Shock! Maturity rules at hack fest

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/10/1028158034350.html

By Kim Zetter
August 13 2002

South African computer security consultants Roelof Temmingh and Charl
van der Walt were 30 minutes into their presentation at the DefCon
hacker conference last week when a streaker - naked but for a paper
bag over his head - sped up a side aisle and out of the front door.

The audience barely acknowledged the interruption; van der Walt made a
small joke and then resumed his PowerPoint presentation on Trojan
technology.

The mellow response was indicative of the laid-back atmosphere
permeating this year's conference at one of the few Las Vegas hotels
that still opens its doors to the hackers.

Conference organiser Jeff Moss (aka Dark Tangent) says they have been
kicked out of every other establishment for past high jinks that have
included putting cement in hotel plumbing.

But the casino-free Alexis Park Hotel has proved the perfect match for
the conference, now in its tenth year. The hotel's bar earnings for
the weekend equalled what is usually taken over eight months and in
appreciation the hotel staff sported cheery "DefCon X" T-shirts.

While hacker notables such as Rain Forest Puppy were present, Deth
Veggie seemed to be the only one from the hacking group Cult of the
Dead Cow, which last year staged a rowdy presentation that included
raw beef thrown at the audience.

A highlight this year was a war-drive through the Las Vegas Strip in
search of insecure wireless networks. As the hacker caravan cruised
the street, a driver who deduced their motives shouted that they would
never find an open connection on the highly secure strip. Instead, he
helpfully pointed them north to a string of office complexes and an
array of open networks.

There were fewer US federal agents attending this year. Undercover
Feds often sit on panel discussions or attend the conference to learn
the community's latest tactics and trends. But this year, most federal
agencies were too preoccupied with anti-terrorist activities to show
up.

Rumours of foreign feds proved to be true, though, when two Frenchmen
posing as a reporter and cameramen for the TV channel Canal Plus were
exposed during the Spot-the-Fed contest, an annual event that awards
prizes for outing undercover agents.

The more subdued tone probably reflected the increased maturity of
attendees, who on average were slightly older than in the past. But it
is also likely that the spectre of September 11 played a role.

Talk about legislation related to September 11, such as the Patriot
Act and a proposed law that will give a life sentence to anyone
convicted of a computer crime that results in a death, permeated the
sessions.

Richard Thieme, a writer and former Episcopalian minister who speaks
annually at DefCon and has become an unofficial father figure to the
hacking community, pointed out that "the stakes are different" now.

"The game has changed. And therefore, you have to be more careful," he
said. Hackers should still fight for freedom and guard against
government propaganda campaigns, but they need to be cognisant of the
context of their battles. In the new environment, he said, motives and
methods could be easily misconstrued.

After the arrest of Dmitry Sklyarov at last year's DefCon, there were
fewer exploits on open display. Sklyarov was arrested by the FBI for
violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act after demonstrating a
program for cracking Adobe's eBook encryption.

The only talk that promised to rival Sklyarov's this year was a
demonstration on turning off the protective Macro Vision in videos to
make digitally pure copies.

Any underground nature of the talk was spoiled by the attendance of
the speaker's mother, grandparents and girlfriend, proudly videotaping
his appearance. His mother, however - just to be on the safe side -
turned out to be a copyright lawyer.



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn'
in the BODY of the mail.