Opus 2017-257: DEFCON: Geek Fatherhood

One of the encouraging factors of attending DEFCON over the years is watching some of the geeks grow up.  One I met when he was about 14 and sleeping on the floor of someone’s room, just to be at DEFCON.  Now he is a husband and father.  I remember watching one of the major rebels walking around with his son on his shoulders.  Good stuff.

This year we went to dinner with a man who from his stories was a barbarian of the first order.  I believe his stories.  Yet the man I ate dinner with was sitting with his son between him and his wife and demonstrating how to be a good father.  The boy had some issues and I watched this hard core hacker showing affection and support in a way that would put most of us to shame.  I was impressed.  It was encouraging.

It was the miracle of fatherhood.  We didn’t discuss it but my guess is that if you had tried to explore being a father with him fifteen years ago he would have looked at you like a zombie from a grade B movie, overlooking the fact that all zombie movies are grade B.  He would have wondered what you had been smoking and he probably knew all the possibilities.  He would have laughed in your face.  Yet when put in a situation where he faced the fruit of his loins he did not walk away like so many ghetto daddies.  He manned up and in the process learned the meaning of love.  This is why marriage and fatherhood does so much to civilize the men of our culture.  This is why the welfare system that makes men responsibility free from their spawn is so destructive.

It isn’t music that really tames the savage beast, it is fatherhood.

homo unius libri

Opus 2017-251: DEFCON: About Those Voting Machines...

I was on the road Monday but by the time I went to bed two people have told me that DEFCON made the news.  It seems it only took a casual group of hackers 90 minutes to compromise some voting machines.  I pause to look for a news article about it....

No headline at the Washington Times.  Same with the Telegraph and Fox News.  Let me check Drudge....  Nothing.  So I will Google it, and there I find stories that seem to have made no lasting stir.  I will check out the one on USA Today since that is written at the middle school level where I used to teach.

This is not the first time DEFCON has approached this topic.  I have attended sessions in the past where the concern was expressed.  Contrary to the article this was not caused by the “Russia” obsession of the MSM.  It has been a worry for hackers for years.  In the past the sessions focused on similar machines being used in elections at universities.  Hackers, not wanting to go to jail, steered clear of actual machines you might see at the polling station.

“This is the first time such an open and large-scale hacking of voting machines has been attempted, because until October of 2015 such efforts were illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. An exemption by the Librarian of Congress now allows good faith efforts meant to find vulnerabilities, leading conference organizers to launch the event.”

Until very recently it was illegal to investigate the weaknesses of the system.  On one side that makes sense.  It is also illegal to shoot people but keep in mind that most gun violence takes place in venues where guns are banned.  Criminals are criminals because they ignore the law.

So DEFCON has your back.  Voter fraud is possible, which means it is common.  Somehow I don’t think the DNC or the Hillary camp have been saying, “We can’t do that because it isn’t nice.”

Most hackers that I heard were in favor of paper ballots.

homo unius libri

Opus 2017-248: DEFCON: Deprivation

We were on our way to dinner with a couple and lamenting how expensive is was in Las Vegas.  I am old enough that I can remember when meals and rooms were cheap and served as an attraction for people to come and gamble.  Now most of the well know places are for high rollers or people who think they are high rollers.

In the discussion the subject of Disneyland came up and how much it cost to go.  One of the people in the car suggested how the high prices were causing the poor children of today to be deprived.  I think the inference was that it wasn’t fair and the Disneyland was listed somewhere in the Bill of Rights as something that everyone should be guaranteed.  This reflects the difference that has been emerging at DEFCON.  When I came to my first con 16 years ago it was a gathering of rebels.  Hackers kind of felt it was them against the man.  I noticed that beginning to change a few years ago.  As the hackers have aged they have grown up into mortgages and children.  It makes a difference.

But Disneyland as a basic human right was beyond me.  I worked in public schools with a large percentage of the students on some kind of poverty program.  Most kids got free or subsidized lunches.  Almost all of them made regular trips to Disneyland.  Even in the poor classes there is always money to do the things that are important.  I suggested that public libraries were still free and that if they were deprived from not going to Disneyland maybe they could visit the library instead.

I think they assumed I was joking.  Sadly for them, I wasn’t.

So remember that now being able to go to Disneyland is a basic human right.  Welcome to America in the 21st Century.

homo unius libri

Opus 2017-244: DEFCON: AUTCON

I am wondering if a better name for DEFCON might be AUTISMCON or some such thing.  When I was teaching I noticed a steady expansion of special categories such as autism.  More and more people were being included under the banner.  The reason is, Federal Tax Dollars.  People that you would consider generally normal but flirting with strangeness are being labeled as autistic and given “special services” in order to prepare them for life.  You see the same thing with Spanish speakers, handicapped, the poor and any other group that can attract federal money.

Every year at DEFCON we notice that the halls are full of people flirting with strangeness.  Geeks tend to fit into the description of the autistic.  They tend to be either anti-social or non-social.  They often do not know how to relate to other people.  That is one reason they are so in love with their computers.  Their computers understand them and are non-judgmental.  As DEFCON expands and the ranks are diluted with growing numbers of the mainstream sheep, the stereotype geeks become less obvious.  I would also postulate that they are starting to stay away because of the crowds.

This is not to say that autism is not real.  Some of the real victims are totally cut off from contact with reality.  The big issue is that no one really knows how to help them.  Part of the arrogance of educators is that they think they can fix everything and everyone.  This applies even if they don’t want to be fixed.

Be nice to the autistic.  You might be one and not even know it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2017-241: DEFCON: Uber Alles

This is going to be the year of the Uber at DEFCON.

DEFCON is a conference held yearly in Las Vegas involving internet security professionals.  That is what it has become.  It started as an official party location for hackers but even hackers grow up and become respectable.  This is the 25th year.  My son has been bringing me since DEFCON 9.  It is an annual pilgrimage for us.

This year we decided to use UBER instead of renting a car.  It remains to be seen if it is cheaper or not.  If you are a technology dinosaur and don’t have a geek in the family, don’t even consider it.  Using UBER requires a smart phone and a credit card.  It involves punching a few buttons and waiting a few minutes.  So far it has worked well.

If you ever decide to use it keep in mind that during areas of intense usage they have a “multiplier” that adds to the basic fee.  That hit us the first time we used it to get home from the airport in LA during rush hour.  It has not come into play here, yet.

It works well for us here in Las Vegas but I would not want to become dependent on it.  It is a wonderful tool for the day that Big Brother gets really serious about watching you.  My son showed me how he could go back for years and show me maps of every trip he has taken on UBER.  If they know, THEY know.

Welcome to 1984.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-226: DEFCON: Banking the Fire

One thing that is growing more rare at DEFCON is the sense of rebellion against an oppressive government.  I have noticed this developing over several years.  I makes me sad to see but it is the normal process of life. 

Young people are short in vision and lacking in understanding.  They see something wrong and want to fix it, now.  Often what they see as being wrong is what keeps them from satisfying their self-centered wants.  If that can be presented in such a way as to sound like it will benefit all of mankind it is a win/win for them and a potential disaster for everyone else.  The enthusiasm and idealism of youth can be refreshing and can motivate change.  That is good.  Since they don’t get the big picture it can also have the opposite effect.

Young people grow up.  That is happening at DEFCON.  Many are marrying and having children.  Many are buying homes and gathering some wealth.  Most are in jobs that pay well and allow them to live their dream of techno-toys piled in every corner.  All of that means that they now have something to lose.  It is one thing to defy the government when you still have peach fuzz on your chin, live out of a backpack, can’t buy your own booz, think you are immortal and have mommy drive you to DEFCON.  It is another thing to defy the government when they can get you fired, put a lien on your house, and put you on a no-fly list.  It is hard to call for revolution when you have a mortgage and two children looking to you for security and support.  It is a natural process.

At the same time I miss the sense of correcting evil and not knuckling under to the man.  More and more often they are looking to the government for answers instead of seeing the government as the limiter of freedom.  There are fewer sessions at DEFCON involving politics and warnings against loss of liberty.  There are more calls for redistribution of wealth instead of destruction of regulations.

I will keep attending as long as my son is willing.  I will continue to see the potential of the hacker community.  I will continue to hope.  I will mourn the loss.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-222: DEFCON: Hacking Minds

I have attended DEFCON, a convention for computer hackers and security specialists.  I saw  the results of public education all around me.  You might think of public education as a case of mental hacking:  Getting into the software of a person and making it believe a reality that does not exist.  I saw it at DEFCON in what they called the Biohacking Village.

The Biohacking Village was a venue of smaller sessions in rooms off to the side.  It is one of several that are designed to give new ideas a chance to grab hold and grow.  The concept shows that DEFCON is trying to expand and include more people with different interest.  Biohacking has to do with the attempts by modern science to change the human body.  I only attended two sessions so I can’t set myself up as an authority on the subject. 

The first session was called “Oday for the Soul”.  I Googled “Oday” and got a lot of people with variations of that name so I remain in mystery to the reference.  The young lady in charge had some very eclectic religious views.  She was amazed that the child of a “parson” could become a geek and thought we would be amazed also.  Not really.  I had been a parson and my son was a geek.  She said part of her rebellion was converting to Catholicism and then proceeded to joke about the wine she was drinking being sacramental and kept repeating that what she said was against her religion.  In summary:  A standard confused millennial.  She repeatedly bragged about her IUD and called it biohacking.  She equated makeup and breast implants with the chip she had in her arm.  All were biohacking to her.  She had fun and made no sense, at least to me.  I am open to the problem being in my ears, not her mouth.

The second session was on biohacking ethics.  I felt like I was at a faculty meeting.  The speaker was a medical doctor.  He obviously had an education with a diploma and everything.  Being taught the benefits of group work by his teachers he spent most of the time having us share our thoughts and feelings with the person next to us.  In the last five minutes he got to ethics but most of it was a rant against “the man”.  When someone questioned him he laughingly accused the guy of being “the man”.  He called for the redistribution of wealth because of greed.  I wanted to ask him how much of his doctor’s salary he was donating to the local soup kitchen but since I wanted to get out alive I remained silent.

So I sat in a session that demonstrated biohacking of the minds.  Unfortunately it was the minds of the speakers who had been hacked and they didn’t even know it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-217: DEFCON: We Were Not Alone

DEFCON was held in two connected casinos, Bally’s and Paris.  As I was walking to my room I passed a screen that announced what was going on in the casino.  I noticed that they had gotten our name wrong.  They had the activities listed of the Association of Professional Piercers.  I figured that most attendees were paid, thus professional.  They penetrated security to do their hacking, thus they were piercing.  After a few days I realized that this was another conference going on side by side with DEFCON.

I Googled it and it is real.  The APP is just what it says it is.  They were having their 21st  annual conference.  They are almost as old as DEFCON and from the looks of some of the geeks they could be attending both conferences.

If you are at a meeting and a bit bored you might read up on the APP.  Expand your world.  I will put it at the bottom of my bucket list.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-207: DEFCON: Black Hat/White Hat

Computer hackers are people who have a desire to find out how computers work and look for holes in the software that might allow activity that would damage the owner of the computer.  They also look for flaws in the software that could cause you problems.  Most of the time they wear a white hat.  They do it because it is fun.  They may get into your computer and cause a message to appear on your screen to let you know they have been there.  They found flaws in the Tesla electronics and told the company about it.  Sometimes they are listened to, sometimes not.

Sometimes they wear a black hat.  It is possible for hackers to cause a lot of problems for others.  One of the concerns of the white hats is the vulnerability of our electrical grid.  There are hundreds of ways that it can be attacked by malicious individuals or countries and bring us to our knees.  It is controlled by computers.  Many of the decisions being made are being made faster than people can think.  What would happen to your morning if a few select power managing stations were hacked to deny you power.  It has already happened in sections of the country.  Think of the millions being lost by banks and corporations because hackers get into the system.  Think of all the parts of our society that are dependent on the GPS systems.  Hackers can be criminal and destructive.

Fortunately most of them are not out to destroy you, just annoy you or get the ego trip of showing you how you are open to manipulation.  This causes them to have a flexible code of ethics which means that sometimes the hats are gray.  It is often a fine line between curiosity and criminal.  The hackers that I met years ago were concerned about the freedom to push the limits.  They were concerned about government control.  They wanted to see what was possible.  This tends to make them have a sense of right and wrong that is a bit myopic.  They often tend to think that an action is okay for them but wrong for others.  For instance, they see no real problem with having access to your computer if you leave it unprotected but they overflow with righteous indignation if the government does it to them.

They can make the world a better place.  They can bring it to its knees.  Let’s hope the white hats win.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-206: DEFCON: Mouse Traps

One of the sessions I attended yesterday involved the vulnerability of cordless mice.  To hackers vulnerability means that there is a way that the device can be used or controlled by a person who has no right to mess with it.  For instance if you have an electric outlet on the outside of your house anyone with a plug can use your power without your permission.  If you had a phone jack on your back porch someone could come into your yard with a plug in phone and make calls.  You are vulnerable.

Wireless mice have that little gizmo that you plug into the USB port on your computer.  It is designed to receive the signals from the mouse you bought with it.  Evidently there is a simple way for a hacker to send a signal through that gizmo and make the computer think you are typing on the keyboard.  Think of the fun you could have in a classroom with teachers that leave their computers on all the time. 

I don’t understand the tech.  I am not a geek but my son and I have begun to make it a habit to pull the gizmo out when we are not using our laptops.  We have over 30,000 hackers and wanna be hackers at this convention and the odds are that some deviant person is trying the tricks that were shared.

Be alert.  They are out to get you.

homo unius libri

Opus 2016-203: DEFCON: Long Lines before It Starts

It is time for DEFCON again.  DEFCON is a convention for computer hackers and computer security people.  It meets every year in Las Vegas.  This year it is taking up the convention space in two hotels, Paris and Bally’s.  The sessions run from the extremely technical, which I avoid, and the political landscape, which I try to get to.

The adventure began with the trip this year.  The voice of Google told me the traffic was light and I could make the trip in under four hours.  Even when I was sitting in the middle of a 2 ½-hours-to-go-10-miles traffic jam Google kept telling me the same thing.  I have never been so locked in before.  There is only one route to follow and a couple of huge trucks had spread themselves all around the landscape.  It looked like a war zone and it makes you wonder how they were able to totally destroy the cab of an 18 wheeler.  My bladder held out but I was starting to worry about my radiator.  Engines are not designed to idle for that long in 95̊ heat.

I was still 45 minutes away from the single lane being allowed through and I could see the cars stretched behind me as far as the eye could see.  Eyes can see far on a clear desert day.

I hope this is not an indication of the lines at DEFCON.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-248: DEFCON: A Useful Reminder

DEFCON is over for the year.  I hate Las Vegas but I enjoy the time with my son and the opportunity to rub elbows with a part of the world that is usually below my radar.  Both keep me alert.

I wish that the public could attend some of these sessions.  One lesson that we need to broadcast is that you are not secure, even in your home.  The invasive nature of electronics and the nasty need of politicians and corporate executives to control others is a very real threat to liberty.  It is a real threat to your privacy.  It is a real threat to your financial security.

We hear about the loss of personal, private information that happened at the government level.  If you have ever been used as a reference by anyone in that database the chances are that all of your personal information is now in the hands of someone who wants to do you harm.  Don’t forget all the major businesses that have also had the same experience recently.

As I look at the screen on my laptop I notice one of the great gadgets I came across at DEFCON.  It is a little sliding aperture that goes over the camera on my laptop.  It slides open easily but more important it slides closed so that the camera is blocked.  I am sure that you are aware than any good hacker can access your computer if you are connected to the internet and activate the camera and microphone without you knowing it.  Oh, you didn’t know that?  Now you do.  At least at this point they cannot see me.

I watched the hackers show how to start a car that is not theirs.  I watched them open doors in security areas without a key.  You have reason to worry.  Make sure that you are not an easy target.  Make sure your computer has a firewall.  Make sure you change passwords.

Be careful.  DEFCON is over but the real world is still there.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-242: DEFCON: A New Approach to Transgender

There has been a bit of talk this year about transgender bathrooms in our schools and the military seems to be moving toward embracing transgender soldiers.  DEFCON has been on board for years but this year I am noticing an increase in the trend.  I am talking about men in skirts.  They call them kilts but they still look like skirts to me.

I always wonder if they are man enough to wear them at their day jobs or around their families.  I would suggest though that if you are short and squat, a dress doesn’t do much for you.

Keep your eyes up and keep walking.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-240: DEFCON: Access Not Denied

It is a good thing that computer hackers are basically honest.  I know that is an oxymoron but it is still true at least in the area of computer security.  I would not trust them with the key to my wine cellar.

I went to one session today where the presenter showed how to quickly and easily get doors to open that are theoretically protected.  You have all seen the boxes at apartment complexes or other limited access areas.  They have a keypad for authorized people to enter a code and the gate or door will open.  He claimed the installer usually doesn’t bother to change from the default password and the new owner doesn’t either.  Thus many boxes, he believes most, across the country can be controlled by the same password, set at the factory.  Even if they did change the password he pointed out that it was always six characters and they could only be numbers.  He then showed how quickly his computer could discover the password if it had been changed.

He showed how to open all the doors controlled by the box and either keep them open or lock them shut so the legitimate user could not get them open.  He showed how it could be done on many of them remotely using the internet.

It was scary.  He made it clear that this demonstration only covered one manufacturer but he said it was by far the most common brand in the country.

Did you remember to lock the front door?  Are you sure?

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-239: DEFCON: How Safe Is Your Car?

One of the themes at DEFCON this year is the openness of our machines to outside manipulation.  There are a whole series of presentations dealing with cars and how they can be hacked.  One of the standing-room-only presentations was given by a couple of guys who had borrowed a friends new Tesla, removed the dash board and precede to see how well it was designed against hackers. 

They said the software in the car was very well designed.  They were able to work all of the peripheral controls such as door locks and head lights but when they tried to shut the car down they found that, although they could cut the fancy instruments and kill the engine they could not take over the steering and breaks at anything over 5 MPH.  They found several problems but by the time they gave their presentation they said two had been fixed and the company was working on another.  One of the Tesla top executives was present and thanked them for their work. 

This is the way hackers would like to work.  Find ways things can be broken and have them fixed.  Then they look for other problems.  When done correctly, it makes the world safer for everyone.  The Tesla company has set up a reward program for hackers that find bugs in their system.  At present the top award is $10,000.

I drive old cars so I don’t need to worry about it but you might ask yourself if you have one of those cars where they can unlock the doors for you, it might be a good idea to ask yourself what else they can do.

homo unius libri

Opus 2015-237: DECON: 23 Years and Counting

DEFCON 23 is underway.  It is in the process of overwhelming two casinos in Las Vegas, Bally’s and Paris. 

All is not roses.  I went down to get a large coffee.  The girl said, “$6.22, please.”  To my credit I kept a straight face, paid up and began to savor the gold standard in coffee.

No longer is Las Vegas the place of my youth.  No longer do you find cheap rooms, cheap meals and a wild time.  Now you pay through the nose for the honor of being surrounded by people throwing away their money.  If it wasn’t a chance for bonding with my son as he attends the Con, I would run from this place, fast.

I am constantly reminded that this city was not built by winners or people being paid big salaries.  I think Las Vegas is Greek for Sodom.

Let the Con begin.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-242: DEFCON: Conflicting Messages, part 2 of 2

Which is most important, liberty or security.  DEFCON seems to be making the choice in favor of security.

But the two tracks are still there.  One presentation this year was from a group that had a three pronged approach to what they were doing.  They called it body, mind and soul.  The body prong was concerned about security and human life.  The mind dealt with freedom of research.  The soul had to do with civil liberties and freedom.  That was last year.  They had come back and decided they were going to concentrate on the first, security and human life.  Why did they make that decision?  Because it is a topic that appeals to everyone.  Security is the warm fuzzies, liberty is considered an option.

Most people have heard some version of a quotation attributed to Benjamin Franklin about the futility of giving up liberty for security. 

You can’t have both and I am afraid that the hacker community will end up going down the one that neutralizes them as a force for good change.

One speaker spoke of how the attitude of DEFCON used to be curiosity but now it is cynicism.  I would disagree.  I think it used to be freedom and now it is fear.

This shows the advance of the pagan world view.  For Christians, life is not everything.  There are higher values.  For the pagan, life is everything.  Safety becomes paramount, liberty takes a back seat.

At least two sessions trumpeted a quest for diversity.  This is at the acme of current politically correct speech.  I heard numerous speakers call for government action.  The changes have been worming their way into the conference for years.  It is getting more pronounced.

The rebels are becoming the establishment.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-241: DEFCON: Conflicting Messages, part 1 of 2

DEFCON has been over for almost a month as I write.  I want to offer a final comment before I forget DEFCON for the year.

There were three major messages being advanced at DEFCON this year.  The first, and most obvious, is “Hack everything.”  This is the technology angle that is always important to these events so that they can be written off as a tax deduction.  You hear a lot about codes and back-doors, viruses and malware.  You hear a lot of acronyms that are like the jargon of any group.

It is the other two tracks that concern me.  These are the tracks that explore the tension between security and liberty.  It is a tension we are feeling as organizations like the FBI, CIA, NSA and DHS claim to be trying to protect us while trampling on our liberty as Americans.  It is one of the hot topics of our culture.  Both have traditionally been a part of the hacker community and were conflicting with each other at DEFCON. 

First there is the issue of security.

“Hacker” is ultimately another name for computer security expert.  These guys get paid the big bucks to try to keep the computers and internet presence of major companies and consumers secure.  They work to protect your personal information and privacy.  While they are doing that they like to stray off the reservation and see what they can break into. 

That brings us to the issue of liberty.

Trying to break into other people’s computers is one way they find vulnerabilities that can then be fixed.  It is an important aspect of computer security.  Unfortunately, it is also often illegal.  Hackers want the liberty to do their own thing.  They have a tendency to believe that the rules don’t apply to them, only the government.  Most would even agree that it is only proper when they are doing no harm.  They want to be the good guys and for the most part they are.

Hackers have also seen themselves as rebels.  They felt like one of the last lines of defense against an invasive government and omnipresent corporations.  They cheer Snowden and Wiki Leaks.  They are indignant when the government tries to pry into their lives but feel they have the right to invade the private information of others.  They worked to break down the natural alliance between government and business which produces the modern fascism we are seeing emerge in our culture today.  We have relabeled it “crony capitalism” but it is still fascism. 

Notice the tenses.  Security is discussed in the present; liberty, in the past.  There is a reason for that.  The atmosphere at DEFCON is changing.

To be continued...

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-214: DEFCON: Appearances

What does DEFCON look like?  It generally looks like America except for the male/female ratio.  That is changing as more hackers grow up, get married and bring their wives.  I talked to a lady who was at DEFCON for the first time.  Her children are now grown up enough for her to get away and join us. 

Years ago it had a massive delegation of pale, somewhat autistic teen agers with few social skills.  They have now grown up, some are getting a little sun and some are getting more social but social graces are still not their strong suit.

Many try to find ways to stand out.  Kilts are worn.  I walked behind a guy who had a plastic Viking horned helmet.  Hair is colored with whatever will stand out.  Mohawks and mullets are everywhere.

And increasingly the boring middle is being seen.

homo unius libri

Opus 2014-212: DEFCON: Definitely Gone

How do you know that DEFCON is really over?  When there are empty spaces at the bar.

Really.  The final session was Sunday around 4:30.  At 2:00 A.M. you could hardly walk through the casino.  You could not hear yourself think.  At least that is what they tell me.  I was in bed by that time.  That is the way it was at 10:00 when I got back from dinner.

Monday morning when I went down to take a load to the car it was almost like a church on Sunday night.  I even found that I could get a cup of coffee without waiting in line for 30 minutes.

I may have more to say but DEFCON is over for this year.

It is now safe to unlock your valuables.

homo unius libri