Steve Gibson see Steve Gibson (disambiguation)

Steve Gibson (b. March 1955) is a computer engineer and journalist based in Laguna Hills, California. Gibson has had a long career in the technology field starting in his teen years. He began in hardware projects but moved more towards software development in the 1980s. Gibson founded Gibson Research Corporation in 1985, and is currently its primary employee. Gibson is also a contributing editor to InfoWorld magazine.

Gibson is an advocate of assembly language programming, and prides himself with writing whole applications exclusively in assembly language, including the SpinRite hard disk utility. He is one of several advocates of optimizing computer programs and reducing the size of their executables.

Gibson has garnered criticism for certain writings on computer security which allegedly do no more than spread fear. He has also been accused of shameless self-promotion, and has oft been likened to a snake oil merchant. These accusations notwithstanding, he has developed and distributed (for free) a number of useful security tools, including the popular ShieldsUp! port-scanning site. His writings also provide something of a glimpse into the world of hackers and crackers, of which he counts himself one of the former.

Since mid-2005, Gibson has appeared regularly on Leo Laporte's technology podcast, This Week in Tech. Since August 18, 2005, he has co-hosted a computer security-focused podcast with Laporte called Security Now!.

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