Doc: How long have you been programming?

_Blade_: I have started programming 5 years ago. All started at my first contact with "the scene", at university.

Doc: Who or what inspired you to first start programming?

_Blade_: I think it was something like this:
That was my first days on the net; I was browsing the net and right out of blue the computer just shutdown. Then the cd-rom was ejected, ... (after a while I have unplugged the network cable and everything returned to normal) It was my first contact with Netbus and this is how I become interested in Trojans and started programming.

Doc: What inspired you or made you want to code one of the first well-known Trojans out there?

_Blade_: I think it was the source code from GirlFriend.
I thought that the best way to understand how a Trojan works is to write one, so I started to study the source code of GirlFirend and improving here and there and Blade Runner was born.

Doc: We know you are pro open source what made you come to that decision?

_Blade_: GirlFriend source helped me a lot at that time so I think it's my duty to try to help others.

Doc: Do you feel s7 has monopolized the Trojan world making it hard to release a Trojan? Please explain.

_Blade_: I don't think s7 has monopolized the Trojan world. Yes, it's hard to release a standard Trojan to compete with s7 because it's a lot of work. But, my opinion is that anyway there are too many standard Trojans on the net so I think it's time for something else...
I'm talking about the Q Trojan from mixter (for linux)
http://mixter.void.ru/findex.html
Or this one
http://www.nettime.org/nettime.w3archive/200005/msg00118.html This is the future of Trojans and I think has been spent enough time on cloning old Trojans.

Doc: Do you feel you have helped along the Trojan world by the release of Both Trojans source? Please explain.

_Blade_: Probably yes, the Thing was something new because was one of the first Trojans coded in assembler.

Doc: Why did you decide to code R3x?

_Blade_: At that time, the guys from nsfocus just discovered the bug in password verification scheme utilized by Microsoft Windows 9x NETBIOS and I wanted to make a new Legion.

Doc: Do you plan to release R3x source code? Why or why not.

_Blade_: Sometime ago if you would ask me this question the answer would be yes. But now the answer is No because the code it's not my property anymore. It's copyrighted www.gfi.com and R3x is now LANguard Network Scanner. (but still a free tool)

Doc: How long did it take to code R3x, The Thing and Blade_Runner?

_Blade_: Very few (that's why the programs have so many bugs :) Let's say 2/3 weeks for Blade Runner and 1 week for The Thing. More time has been spent on updates. On R3x it took a lot more time because it was something new:
3-4 months.

Doc: What advice do you have to offer to others who are just starting to code?

_Blade_: Look at others code but try to make something original.

Doc: Have you gained anything from the release Blade_Runner, The Thing, and R3x? If so what.

_Blade_: Experience, a lot of experience.

Doc: Do you plan to continually update R3x and The Thing?

_Blade_: R3x (LANguard Network Scanner) will be updated.
http://www.languard.com/languard/lanscan.htm The Thing No, I'm not developing Trojans anymore.

Doc: Why did you decide not to update Blade_Runner?

_Blade_: It was just a test to see how a Trojan it's done. And I didn't wanted to become more than a test.

Doc: Why did you decide to start a whole new Trojan?

_Blade_: For testing purposes (to gain experience in something new, like network programming in assembler)

Doc: Would you like to say anything I didn't ask?

_Blade_: Happy coding :)