Steve Gibson (computer programmer): Difference between revisions

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'''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.

In the 1980's his SpinRite program optimized the efficiency of hard disks. SpinRite has evolved to this time ( early [[2005]] ) into a data loss /prevention and data recovery utility.

Gibson is an advocate of [[assembly language]] programming, and prides himself with writing whole applications exclusively in assemlyassembly language. He is one of several advocates of optimizing computer programs and reducing the size of their executables. Programs written in assembly language run much faster than counterparts written in other languages.

Gibson has garnered criticism for certain writings on computer security which allegedly do no more than spread [[FUD|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 ''[[hacker|hackers]]'' and ''[[Hacker#Hacker:_Intruder_and_criminal|crackers]]'', of which he counts himself one of the former.