Notes holes unbarred at Def Con

Def Con has come a long way since the tiny conference I witnessed in 1994.

Def Con used to be a small gathering that fit into a single, tiny, windowless room at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. It was easy to pick out the Feds back then, as most of the attendees were young, and visiting law enforcement personnel were not only not young, but dressed very differently. There was a clear distinction between the phone phreaks, who clustered around a young man with a scanner, and the computer hackers, who listened intently as Dan Farmer or other old-timers gave lectures about security. The real action occurred late at night, in closed sessions, featuring smoky rooms and drunken teenagers.

This year, more than 6,000 people attended, many more than could fit into the three rooms where sessions were presented. I punted this year, as leaving one desert in Arizona for another, even hotter one in Nevada just didn't make sense to me, but I'm almost sorry I didn't go.

Unlike any other conferences related to security, it's not uncommon for a serious presentation at Def Con to suddenly morph into theatre. During the Cult of the Dead Cow's panel session, the lights were dimmed, strange music played, and a young man was bloodily "sacrificed." And the Jeopardy game was completely unlike anything you would ever see on television.