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Hackers Who Attended Black Hat and DefCon Conferences Say Hotel Security Personnel Demanded Access To Their Rooms (the-parallax.com)
More than two dozen hackers and security experts who attended security events last week say security personnel at the Mandalay Bay, Luxor, Caesars Palace, Flamingo, Aria, Cromwell, Tuscany, Linq, or Mirage hotels had entered their rooms. Security news site The Parallax reports: Except for Tuscany, which is independent, all of these hotels are owned by either Caesars Entertainment or MGM Resorts International. And of the three hotel companies, only Caesars returned a request for comment. Richard Broome, executive vice president of communications and government relations for Caesars Entertainment, whose Caesars Palace is co-hosting DefCon this year with the Flamingo, said that following the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history last year, "periodic" hotel room checks are now standard operating procedure in Las Vegas. On October 1, 2017, from his room at the Mandalay Bay, Stephen Paddock used semiautomatic weapons he'd outfitted with bump stocks to kill 58 people and wound at least 527 others attending a gated country music concert on the Strip below. [...] Two apparent Caesars security officers wearing hotel name tags displaying only the first names "Cynthia" and "Keith," respectively, as well as sheriff's style badges that looked like they came out of a Halloween costume kit, visited my room while I was writing this story. Cynthia told me that they are instructed to refer to the front desk guests who decline to allow their room to be searched.
After Cynthia and Keith declined to disclose their last names to me, I asked what they intended to do in the room. They told me that they would enter it, type a code into the room's phone line to signal that it's been checked, and then do a visual spot check. When I asked what they would be looking for, Cynthia replied, "WMDs -- that sort of thing." Other conference attendees reported similar but less pleasant interactions. Katie Moussouris, CEO of Luta Security, wrote on Twitter that two hotel security personnel were "banging" on her room door and "shouted" at her. She also said the hotel's security team supervisor "dismissed" her concerns over how the hotel was treating single, female travelers. Google security engineer Maddie Stone tweeted that a man wearing a light-blue shirt and a walkie-talkie entered her Caesars Palace room with a key, but without knocking, while she was getting dressed. "He left when I started screaming," she wrote, adding that a hotel manager, upon her request, said Caesars would look into whether the man was actually an employee. Stone tweeted that she left DefCon early because of the incident.
After Cynthia and Keith declined to disclose their last names to me, I asked what they intended to do in the room. They told me that they would enter it, type a code into the room's phone line to signal that it's been checked, and then do a visual spot check. When I asked what they would be looking for, Cynthia replied, "WMDs -- that sort of thing." Other conference attendees reported similar but less pleasant interactions. Katie Moussouris, CEO of Luta Security, wrote on Twitter that two hotel security personnel were "banging" on her room door and "shouted" at her. She also said the hotel's security team supervisor "dismissed" her concerns over how the hotel was treating single, female travelers. Google security engineer Maddie Stone tweeted that a man wearing a light-blue shirt and a walkie-talkie entered her Caesars Palace room with a key, but without knocking, while she was getting dressed. "He left when I started screaming," she wrote, adding that a hotel manager, upon her request, said Caesars would look into whether the man was actually an employee. Stone tweeted that she left DefCon early because of the incident.
Is the US really the only safe place to have such meetings?
You would shoot someone just for seeing someone naked? Wow. Make America Great Again?
Wait. What cavity search? You snowflakes are such drama queens.
You would shoot someone just for seeing someone naked? Wow. Make America Great Again?
Yes.
Attempting to see someone naked without their permission is sexual assault and a felony. In the case of a minor, permission is irrelevant, especially when an adult is doing the seeing.
Rule of law, including the 2nd amendment: it has teeth for a reason.
Best case scenario - idiot hotel employee makes a highly unprofessional mistake and enters a room without knocking. Upon seeing the room occupied, he leaves immediately, then reports the incident to the hotel management. Management immediately contacts the customer, apologizes, and offers to assist her in any way, up to and including pressing charges of assault against the employee.
Worse case scenario, the employee was a perv and knew exactly what he was doing and remains free to continue assaulting others. He leaves behind a trail of victims and damaged lives, which could be yours or my wife, sisters, and children.
Ladies - carry a J-frame Smith & Wesson (or similar) revolver in your purse, 38 Special is just fine. Get a concealed carry permit. Practice shooting as often as you can afford. Join and participate in the International Defensive Pistol Association if you can, or get comprehensive professional training. Put rounds on target in safe, staged real-world scenarios. With law and luck, you'll never need it, but if you do... be inferior to no one.
But I am also a realist who understands that everyone has to sleep sometime, and any one person is easily outnumbered by any other person who has at least one friend.
That's why god made claymore mines.
Prove it.
I work under the assumption that Anonymous Coward is one person. Prove me wrong.
You are welcome on my lawn.
It appears we are at an impasse.
You are welcome on my lawn.