Episode Details

This season of Hacker Valley Red wraps up with another interview of an incredible offensive cybersecurity legend. Known first and foremost for his work founding Metasploit and his recent work co-founding Rumble, HD Moore joins the show this week to hear about his journey from spiteful hacker to successful founder. HD walks through the history of Metasploit, the motivation behind their coding decisions, his opinions on open source software, and the excitement of exploration and discovery.

Timecoded Guide:

[04:57] Catching up with HD’s career from his hacking exploits in the ‘90s through his founding of Metasploit to his recent activities with Rumble

[11:41] Getting personal with the feelings and takeaways from a project as successful and impactful on the cyber industry as Metasploit

[18:52] Explaining HD’s personal philosophies around accessible education and the risk of sharing vulnerable information publicly

[25:39] Diving deep into the technical stories of HD’s path of discovery and exploration during his time at Metasploit

[31:14] Giving advice for future founders and hackers looking to make a legendary impact on the cybersecurity community

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Thank you to our sponsors Axonius and PlexTrac for bringing this season of HVR to life!

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What were some of the trials, tribulations, and successes of Metasploit?

Although Metasploit has had a lasting impact on the cyber world, HD Moore is not afraid to admit that part of Metasploit existed out of spite for critics, employers, and gatekeepers in the cybersecurity industry. In terms of trials and tribulations, HD saw a great deal of criticism come from his peers and from professionals ahead of him in the industry, often displaying rudeness towards the quality of the exploits and Metasploit’s audience of young hackers. Later, HD says that a surprising and amusing side effect of his success with the project was watching employers and peers go from criticizing to lifting up his work with Metasploit and attributing success of many hacking professionals to its creation.

“When we started the Metasploit project, we really wanted to open up to everybody. We wanted to make sure that, even if you barely knew how to program, you can still contribute something to Metasploit. So, we did our best to make it really easy for folks to get in touch with us, to submit code.”

Where does your philosophy land today on giving information freely?

HD has heard the same opinions many professionals that teach and give information freely have heard: “You’re making it easier for people to use this information the wrong way.” Instead of considering the worst possible o