Posted on 07/11/2013 6:01:22 AM PDT by Pan_Yan
(Reuters) - The annual Def Con hacking convention has asked the federal government to stay away this year for the first time in its 21-year history, saying Edward Snowden's revelations have made some in the community uncomfortable about having feds there.
...
Last year, four-star General Keith Alexander, head of the National Security Agency, was a keynote speaker at the event, which is the world's largest annual hacking conference.
The audience was respectful, gave modest applause and also asked about secret government snooping. Alexander adamantly denied that the NSA has dossiers on millions of Americans, as some former employees had suggested before the Snowden case.
"The people who would say we are doing that should know better," Alexander said. "That is absolute nonsense."
Alexander is scheduled to speak in Las Vegas on July 31 at Black Hat, a smaller, two-day hacking conference that was also founded by Moss. It costs about $2,000 to attend and attracts a more corporate crowd than Def Con, which charges $180.
...
Some Feds have even worked among the motley crew of Def Con volunteers who run the conference and walk around wearing T-Shirts that identify them as "goons."
It has also become a fertile ground for recruiting. The U.S. military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement typically compete with corporations to find new talent at Def Con.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The snoopers knew all along.......
Obama called Snowden a hacker.
It is my understanding that while Snowden may posses hacker skills, his source of NSA info was not actually hacking. He had the computer(s) in his possession and did not need to enter by some back door.
Obama’s words were but a lawyerly lie, an attempt to tag Snowden with a label that removes blame from his government.
Obama never, ever tells the truth. He must be removed, obliterated from American history.
“It has also become a fertile ground for recruiting. The U.S. military, intelligence agencies and law enforcement typically compete with corporations to find new talent at Def Con.”
Last I recall hackers were persons that illegally access private systems for personal entertainment or financial gain. Unless it’s a military op for our country, didn’t know this was now an honest profession.
I work in telecom and periodically see customers (good people, good businesses) whacked with GIANT billings for fraudulent calls. Can’t say I see the honor in stealing.
Gee....just ask the Feds to please stay away from our Tea Party rallies....never thought of that!
It will be a much smaller crowd at Def Con this year as most of people attending were Feds.
(As told to me by someone who has attended many times)
Well, it was never a "profession" as such, but it was something positive, at least when I first ran into the term long ago.
"Hacker" was a term of respect for someone who accomplished a "great hack" -- that being a project (anything from a well done brief prank to a successful major undertaking) that showed intelligent conception, planning, and execution, and done with humor and no bad intent.
To watch the term twisted and perverted over the years has been annoying.
To realize that folks (like yourself) have conflated it with "cracker" (one who cracks systems for illegal access) is painful.
Oh well.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.