DEF CON: The event that scares hackers
everyone freaks out because "oh man your computer will get hacked in N seconds on the defcon wifi". lets dissect this a little bit.<p>if i put a computer on the defcon wifi, it'll probably be say, modern linux (ubuntu, debian, or redhat) running either a minimal subset of services (ssh) or perhaps nothing, with firewall policy applied, or a modern windows (windows7) with the firewall on. i'll be using a modern, fully patched web browser, also perhaps with some additional mitigation technology (thought nothing out of the ordinary) think perhaps noscript and EMET.<p>and also this is the one time of the year when i'm ready for this. every other day of the year i go to the coffee shop i don't know anything about the other randoms there but i assume they're drifting office droids hacking on their excel macros or recruiters cruising linkedin in between meetings.<p>so, if someone exploits me on the defcon wifi ... where else will that exploit work? everywhere, probably! it's probably a super awesome exploit that has super awesome properties that targets super popular software and is also unpatched. someone owns my openssh 5.3 on my laptop on the defcon wifi ... if i pcap that ... i'm a rich man. i can own boxes like mine.<p>so ... as a hypothetical attacker, why would i do this? i'm surrounded by people like me. they're alert. they're cautious. and they are the most capable people in the world to detect what i am doing and reveal it to everyone. oh and there are a whole bunch of law enforcement people there too, AND the entire thing happens in a casino which has heavy security and is already wired for sound and audio everywhere you go.<p>... anyone who is smart enough to be able to own your box at defcon, is also going to be smart enough to realize that they might as well wait until the week after when you're sitting at a coffee shop.