DEF CON Advises Feds Not To Attend Conference 250
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."
Re:MIBs (Score:5, Funny)
You can't use that to recognize the feds. All hackers wear black. And sunglasses the whole day long.
However, feds burn. And why do feds burn? ... Because they're made of wood. ... Because it floats. ... A duck!
How to know if one's made of wood?
And what also floats?
So, if the guy weights like a duck, he's a fed!
Hi, I'm Sea Bass, Looking for a date @ DEF-CON (Score:3, Funny)
I'll be the one dressed as a lumberjack, covered in salt.
Re:Defcon is a freakshow (Score:4, Funny)
hah I remember being at defcon in 2002 and some crew from Japan public radio or something started interviewing me, went something like this:
interviewer: Why did you come to DefCon?
me: I'm totally here to hang with my friends and party.
interviewer: You didn't come here to share information?
me: d00d, we do that every day, it's called the In-ter-net.
Re:Recycling an outworn meme (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Not the Feds you should worry about (Score:5, Funny)
The Feds who show up and identify themselves as Feds aren't the Feds you need to worry about anyway.
While saying that those weren't the feds we need to worry about... Did you wave a hand?
Re:Wrong way to go about it? (Score:5, Funny)
Obvious joke: gross incompetence and Federal agents, those things don't overlap often.
Re:Wrong way to go about it? (Score:5, Funny)
Apparently, you only need to be 51% sure. ;)
Re:Wrong way to go about it? (Score:5, Funny)
Engage in massive, illegal surveillance then hold a secret court to decide their "guilty".
Re:And what will happen if they do (Score:5, Funny)
Re:MIBs (Score:4, Funny)
The resolution to this is; hack everyone. If they were a fed, you'll be able to figure that out by the contents of their e-mail account and their My Documents folder.
If they even *have* a My Documents folder on a laptop at Defcon, you're most of the way to proving they're a fed...