14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this week, we learned that DEF CON organizers asked US government workers not to take part in this year’s convention. While most hackers welcome the decision, some security experts are not too happy about it.
Secure Ideas was supposed to make a presentation on how to attack Microsoft’s SharePoint. However, after DEF CON Founder Jeff Moss made the announcement, the company decided not to take part in the event.
“We do not want to make this a ‘political’ move, and we do not make this decision based on their motivations,” Secure Ideas CEO Kevin Johnson said.
“The issue we are struggling with, and the basis of our decision, is that we feel strongly that DEF CON has always presented a neutral ground that encouraged open communication among the community, despite the industry background and diversity of motives to attend. We believe the exclusion of the ‘feds’ this year does the exact opposite at a critical time.”
Johnson believes that the convention should continue to encourage openness, and not make it about anti or pro government.
Secure Ideas will still hold its SharePoint attack presentation later this year.
In the meantime, The Guardian reveals that Black Hat, the world-renowned security conference that takes place the same week, still welcomes feds.
In fact, General Keith Alexander – the director of the National Security Agency and commander of the Department of Defense’s US Cyber Command – is a keynote speaker. “We are honored to have General Alexander join us this year at Black Hat in Las Vegas for the first time. We couldn't have asked for a better time to welcome him,” Black Hat General Manager Trey Ford told The Guardian.
“The security and intelligence communities have common interest in protecting international critical infrastructure and the internet at large. We both have an acute interest in defining and defending privacy.”