LAS VEGAS – Computer geeks attending the world’s largest annual hacking party in Las Vegas this week will have a rare chance to rub shoulders with the head of the U.S. National Security Agency.
General Keith Alexander, director of the spy agency, will speak at the Defcon conference, marking the highest-level visit to date by a U.S. government official to the colorful gathering. Organizers expect some 15,000 hackers this year as they celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first U.S. hacking event that was open to the public. It runs from July 26-29.
“We’re going to show him the conference. He wants to wander around,” said Jeff Moss, a hacker who organized the first Defcon conference while working as a messenger for a Seattle law firm. He now sits on an advisory committee to the Department of Homeland Security.
Alexander may choose to talk shop with the techies. He holds four master’s degrees, including ones in electronic warfare and physics.
Still, Moss said he expect there could be some controversy over Alexander’s presence among the diverse hacker crowd that attends the conference.
The NSA and Cyber Command are both featured in Cyber Styletto, a cyber crime novella co-authored by MITechNews.Com Editor Mike Brennan. You can buy the book at Amazon.Com
