DEF CON Advises Feds Not To Attend Conference

tsu doh nimh writes "One of the more time-honored traditions at DEF CON — the massive hacker convention held each year in Las Vegas — is 'Spot-the-Fed,' a playful and mostly harmless contest to out undercover government agents that attend the show each year. But that game might be a bit tougher when the conference rolls around again next month: In an apparent reaction to recent revelations about far-reaching U.S. government surveillance programs, DEF CON organizers are asking feds to just stay away: 'I think it would be best for everyone involved if the feds call a "time-out" and not attend DEF CON this year,' conference organizer Jeff Moss wrote in a short post at Defcon.org. Krebsonsecurity writes that after many years of mutual distrust, the hacker community and the feds buried a lot of their differences in the wake of 911, with the director of NSA even delivering the keynote at last year's conference. But this year? Spot the fed may just turn into hack-the-fed."

Comments

Re:Recycling an outworn meme

[mdragan]

He is clearly well fed, but considering going hungary, or maybe Venezuela.

Re:Wrong way to go about it?

[Mister Transistor]

Apparently, you only need to be 51% sure. ;)

Re:Wrong way to go about it?

[10101001 10101001]

Engage in massive, illegal surveillance then hold a secret court to decide their "guilty".

Re:And what will happen if they do

[Dins]

I think I've Spotted a Fed. Do I win something?