Collective Intelligence

Snort creator Marty Roesch is leaving Cisco Feb. 1 for a new adventure, parting ways for the time being with the one of the true success stories in the information security industry. Snort, the ubiquitous open source intrusion detection and prevention system, is a mainstay in many homegrown and commercial security products. It was commercialized in 2001 when Roesch founded Sourcefire, which was acquired in 2013 by Cisco. In this conversation with Flashpoint Editorial Director Mike Mimoso, Roesch talks about the early days of Snort when it was a nights-and-weekends passion project for him. Roesch explains how his faith in the product and community supporting it guided him past early skeptics who doubted it could be commercialized. Sourcefire was ultimately acquired for $2.7 billion in 2013, and Snort's open-source roots remain a crucial part of the the software's legacy as it has been integrated into many mission-critical products at Cisco.