A DEF CON postscript: Said the FBI agent to the taxi driver
I think one of the differences between Black Hat and DEF CON is that each have a different relationship to their heroes.
The first night of Black Hat parties – all fairly corporate, though relaxed affairs with hackers of all stripes – I found myself at a VIP party talking to one of the key cogs in Black Hat’s clockwork. This person told me they were absolutely, 100% convinced that there weren’t any real ‘black hats’ at Black Hat. Not anymore. It was all sales, marketing and salespeople.
I politely disagreed, and suggested they go to different parties.
Black Hat is hacking scrubbed of its sense of wonder. And sadly, it mirrors the times we’re in.
Michael Sauers is currently the Director of Technology for Do Space in Omaha, NE. Michael has been training librarians in technology for the past twenty years and has also been a public library trustee, a bookstore manager for a library friends group, a reference librarian, serials cataloger, technology consultant, and bookseller since earning his MLS in 1995 from the University at Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy. Michael has also written dozens of articles for various journals and magazines and his fourteenth book, Emerging Technologies: A Primer for Librarians (w/ Jennifer Koerber) was published in May 2015 and more books are on the way. In his spare time he blogs at travelinlibrarian.info, runs The Collector’s Guide to Dean Koontz Web site, takes many, many photos, and typically reads more than 100 books a year.
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I think one of the differences between Black Hat and DEF CON is that each have a different relationship to their heroes.
