Interview Kevin Denis

Hello Kevin ! You are a regular contributor to the Security topic of the LSM (2010, 2011, 2012), so this year we’d like to learn more about you :) Can you tell us about your resume and how you came to the security field?

Hi! I have a scientific background (physics) but later I switched off to computer science. The challenging aspects of computer security has always interested me, to learn how things work in order to hijack or modify their behavior, or just to understand their inner workings.

This year, you come back to talk about disk encryption in Linux. Without revealing too much about the contents of your presentation, will your tone be rather optimistic or pessimistic?

I read on a mailing-list: "The question with security is not to be paranoid or not. The question is ’Are you paranoid enough?’ ". There is good in disk encryption, very good even, but some errors can ruin the whole security offered by these mechanisms.

Do you think that the disk encryption mechanisms that are currently available are usable by the general public? Does the general public need it?

Disk encryption is very easy to use. This often comes down to tick a box during the system install, and a password to remember. Disk encryption provides a lot of advantages for a reduced number of constraints (low CPU impact, one password to remember).

What are your other themes of choice in the security field? And in your professionnal activity?

As Prévert would put it: APTs, reversing, web vulnerabilities, botnets, cryptography.

What Linux distribution do you use?

I discovered Linux around 1994-95, with a distribution whose name I cannot remember. A friend brought back several diskettes from the university and with some paper documentation, we managed to install it. Typing "root" at the login prompt was a memorable moment :)

After testing many distributions, I switched to Slackware which is still my first choice. It is Rock Solid, KISS, reliable, perfect. At work, I use Debian.

Thanks for your renewed participation in the LSM, and see you on July 8th in Brussels!

Thank you!

Interview done by email by Mathieu Blanc, Security topic co-chairman.