Black Hat/Defcon: Hackers Go Back to Vegas

A poster found in the hallway at Defcon

Every summer, hackers and law enforcement officers call a truce in the scorching heat of Las Vegas. At the annual Black Hat and Defcon conventions, held at the Caesar's Palace and the Alexis Park Hotel respectively, both sides exchange information - and throw each other in the pool. Old friends reunite, new friendships are forged, and enemies are made. Hackers come from around the world, and while they may talk frequently to each other via email or IRC, they often can only meet in person at the convention.

I've been going to hacker conventions as a normal attendee for several years, but it's only been the last two years that I've been going as a member of the press; this was my third year at Defcon and second at Black Hat. My first Defcon in 2003 opened my eyes to another world, where people were respected for what they knew and not how they looked or how much money they have. Here I could actually meet Kevin Mitnick, shake his hand, and maybe share a cold beer with him. Well, I haven't actually gotten around to meeting Mitnick yet, but I have met many other talented hackers.

The contrast between attending as a normal guest and as a journalist is stark. As an attendee, I don't have to worry about filing stories or interviewing people. I could just sit in at the talks and absorb everything. In contrast, as a press member, I furiously typed in notes on my Blackberry and took hundreds of pictures of speakers and their gadgets. Afterwards, I had to run back to the press room to file news stories, edit video and perform Photoshop magic on my pictures. However, I did enjoy some perks, like being able to cut in line to a talk - discretely of course, so as to not anger other attendees - and being able to sit down to interview people in the comfort of the secluded press rooms on the second floor of the Alexis Park.

Our intern, Jonathan Ghazarian, was given the aptly appropriate hacker handle "INTERN". He made new friends quickly, and became a legend by downing bowls of Bacardi 151 and getting thrown in the pool frequently. This was his first time at a hacker convention, and you can read about his adventures here . In contrast, Cisco and ISS (Internet Security Systems) became public enemies number one and two - not necessarily in that order - by trying to silence Michael Lynn for demonstrating that Cisco routers are vulnerable to attack. With "CiscoGate" dominating the headlines, it was easy to miss the other notable events at Black Hat/Defcon. But never fear, we will run through those events in this round-up article.