Walling Off Computer Viruses

Ken Xie

In the fight against computer viruses, Ken Xie, 42, has made himself the first line of defense. It's a familiar role for the 6 ft. 5 in. Xie, who was a professional volleyball player in his native China before immigrating to the U.S. in 1989. Instead of stuffing spikes at the net, he deflects attacks on computer networks. His defensive techniques have revolutionized the network-security industry. "I think that the Internet is exciting and always changing," says Xie. "With each new application, there are new viruses. There are constantly new threats, and I wanted to get into the new stuff."

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