Controversial teacher of
computer science online, subject of one of the most bitter ongoing
hacker wars. Has been digital since the late 60's, when her then-husband enrolled her in a
Fortran class. Since then, she's been a
computer security expert, a
horse trainer, a writer on security subjects for
Scientific American and other periodicals, a born-again
Christian, a
mother, the main force behind Techbroker, her own computer security firm, and the proprietress of
HappyHacker.org, a web site teaching the fundamentals of
UNIX and other operating systems through the medium of "
white hat hacking".
So far, so good. The controversy has arisen through the fact that she likes to point out that most of what evil haxors do is mostly done with canned programs and exploits, and what most security mavens do is equally simple. This, combined with her goofy sense of humor, plus the fact that she LOVES to push the buttons of the folks who've tried to hack her, and her (somewhat justified) paranoia, has led to a lot of personal attacks, culminating in a hacked New York Times website with her name on it. Clearly, people don't like her much, and as with the Legion of Doom vs. the Masters of Deception, it's impossible to sort out what dirt was done, and to whom. She has, in my memory, changed her opinion of L0pht without explanation; on the other hand, she's got esr's seal of approval, which counts for something, I suppose.
If only she wasn't so much fun to read....