For he's a jolly good "Technical Fellow"

By Ellen Messmer, NetworkWorld.com, 07/19/06

"Technical Fellow" is the new job title for Mark Russinovich, co-founder of Winternals with Bryce Cogswell. Yesterday Microsoft announced it acquired Winternals for an undisclosed sum, and is taking Russinovich on board as a "Technical Fellow."

Russinovich, as you may recall, is the computer sleuth who discovered the hidden rootkit that Sony BMG had quietly deployed to monitor use of its CDs for copyright purposes, often unbeknowst to the unsuspecting consumer.

That discovery vaulted him to sudden fame last year as public outrage grew against Sony, leadng to lawsuits erupted which were recently settled.

In June, Russinovich described firsthand that experience, plus how he came to spend a significant portion of his time rooting out rootkits, a rare talent indeed.

No wonder Microsoft wanted to bring Russinovich into the fold.

"I've had my eye on Mark for some time," Jim Allchin, co-president of the Platforms & Services Division at Microsoft, is quoted in the official Microsoft press release. Kind of an odd remark, but he goes on to praise Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell (who joins Microsoft as a software architect, not a "Technical Fellow") for their work developing products at Winternals. Micosoft is promising to support these products only through the life of the customer contracts, though.

Will Mark Russinovich, as the "Technical Fellow," expose how corporations make questionable use of rootkits? That's the kind of controversy that big corporations don't like to be embroiled in, and we count on the unfettered fellows to let us know.

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