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During DefCon 19 this year, I conducted a bit of monkey-on-the-street research to see what the folks in and around the DefCon venue at the Rio in Vegas thought about all the commotion. Some of the participants’ responses were expected, some were categorically “WTF?”.

All research was conducted by interviewing random individuals found at the Rio in a casual conversational manner.

For the mathematically/statistically anal, for the purposes of this project random = people that would actually answer the question and not tell me to piss off.

The questions asked were: “What is this DEFCON thing?” and “What are these hacker people doing here?“.

Here are the responses, in all their glory:

[“Doug” – Security Guard at the Rio]

“All I know is that we were briefed that a bunch of hackers were coming here for some big meeting. I’m keeping my eyes on them, because this is a casino and I’m sure some are going to be tempted to f**k with stuff. I heard from my buddy that works at Caeser’s that there was a hacker conference over there and weird stuff was going on. So how does someone like me get into that kind of security work? Bet it pays better.”

[“Maria” – Service Representative at the Rio]

“Defcons? I don’t know what they are but theres a bunch of them over in the conference area. They are all wearing this medallion that looks like an olympic gold medal or something. I think they meet in Vegas every year to get drunk, like most everyone else.” Damn those defcons!

[“Alice” – Random Person on slot machine at the Rio]

“I have no idea, but don’t you think it’s weird that a bunch of people wearing black are walking around with electronic things with blinking lights on them? Why does security let them do that? What if it was a bomb or something? And they all know each other like something is going on. All I know is that this kind of thing wouldn’t go on back home.” (She wouldn’t’ say where “back home” was.)

[“Joe” – Guy in elevator at the Rio]

“I heard a bunch of them talking in the bar last night about scanners and computers and hacking. My wife and I aren’t using our laptop in this hotel. I’ve had my identity stolen two times in the last 5 years. They have nothing better to do. Get jobs.” (Now we’re unemployed? Really?)

[“Mark” – Waiting for a cab at the Rio]

“DEFCON? I think it’s a band – thrash metal.” (I struggled to keep a straight face)

[“Donald” – Guy in a suit waiting for a table at a restaurant at the Rio]

“Hell if I know. They all look damn weird. Probably breaking into slot machines. You ever see that movie with Sandra Bullock… what was it called… that’s what they do. Same guys on the news breaking into the banks. Assholes.” (um harsh?)

[“Juanita” – Waitress at a bar at the Rio]

“It’s a group of hackers people from what I heard from my boss. They come here to party, right? I saw a dude with a green mohawk. That was pretty cool. Most of them tip okay.”

[“Michelle” – Sitting at a lot machine at the Rio]

“I’m here with my husband, he’s in there now. They just talk about computer security and pick locks and shit. I spend most of my time down here playing the penny slots and then we go to parties at night. Its an open group and I think anyone can join. They are all really nice people. Well except for the bald guy that sat next to us in the bar last night. He was a dick.” (Aw, snap!)

[“Rich” – On vacation and eating breakfast next to me at the Rio]

“I heard on the news that hackers all around the world come here and hack stuff. Wouldn’t you think that was illegal? I mean, isn’t that like all the drug lords from Mexico meeting in San Francisco for a fishing trip? Makes no sense to me. All the rules change in Vegas I guess.” (Well, some of us dress like drug lords… maybe the lesser to do ones I guess.)

[“Bernie” – Retired, having a beer at the bar at the Rio]

“I got the scoop from the bartender last night. You know those hackers on the news that keep breaking into shit? They are here and making their plans. They do this every year. I wonder what is next. Better not involve my bank because I’m retired now and I don’t have time for this crap. In my day, you just walked into a bank with a gun and got money. These guys don’t have the balls to do that I guess. Nobody has balls anymore.” (WAT?)

and my personal favorite…

[“Vincent” – On vacation from TriState area, slamming back drinks at a bar at the Rio]

“I’ll tell you what’s up. These guys are working for this group to take over the world. They know everything man. Right now they are meeting with the 7 biggest banks, the CIA, NSA, and the president of Australia (WTF?). One day they are gonna drain all our banks accounts, wipe out our already pissy economy and it’ll be anarchy man. No stock market, bread lines, people dying. You ever heard of the new world order? These are the guys that are bringing it. Look at them. Do they look like they your friends? My brother works in Washington and tells me everything. I have dual citizenship and I’m going to need it when the shit hits the fan and I have to get out of here. They can stand next to you and read your cell phone and move money out of your bank accounts. That’s how they do it. We’re all f**ked and George Bush started it all.”

My take away from these responses encompasses two points.

1) The average Joe really doesn’t understand hackers, hacktivism, the lifestyle, or the purpose of events like DefCon. They only have movies and TV shows and news stories to go by, and apparently they are all really scared of us info sec types. Those of us in the information security profession have an identity crisis, and one that can at least be band-aided by talking to people around us about what we do – and in some cases, how we do it. Leaving perceptions about who we are as individuals to the news and entertainment industry is, well, scary. 2) When I posed a response back to each person that, “My understanding is that some of the folks there are up to no good, but most are good guys exchanging information in a free and open manner” I was immediately met with laughs and most said that I “watched too much TV”. Irony much?

I’d be interested in hearing from you all about what perceptions you encounter on a daily basis – post in the comments below.

Chief