Stalking the Wild Hacker
According to a story in The Enquirer (a UK tech site), Michelle Madigan, an associate producer from Dateline NBC decided to go undercover at Defcon, the annual global hackers convention held in Las Vegas. (I'm waiting until hackers create their own trade union.) The people running Defcon spoke to her multiple times, offering press credentials. She wanted to do things the hard way - and so, she did:Too bad. They knew when her plane took off. They knew when her plane landed. They knew when she picked up her non-press attendee pass (human in the vernacular). They followed her around. They knew when she walked into the ladies room to wire up, camera and sound. She knew that the camera was not allowed but did it anyway, and told a goon that she was doing so.You've got to figure that people who like taking the road less travelled, that as often use a practical understanding of human psychology as technical skills, might not be easy marks. If you researched for 15 minutes, you'd probably also gather that such people are unlikely to take things sitting down. (Well, technically most were sitting when they busted her cover during a large gathering.) So much for the enterprising reporter.
Labels: Dateline NBC, Defcon, hackers, Michelle Madigan
posted by Erik Sherman @ 4:54 AM
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