Interview with Mandragore
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U> Tell me a little about yourself as a person, hobbies-music etc?
M> I'm the kind of guy which try to keep zen, so I'm listening soft 
   music from 60's, blues, or alike.. you got the point..
   I'm definitively not another hard trash metal fanatic.

U> Where you get your handle?
M> I first saw it in the CPC game called that way.. 
   Then i learnt what it wuz (a root with magical powers), and it 
   looked nice to me..  I first used it when I started HAM radio, and 
   I kept it when I switched to computing.

U> Do your family/friends know about your virus activities?
   What do they think about it? Do you care of their opinion?
M> My parents don't know exactly.. and don't care, as long as they 
   don't have troubles cuz of me. My gf knows and would like me to stop; 
   she thinks I'll go to jail.. damn girlies.. heh. 
   The friends of mine who know are amused, nothing more.. 

U> How did you start out in computers?
M> Like many of us.. Amstrad CPC 6128. I started by playing, then cracking.
   But I've been quickly bored by Z80 and i switched to x86 to learn asm.

U> What was your first virus?
M> Nothing exciting.. mdrg v1.0.. com overwritter :)
   Then there wuz the mdrg family, and so on..

U> How did you start out in the virus scene?
M> Locally with BBS (i wuz co6), then undernet #vir 
   (#virus wuz marc's territory by that time)..
   I met there some nice (and less nice) ppl.
   Buzz accepted me into Invaders, that wuz my first real start. 
   He helped me a lot.

U> Which programming languages do you use?
M> asm x86 (dos, win32, linux), c, pascal, vb/vba.. 
   others that i know aren't really 'programmin'..

U> Where do you live and how is the situation of the virus scene in your land?
M> It's not a secret, I'm french.. There are few vxers in my country, but it 
   seems to grow. They are initiatives that I try to hlp as I can. I wrote one 
   or two papers, but I didn't get any reply.. More to come later i hope.

U> How many and which viriis did you write? Which do u like best? why?
M> Hard to say.. I've some unfinished work.. around 20 real ones ended I would say,
   but fewer 'released'. My favorite one is Glaurung 2k (linux one).. that wuz 
   quite hard: I had to do a lotta researches, learn a lotta new things. 
   That's what vxing should always be imho.

U> How do you name your viriis?
M> I pick up names from folklores or international events, always trying to choose 
   meaningful ones.

U> How do you spread your viriis?
M> Besides publishin them in online zines, I don't spread them actually.

U> Do you prefer a specific type of viriis? Which virus(es) do you like best?
M> I like simple but effectives ones.. I don't like monsters w/ 20k of poly or 
   compression engines. I really enjoyed Q's viruses.

U> What E-zine you most of all like?
M> 29A issues of course, IKX ones also..
   There are fewer and fewer decent mags out there..

U> Which AV product do you like best and why? Which do you piss off most?
M> As many other vxer i like AVP.. recent sigs, decent heuristics/emul..
   AVP is a nice compromise if you use only one AV. 
   Norton and McAfee makes me sick, I can't understand why ppl keep usin them.

U> What VX technique are you most interested in?
M> More recently I'm paying a lot of attention to silvio caesare's work.
   I'm planning to code BSD creatures.. I'm interested into new fields :)

U> What viruswriters you most of all respect?
M> Z0mbie for his hightech skills, Vec for puttin together nice ideas and 
   make 'em working.. Btw, I'd like to see MrSandman back to work :)

U> What do you think about virii genenerators?
M> Interesting to do, but a shame to use. Ppl who code some should keep them 
   for themself. But as it's a pain for AVers, it's nice as is.

U> Are there things or people you dislike within the VX ?
M> Sure! I won't put their nicks here, but be sure that ppl i dislike are aware of.

U> What do you think about macro and script viruses?
M> Nice when used as a way to do something better. Else it's just some boring shit.
   Jackie shown me that nice things could b done, but it's so rare...

U> What do you think about poly engines? Which do you like best?
M> It's interesting as an exercise. I've been impressed a while ago by SSR's ones.

U> What do you think about destructive viruses?
M> I sure could say it's a shame and all that bullshit, but once I found a nice use:
   When the virus wuzn't able to find a lotta targets, it wuz able to commit suicide.
   This could of course let spread the virus only where it's usefull, covering useless
   tracks of spreading where not needed.

U> What are generally your goals in the virus writing context?
M> Learning, bringin something new, and I won't lie, see ppl talkin bout what i made :)

U> When, why and how have you joined 29a?
M> I joined during 2k summer, when I accepted the fact that FS wuz dead.
   I wuz seekin for a nice grp, and 29A wuz (and is still) one of the best, so I
   asked darky. I thought there could have been difficulties since ppl don't 
   know me much. But as you see, i'm in. I must admit that VB accelerated things,
   else i could have died before being in.. heh

U> What do you think about the current VX scene worldwide?
M> Old skilled ppl left.. There are few groups activ.. Let's hope newcomers will
   replace them, but many are learnin ez/dirty stuff like vba, vbs, and other craps.

U> Do you do other computer stuff outside VX (hacking, phreaking, warez etc.)?
M> One could say I'm a decent cracker (i'm mmbr of the CiA crackin grp).
   I'm also interested into hackin, but as a third party hobby.
   Phreakin requires hardcore electronical skills to get a decent level.
   That's not my case.
   Since i've a decent inet connection I do leech, but I can't say I'm a trader.
   Zat's just for me/friends.

U> How would you consider the perfect virus?
M> Invisible and intelligent, able to survive (adaptation) and to f0rk life (spread).
   Vecna put together some nice concepts into hybris.

U> Your plans in the future as coder and in general?
M> Increase my knowleadge.. The more I learn, the more I feel 'empty'.
   If i can have phun (vxing) and get paid (regular coding) that's perfect.
   I just hope to have enough free time to do all that i wish.

U> Where can you be reached ?
M> undernet #virus or mail: mandragore_fs@hushmail.com

U> Any greetz?
M> Sure.. Handshakes flyin to 29A staff, ikx staff, urgo, gato, evul, gigz, kd, j-
   buzz, sandy and all others that i know

U> Any final word?
M> thnx to you, and keep the good work. I'll try to do the same :)

"Don't touch this u stupid girl `µ%£¨45£¨µ~#{~[{# NO CARRIER"