[3] Vianello's web presence dates from 1995 when he first got involved in research related to reverse code engineering (RCE).

The steps for cracking software protection were in many cases published on his website, in the form of essays and Old Red Cracker's lessons.

[24] According to the 2001 ACM Multimedia Workshops of the Association for Computing Machinery, Vianello's website contained information which could assist hackers of a certain classification who were not skilled enough "to mount a new or novel attack".

Reverse engineering a legitimately bought program and studying or modifying its code for knowledge was claimed as legal by Vianello at least in the European Union under some restricted conditions.

[28] The transition between the two phases occurred after realizing the growing importance of Internet search engines as tools to access information.

He strongly criticized the large amount of advertising on the Internet, which he considered as promoting unnecessary products to a population of naive consumers.

[10] Vianello was a member of the so-called High Cracking University (+HCU), founded by Old Red Cracker to advance research into Reverse Code Engineering (RCE).

[5] +HCU published a new reverse engineering problem annually and a small number of respondents with the best replies qualified for an undergraduate position at the "university".

[5] Vianello has been described as an inspiration for many hackers and reversers, a friend of the founder of the CCC Wau Holland, and a motivation for Jon Lech Johansen to understand the inner workings of computer programs.

[32] In September 2008, Vianello stopped updating his site and holding conferences, after being diagnosed with and receiving treatment for squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil, which metastasized.