I got to know Adam Shostack 12 years ago. He was one of the first people I got to know on the west coast. We’ve had many discussions, meetings, conversations, and lunches.
Now my anecdote may not mean the same as some, but he’s always been a highly decent guy around me, no red flags. I never saw him talk bad behind backs, even given the opportunity. He’s someone I’d trust when no one is watching.
I’ve lost count of the number of times people whispered warnings to me about this-or-that prominent infosec scene person. Most of them, probably. Perhaps you’ve had that experience too. But never about Adam. I’ve never heard anyone speak ill of him in any way.
Exactly the opposite, in fact. I have seen him publicly harassed, unprovoked, by some coward literally hiding in a crowd who obviously just wanted to be a jackass. It made zero sense to me. But Adam handled it with grace, and I remember that, and admire him.
This harassment is some real bullshit, and it needs to stop.
@jerry@chort Just the other day, I was helping someone just getting into data security thinking. They were reading Adam’s book and they were like “Hey, you’re in here!” in the Acknowledgments and I was like “Wow, cool!” 😆