14 DAY TRIAL // DEFCON attendants had a chance to play "spot the hacktivist" this weekend, as both LulzSec leader Sabu and The Jester claimed to be at the world's top hacker conference.
It all started on Friday when Sabu tweeted "#FEDS #DEFCON Vendor room. Across from NO STARCH PRESS. I'm in the area. Find me and you get 0day. Do not find me and feel unsatisfied. LOL"
The booth across NO STARCH PRESS was selling The Hacker Calendar 2012. The revenue was intended for the next HOPE conference, which apparently Sabu supports.
In fact, the hacktivist promised to speak at the next HOPE with feds in the room if 1,000 calendars are sold.
"ATTN #DEFCON: Selling 1000 calendars will help get the next HOPE rolling. And I'll be there Discussing the power of LEADERLESS/DECENTRALIZED," he said.
For the next two days Sabu tweeted about people coming at the calendar booth to ask about him, but even so some individuals doubted that he was really at the conference.
These included rival hacktivist The Jester who also claimed to be at DEFCON and challenged Sabu to meet him. The two couldn't agree on a meeting place, Sabu favoring a private meeting, while The Jester wanting a public face off.
"@th3j35t3r Again, you're still trying to set me up with #feds. How about you MAN UP and meet me privately. I'm not going to jail for you," Sabu told The Jester. The two even started to leave notes for each other.
"@th3j35t3r I left a note across from the no starch free booth. Tell me what it says. Watching," tweeted Sabu. "@anonymousabu I left a note on the #defcon 19 signing sign outside the vendor room, if you are here open it tell me what it says. #watching," replied The Jester.
Other people got into the game and reported finding the notes, at least The Jester's. Sabu even claimed that two feds came by the calendar booth in an attempt to locate him so he outted them.
"LOL to the two feds that came to the booth. One bald with maroon shirt. And the other with a crewcut Buy a calendar and you might see me LOL," he wrote. There's a "spot the fed" contest every year at DEFCON.
We will probably never know if any of the two hacktivists were actually at the conference, even though Sabu did seem to have a lot of knowledge about stuff happening on site. Whether or not he will keep his promise to speak at HOPE remains to be seen, although, if he does, he will probably use his real identity and not do anything to expose himself as Sabu.