Anyone here been to Defcon?

I was considering joing to Defon this year....can anyone confirm if it is actually as "wild" as the FAQ makes it sound? I mean I just want to go there to see the lectures and maybe learn something, but if its all just one big "party" environment like the FAQ makes it sound...I'll pass

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sprkymrk

I've been there. Here is the link where we talked about it in the forum.
http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15657
You'll have to scroll down a little ways to see the posts about Defcon.

SRTMCSE

Haven't been there but a friend of mine is presenting this here, it's pretty cool, wish I could go.

JDMurray

Realize that anyone who attends events such as Defcon, BlackHat, H.O.P.E., etc. are permanently placed on the FBI's "persons of possible interest" list. Just a consideration if you are trying to keep yourself "squeaky clean" for a possible future career in the federal government or the DoD. I'd hate to be interviewing for a job years from now and hear the interviewer say, "So, I see in our files that you attended Defcon back in '06. What is you affiliation with this event and its attendees?" *gulp*

TheShadow

I have had three chances to go and turned each down for the reasons that you mentioned. I had my phone tapped before because I was doing a contract at IBM's sub works years ago. that was enough. I would have never known it if my net connections did not keep crashing and a naive repair person said my line seemed to be monitored.

sprkymrk

jdmurray wrote:

Realize that anyone who attends events such as Defcon, BlackHat, H.O.P.E., etc. are permanently placed on the FBI's "persons of possible interest" list. Just a consideration if you are trying to keep yourself "squeaky clean" for a possible future career in the federal government or the DoD. I'd hate to be interviewing for a job years from now and hear the interviewer say, "So, I see in our files that you attended Defcon back in '06. What is you affiliation with this event and its attendees?" *gulp*

Not really true. Besides the fact that the entry fee is cash only - no checks or credit cards, they would need a large team of agents to even BEGIN to identify the thousands of people who attend a 3-day event and then disappear into the country side. Trust me when I say not to worry. Oh, and please speak clearly into my tie-clip.

JDMurray

sprkymrk wrote:

they would need a large team of agents to even BEGIN to identify the thousands of people who attend a 3-day event and then disappear into the country side.

All security in LV is very tight with the FBI due to the concerns of the casinos. If you are staying in any of LV's fine hotels you are instantly ID'ed regardless of what you are there for. Defcon 2006 is being held at the Rivera Hotel and Casio. Bad location for anonymity. There are fewer cameras in an abandoned warehouse or dry river bed. Sleep in your car or at a local's house to be safe.

And your tie-clip isn't plugged in.

TheShadow

isn't one of the back stage prizes for who can correctly identify the most Feds'. I seem to recall the Cult of the Dead Cow members writing about the grief that they had which then escalated when they released the first version of Back Orifice.

sprkymrk

jdmurray wrote:

sprkymrk wrote:

they would need a large team of agents to even BEGIN to identify the thousands of people who attend a 3-day event and then disappear into the country side.

All security in LV is very tight with the FBI due to the concerns of the casinos. If you are staying in any of LV's fine hotels you are instantly ID'ed regardless of what you are there for. Defcon 2006 is being held at the Rivera Hotel and Casio. Bad location for anonymity. There are fewer cameras in an abandoned warehouse or dry river bed. Sleep in your car or at a local's house to be safe.

And your tie-clip isn't plugged in.

The FBI has to have subpeonas to get a list of guests staying at the hotels and access to the cameras. And trying to figure out which of the 3000-5000 folks staying at a bunch of hotels that can hold 6000+/- guests each would be a tremendous task to say the least.

Oh, and just ignore the man in the sunglasses at the table behind you who's shoe is ringing....

JDMurray

All of this James Bond stuff aside, you do have to wonder why such conventions are held in the one of the most heavily secured and surveyed cities in the world. To increase anonymity, and to better play "spot the Fed," you'd think they'd meet in some place nice, but off the beaten path, like Anchorage, Alaska.

BubbaJ

jdmurray wrote:

you do have to wonder why such conventions are held in the one of the most heavily secured and surveyed cities in the world.

I have always taken the position that as soon as you cross the city limits, you are under surveillance and there are many people trying to find out as much about you as they can.

Unfortunately, that trend seems to be spreading around the U.S. There seem to be many cities that now have video and audio surveillance all over their business districts.

sprkymrk

It's been that way in many European cities for quite some time now, too bad it's here now.

Good point JD. However, it's sometimes easier to remain anonymous in a crowd despite all the surveilance. How hard is it to track 3-5000 people among a million tourists vs. 3-5000 folks flying into a place like Anchorage where many stick out like a sore thumb among the native population?

JDMurray

sprkymrk wrote:

How hard is it to track 3-5000 people among a million tourists vs. 3-5000 folks flying into a place like Anchorage where many stick out like a sore thumb among the native population?

Point taken, but at least in a backwater the "spooks" would stick out as well.