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FBI Releases Its Files On DEF CON: Not Amused By Spot-the-Fed
v3rgEz writes: Not surprisingly, the FBI has compiled reports on notorious hacker gathering DEF CON, now released thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request. The files detail the lack of amusement at the Spot-the-Fed game, as well as which conference tracks attract the most interest. "In a bit of FOIrony, the file contains a copy of the Spot the Fed contest rules, including the facetious aside to feds offering t-shirts in exchange for agency coffee mugs."
Is only game.
But really, why would they get mad?
It would be better if they played along and actually tried to hide as best as they could so they could IMPROVE on being incognito.
Why not play spot the foreign intelligence agents? Wouldn't their mugs be more intriguing to obtain? I mean, they probably have listening devices built into them that are activated by hot water or microwave ovens.
someone needs to throw a pie at em, liven things up a bit : )
Lawyers, MBA's, RIAA? A jedi fears not these things!
Looks like typical bureaucratic language. I think there is some kind of law that says all reports must be written in in passive voice and with no humor at all. I'd bet some of the Feds found Spot the Fed humorous...
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
This "Spot-the-Fed game" is stupid - don't kid yourselves kids: the FEDS are there basicaly for your protection... they are bored, as any nanny is!
Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
Does that mean that other countries are EXTREMELY EXTREMELY CORRUPT? Because I don't actually have to regularly bribe people here to get things done.
Maybe it's time ot expand - have "spot the fed" contests at protests, on campus, etc. And add "spot the rat" (confidential informer).
"Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
n/t
Have gnu, will travel.
When I wore the black hat and did time (thanks egold) it was the SS and not the FBI that found me. Does the SS get any special treatment at those events?
PS,
No, I am not in the black hat business anymore.
No, it just means that you are not actually doing anything of any importance or interest.
You can't handle the truth.
We are seeing many extreme examples of U.S. government corruption.
Uh... what other governments in supposedly non-corrupt jurisdictions respond to "Freedom Of Information Act" requests with ... actual information?
Try getting information on e.g. "Pussy Riot" out of the Putin government.
I'm loving this article! Think it was 14 or 15 and "spotted" a fed, tried to chat him up and tell him about the game. He got up and *RAN* out of the talk, and out of the entire conference. Didn't see him back the entire time..
Just remember that as the cost of surveillance gets lower and lower, so does the hurdle of "importance". Eventually it'll get to the point where your life is a game of nickel slots for the agents who've got nothing better to do with their time and figure they'll get 5 cents of entertainment from it.
Just a Suburban, you're penny ante! Get some black helicopters hovering around your place and we'll be impressed
...have no sense of humor that they're aware of, anyway. I personally find them quite amusing from time to time.
Foster: Yeah, and we're not gonna fall for a banana in the tailpipe.
Axel Foley: [mocking him] You're not gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe? It should be more natural, brother. It should flow out, like this - "Look, man, I ain't fallin' for no banana in my tailpipe!" See, that's more natural for us. You been hanging out with this dude too long. [points at penny loafer, brown suit wearing white guy]
Plenty of governments in Europe don't have secret courts to decide the fate of people who are forced to keep quiet under the threat of violence. I don't think Russia has them, but it wouldn't hurt you to have higher standards than "well, at least Obama hasn't sent me to the Gulag yet".
Secret courts? Are you talking about the FISA court? Those proceedings are indeed kept confidential but it is hardly secret. As a matter of fact it has been around since 1978. Any information collected under the auspices of a FISA warrant cannot be used in any court against any defendant. And Russia uses it's transparent judicial system to efficiently prosecute anyone who dares challenge the state or attempts to organize political protests. The fact is the Russian or Chinese judicial systems are opaque and hardly ever publicly investigated or even debated while the US judicial system is debated and criticized endlessly.
Try getting information on e.g. "Pussy Riot" out of the Putin government.
If you use Putins Russia as an example for when your government has gone too far then you don't have any stopping points until you get there.
There is always someone who is worse so if you use someone worse as an argument for a behavior you might just as well go full Godwin and say that everything is fine until you hit Nazi Germany.
This is why we don't accept the "someone else gets to do that" argument from 8-year olds. We expect them to be better than the worst they can find.
I'm not in a position to say what kind of government you want, but if you want my recommendation I would say that you should compare it to Canada or perhaps Norway more often than you compare it to Russia and China.
Pffft, everyone knows they use WHITE minivans.
Robots. Lots of robots.
Written by someone who doesn't know what "sense of humour" means.
Defcon 2, Sahara Hotel. 1 of 5.
> The ones I've worked with have good senses of humor and, contrary to the opinions voiced here, have no desire to trample on anyone's rights.
Generally true--you've mostly got a lot of really good guys working intelligence. Most of the concern around massive surveillance--and part of the problem they really have a problem understanding it--is not what the guys in control of it now *do*, it's the *potential* for the wrong guy or guys to use it for evil.
Right now you have some *REALLY* sketchy stuff going on even with good guys in charge. Most notably, you've got a problem in that it's being used against criminals indirectly, which is a gross violation of the rights of a lot of criminals. Think parallel construction type projects. Wasn't there a big treasure trove of tax evasion data that mysteriously appeared a while back? Here we go: http://www.politico.com/mornin...
That *is* almost certainly our government or governments colluding to violate the rights of criminals, but the people doing it don't *care* because it's criminals.
I am a little upset about that because it's unconstitutional and because we overcriminalize generally, so almost everyone is breaking the law and they have something on everyone if they care to use it.
I am *much* more concerned with the potential for misuse not with the generally good guys dealing with it today, but by the bad guys who come in tomorrow, or the good-ish guys who get too tempted knowing how much easier it would be if they blackmail a senator or two based on knowledge of who they've slept with or what their daughter was up to on spring break. You're fundamentally dealing with power politics with an apparatus that could put a man like Frank Underwood in control of the country for decades, all without real transparency or accountability.
Most politicians don't have anywhere near that level of savvy--we are mostly saved by a combination of incompetence and a lot of really great guys in the intelligence community who would go a long way to prevent that kind of thing if they find out about it--but if we don't put incredibly good *processes* in place, engineered to prevent that kind of takeover, then it *will* happen if it has not already. Think what J. Edgar Hoover could have done with that information. Think what McCarthy did without it, and how much worse it could have been.
Tell that to people in the US who had their cash, car or even house seized because it might be connected to a crime. Traveling with $10000 cash? Surely that must be drug money, no matter how plausible your excuse is, we'll take it to buy game consoles, zambonis or margarita machines. You can always try to get it back by hiring a lawyer and going to court, good luck.
Most of you have no clue what the FBI is really about.
I just typed a bunch of stuff that would have shocked some of you but I thought better of posting it, because I don't need any more visits from black Suburbans.
And how do you know they aren't recording what you type via a powerful microwave key-logger anyway?
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
I didn't think anyone actually stepped foot into the actual conference, it's just a week of paid vacation in Vegas by the company... Mostly I just like to see if I'm as geeky looking walking around with my two-bit Blackhat bag of swag.
Eh? Perhaps I'm mis-reading your sentence, but FOIAs are quite commonplace throughout the developed world. And yes they often return useful information.
Try doing a FOIA for info on Anwar al-Awlaki, notorious freedom of speech abuser up until the point he got drone striked. See how far you get.
We are also not amused by agencies spying...
aaaaaaa
The best Spot the Fed story I have heard was several years ago when DEFCON was at the Riviera.
The woman gets up and picks out the Fed. When asked how she knew, she became sheepishly quiet. After some prodding she admitted sleeping with him and while he was still asleep she went through his wallet and found his ID.
Counter spying at its best!!
At no time did I say the US deserves a free pass for it's actions. But that same free pass is constantly being extended to countries such as Russia, NK, and Iran. It's come down to nobody can do any wrong and if they are doing something wrong it was because the US forced their hands.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P...