In this episode of PaulDotCom Security Weekly we have a very special guest, Daniel Suarez the author of "Daemon", one of the best books we've ever read here at PaulDotCom. You can read my full review of the book, and listen to a full interview with Dan on this episode!
Hosts: Larry "HaxorTheMatrix" Pesce, Paul "PaulDotCom" Asadoorian, John Strand, Mick Douglas, Carlos "Dark0perator" Perez
Audio Feeds: 
Hosts: Steve Gibson with Leo Laporte
How researchers hacked the most secure electronic voting machines.
For 16kpbs versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.
Bandwidth for Security Now is provided by AOL Music and Spinner.com.
Running time: 1:17:37
This is a reminder that the price for the upcoming Conscious Growth Workshop (October 2-4, 2009 in Las Vegas) will increase from $497 to $597 after August 31st, so you only have 5 more days to get the $100 discount. On the morning of September 1st, the price will be $100 more than it is now.
The registration rate has been steadily increasing as that deadline gets closer, with more people signing up for the workshop every day now.
Someone recently asked in the forums if I could extend the deadline for the discount. This was my reply:
I can’t afford to make exceptions. I mean once word leaks out that a pirate has gone soft, people begin to disobey you, and it’s nothing but work, work, work all the time. ;)
That’s a quote from The Princess Bride, but suffice it to say that I’m not flexing on the deadline. This isn’t a workshop that rewards procrastination. If you’re still on the fence, this would be a good time to make a decision. Why pay $100 more when you don’t have to?
Initially Erin wasn’t planning to speak at this event, but when she saw how much fun I was having mapping out the various exercises, she changed her mind. So now I expect she’ll be sharing a few personal stories at the workshop to help illustrate some of the ideas in action.
If you live outside the USA and are thinking about attending, you certainly won’t be alone. About a third of registered attendees are flying in from outside the USA. We have people coming from Canada, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Romania, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Italy, and Australia.
The workshop FAQ includes lots of information to assist you in making travel plans. Flights to and from Las Vegas are often cheaper than other cities, and the hotel rooms are very affordable, so your total trip cost may be less than you expect. Las Vegas is a fun city too. Erin and I came here on vacation about 30 times before we finally moved here in 2004.
If you’re still not sure about attending, here’s a simple exercise you can do to make the choice. I’m sharing this to help you make the right decision for you, so this isn’t a sneaky sales tactic or anything like that. I often use this method myself when I have to make an important decision.
Take some deep breaths and quiet your mind for a while. First, imagine that you decided not to attend. Visualize that you’re doing whatever you’d normally do that weekend, perhaps staying home or doing your usual weekend routine. You also keep the money you could have spent on the trip. Do your best not to be overly pessimistic or optimistic. Just imagine how you honestly expect to spend that weekend if you don’t attend the workshop.
Next, project the results of that weekend forward in time. What are the long-term consequences, and how do they play out? Include the consequences of keeping the money you might have spent on the trip. Just consider the most probable long-term outcomes.
Notice how that feels. What does your intuition say about that path? How would you label that feeling? Say those labels out loud.
Now take a few more deep breaths, and clear your mind. Do the same process, but this time imagine that you did attend the workshop. Imagine that you went to Las Vegas. If you’d be flying into the city, imagine seeing and hearing the slot machines in the airport when you get off the plane (there are indeed slot machines all over the Vegas airport). Imagine going to your hotel and checking in. Imagine picking up your badge at the registration table outside the room and chatting with some of the other attendees. Imagine sitting in the hotel ballroom with dozens of other people and listening to me (and Erin) share ideas with you. Imagine yourself doing a lot of interactive exercises with the other attendees. Imagine people up on stage sharing their stories. Perhaps even imagine yourself on stage sharing some of your challenges and getting help (if you expect that you’d raise your hand when I ask for a volunteer). Imagine going out and doing fun stuff in Las Vegas each evening and possibly hanging out with other attendees you’ve gotten to know during the workshop. Imagine being guided through various challenges and enduring a bit of an emotional rollercoaster as you see your life from different perspectives. Imagine yourself traveling home afterwards with time to reflect on the experience afterwards.
Next, project the results of that weekend forward in time. What are the long-term consequences, and how do they play out? Include the consequences of spending money for the trip. Just consider the most probable long-term outcomes.
Notice how this feels. What does your intuition say about this path? How would you label this feeling? Say these labels out loud.
I know my description of the Vegas weekend was more detailed — that’s because I can’t fill in the details of your normal weekend since I don’t know what that looks like for you. So you’ll have to fill in the details there based on your own experiences.
Now which path feels better to you? Pick the one that feels the most positive.
When I do this exercise to decide whether or not to attend a workshop in another city, it can go either way. Sometimes it’s clear that I should go because I can expect to gain a lot from it and meet some great people, even if it’s a bit of a hassle to get there. Other times I feel it just isn’t worth the time, energy, and cost to attend.
You may have some conflicted feelings regarding each path. Maybe staying home feels boring, but it also feels more safe and secure. Maybe attending the workshop feels scary because you can’t control what will happen, but it also excites and energizes you when you imagine yourself there. This means you have to look at the total package. How do the long-term consequences feel?
Again, try not to be overly optimistic or pessimistic. Be as realistic as you can. If this would be an expensive trip for you, don’t ignore the consequences of spending that money. Similarly, don’t overplay the hassle of getting to Vegas. About 35 million tourists come here each year, and this city was literally built to accommodate travelers.
Hope this helps you decide. 
Some useful links:
Conscious Growth Workshop (all the details, who should attend, what you’ll learn, daily schedule)
Workshop FAQ (questions answered, travel advice, Las Vegas info)
Register NOW (take action, engage, make it so)
Would you rather spend a weekend with an amazing group of growth-oriented people while being pushed to think, feel, and stretch yourself in new ways, or would you rather stay home and do what you normally do? You decide.
Achieve new breakthroughs in your habits, career, finances, relationships, health, and spiritual development. Register now to attend the transformational 3-day Conscious Growth Workshop in Las Vegas, October 2-4, 2009.
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© 2009 by Steve Pavlina.
Daniel Suarez's "Daemon" gives new meaning to "blue screen of death", and is hands down the best techno-thriller you will ever read, period. I've thought long and hard about an opening line for this post, and I truly mean what I say, this book changed my perspective on how I view the world. Not only that, but it is "pee your pants" scary as well. But not horror movie "Oh my God look zombies!" scary, more like the way that we as security professionals scare people by telling them about the evil things people do with computers and the Internet.
I have to admit, I have a love/hate relationship with Daniel Suarez. On the one hand, I love the guy for putting out one of the few books that I simply could not put down. Top that off with the "life changing experience" bit, outstanding technical accuracy, a story that is second to none, sex, violence, artificial intelligence, and we have a winner! On the other hand, I hate Daniel Suarez for causing tension between my wife and I because I thought I would take in some "light reading" on our recent vacation, and ended up with my face buried in my Amazon Kindle for a good portion of the trip.
I read my copy on the Amazon Kindle. It was very creepy to read it on the Kindle, as it is connected to the Amazon Wispernet (if you enable it). The kindle can automatically download new content and software. As I was reading "Daemon", my kindle screensaver became more dynamic and started to display new content. Very scary!
There are few books that grab my attention immediately and captivate me that I just can't put them down. I have to admit, I'm not much of a book person. I guess I have a bit of A.D.D, so its tough for me to stick with a book the whole way through. There are exceptions though. The last exception was "The Cuckoo's Egg" by Clifford Stoll, and that was 10 years ago. Then along came "Daemon", which just takes things to a whole new level.
The story revolves around a video game designer named Matthew Sobol. Sobol is a genius programmer that develops first class artificial intelligence that is built into the hottest video games. However, he's been working on a side project, a program that looks for his obituary in the news, and if found, well, thats when the fun begins...
One of the things that impressed me the most, and made me wet myself, was the fact that the technology was believable. I found out after I finished the book that its not only believable, but its based on fact. If you visit the daemon web site you will find a page dedicated to proving that the technology talked about in the book is based on real concepts, products, and theory. The hacking used in the book is not the popcorn, laugh out loud, crap that we are used to seeing in the movies. There is SQL injection, cracking wireless networks with Asleap, and kernel level rootkits. How can you go wrong?
I've always wondered how well the automated parking system worked in the higher end cars. You know, the ones that claim they can park themselves? The DARPA Urban challenge takes it to a whole new level and invites teams to create vehicles that can drive themselves. If you think thats impressive, read "Daemon" and see how they are put to use.
I don't want to give away too much about the plot in this post, but I will say that I highly recommend this book to everyone. After listening to Daniel speak, and give his reasons for writing the book, his mission is very much aligned with ours here at PaulDotCom, make people aware of the risks. Not just techie people either, but regular people who should give a damn but have become content thinking that things will never happen to them. "The Daemon" will make you question how much we rely on computers. It will make you feel funny when you get that automated call from Southwest airlines telling you your flight has been delayed. You will distrust the automation built into computers and networks that support our every day well being. It will make you think, "Could this be the Daemon"?
[Note: Daniel Suarez will appear on episode 165 of PaulDotCom, more information here.]
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