Valgrind used dynamic binary translation and shadow state to turn ordinary program execution into a heavyweight analysis environment, making memory errors observable without recompiling the target program.
Rust set out to preserve the control and performance expected from systems programming while using ownership, borrowing and a strict type system to prevent broad classes of memory errors without a garbage collector.
Aleph One's 1996 explanation of stack smashing gave a generation of programmers a concrete model of how an out-of-bounds write could become control-flow hijacking, helping drive compiler and operating-system defenses against memory corruption.