Speakers and Panels
Schedule grid for
Friday July 12 |
Saturday July 13 |
Sunday July 14
Click here for Speaker Info
Alphabetical Index of Events
(mp3's available for all panels from this site - video copies can be obtained through our store)
(Click on "L" to download a local copy to store on your machine, click on "S" to stream the audio)
Abuse of Authority
Sunday, 11 am
Area "A"
 
Over the years, there have been many stories in the hacker world of law
enforcement personnel who have abused their authority. Two of the more
dramatic cases in recent memory both come out of Philadelphia. Many of
us are already familiar with the horror story of Bernie S. who toured
five dangerous prisons for over a year - not because of what he was
charged with - but because the United States Secret Service was upset
about his collection of information about them. Then there is the case of
ShapeShifter, 2600 layout artist, who was arrested at the Republican
National Convention in 2000 (shortly after leading a panel on the RNC
at H2K) and held on half a million dollars bail as if he were a
terrorist mastermind - all because he had been targeted for speaking
out in public. Hear the games the authorities play and how public
education really can make a difference in putting an end to such abuse.
Hosted by Bernie S. and ShapeShifter
Access Control Devices
Saturday, 11 am
Area "B"
There are all kinds of access control devices that we come in contact
with every day. They include such things as magnet readers, proximity
card readers, fingerprint readers, camera systems, biometrics, and
basic standard operating procedures for a business. This talk will be a
comprehensive guide to what's out there.
Hosted by Mike Glasser
The Argument Against Security Through Obscurity
for the Non-Digital World
Saturday, 10 am
Area "B"
In the world of networked computers, security through obscurity is
generally ineffective. Hiding algorithms, protecting source code, and
keeping procedures secret might be effective initially, but eventually
the cloak of secrecy is penetrated. This talk will examine how security
through obscurity is relied upon in the non-computerized world. When
can security through obscurity work? What risk analysis should we use
to examine the role of obscurity in the non-computerized world? The
talk will present and examine the hypothesis that an "open source"
mentality should be applied to security procedures for public places.
This is a logical extension of the lesson in cryptanalysis - that no
cryptographic method can be considered trustworthy until it has
undergone a rigorous examination by qualified persons. Similarly, can
we trust security procedures in the physical world designed,
ostensibly, to protect the public if these procedures never undergo
public scrutiny?
Hosted by Greg Newby
Black Hat Bloc or How I Stopped Worrying About Corporations and Learned to Love the Hacker Class War
Sunday, 2 pm
Area "A"
Hackers must deal with governments and ultimately the corporations
that wield most of the decision making power within them. Looking over
the past few decades of hacker interaction with corporations, we
notice some interesting trends in the two worlds that indicate strong
influences of the corporate and hacker worlds on the other's ethics
and culture, often only hinted at to the rest of the world via biased
corporate PR machines in the form of broadcast and publishing media.
Hacker posts to Bugtraq become resumes, hacker tech like BBSes and IRC
become the technical implementations of every Internet startup's
business plan, hackers testify in front of Congress to warn them of
impending doom directly resulting in increased federal cybercrime
funding, while piracy is accepted by governments and media (but not
the public) as theft. Has hacking become the fast venture capitalist
track to shiny gadgets that go fast and make noise, a la Slashdot?
Should we ignore intellectual property legislation and treaties that
are passed solely to make rich people richer? This talk takes a look
at where hacker/corporate/government relationships have been, where
they are now, and where they could be going - hopefully shedding some
light on everyone's motivations along the way.
Hosted by Gweeds
Bullies on the Net - The Ford and Nissan Cases
Saturday, 6 pm
Area "A"
We could fill the entire weekend with stories like these and we have no
doubt there will be many more such tales in the years to come. With the
help of agencies, corporations, treaties, and laws with acronyms like
ICANN, WIPO, WTO, and the DMCA, the individual very often finds himself
at the mercy of corporate giants with virtually unlimited funding - and
seemingly unlimited power. Throughout it all however, there remains
hope. Hear the story of Uzi Nissan, who is being sued by the Nissan
Motor Company for daring to use his own name on the Internet. We'll
also talk about how the Ford Motor Company sued 2600 - and lost.
Hosted by Emmanuel Goldstein, Eric Grimm, and Uzi Nissan
Caller ID Spoofing
Friday, 2 pm
Area "B"
A demonstration of how Caller ID works as well as methods that can be
used to emulate and display spoofed Caller ID messages on Caller ID and
Caller ID with Call Waiting boxes using a Bell 202 modem. Details on the
technical aspects such as Caller ID protocol for both regular and Call Waiting
Caller ID. If all goes well, you may actually see a live demonstration of
spoofed Caller ID.
Hosted by Lucky225 and Tray Smee
"The Conscience of a Hacker"
Saturday, 3 pm
Area "A"
Probably the most famous single essay about what it's like to be a
hacker is "The Conscience of a Hacker" by The Mentor, written in 1986.
It's been quoted all over the place, including the movie "Hackers." It
remains one of the most inspirational pieces written about the hacker
community and it's survived well over time. This year, we're pleased to
have The Mentor himself give a reading of it and offer additional
insight.
Conspiracies
Sunday, 12 noon
Area "B"
Technology can be a wonderful thing, but it can be quite harmful as well.
Unenlightened corporate interest as well as government interest can make
for some savage bedfellows. This panel will deal with technology, its good
uses and some of its evil ones.
Hosted by Gonzo, Leo, and Rev. Sergey
Crypto for the Masses
Friday, 12 noon
Area "B"
This panel will approach cryptography from the perspective of
enabling a "digital world" where key social schemes are preserved -
personal identity, anonymity, and the right to privacy. We'll talk about
the basic inner workings of cryptosystems, and discuss how they can be
applied now to create and enforce cyber rights. We'll also discuss the
hurdles faced by crypto and its adopters, along with the public at large.
And we'll learn just how crypto is being threatened and abused by
certain global goons.
Hosted by Matt Blaze, Greg Newby, and Anatole Shaw
Cult of the Dead Cow Extravaganza
Saturday, 4 pm
Area "7"
(No recordings are known to exist)
This year, the megamerican computer hackers of patriotism, Cult of the
Dead Cow, honor our country with "Hooray for America!" -- an all-star
revue including the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales, NASCAR champion Dingus
McProstate, and the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. Reid Fleming will give
a thorough and thoroughly educational description of the history and
symbology of the Great Seal (which you can find on the back side of a
$1 bill). Grandmaster Ratte himself will lead the audience in a
sustained chant of "U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!" Oh, and maybe there will
be some new software too.
Databases and Privacy
Saturday, 2 pm
Area "A"
Once again, world renowned private eye Steve Rambam will enlighten and
frighten attendees with the latest updates on the personal information
that is out there about each and every one of us. Find out which
databases contain the most invasive information and who has access to
them, as well as what you can do to protect your privacy. There will
also be a discussion on truth and accountability on the net as well as
live demonstrations.
A Day in the Life of a Directory Assistance Operator
Friday, 10 am
Area "A"
Odds are most of us take things about the phone companies for granted.
But there is a whole world that we don't see which is always operating.
Hear how the system really works from The Cheshire Catalyst.
The DeCSS Story
Friday, 4 pm
Area "A"
At our last conference, we were preparing to go on trial for daring to
have the code to DeCSS on our web site. Quite a lot has happened since
then. The public perception of entities like the MPAA and the RIAA has
gone down the toilet as their true motives became apparent. We were the
first in what will be a long line of courtroom battles to defend
freedom of speech, fair use, and open source technology. While we lost
the case and the subsequent appeal, we still somehow feel victorious.
Find out why.
Hosted by Emmanuel Goldstein, Robin Gross, and Ed Hernstadt
Digital Demonstrations: Criminal DDoS Attack or Cyber Sit-in?
Sunday, 11 am
Area "B"
Being able to carry political opinions to the public by showing them on
the street is a basic part of democratic rights. Nowadays, a steadily
increasing part of our life takes place in cyberspace. Things which
aren't happening in cyberspace will therefore get less and less public
attention. How can protest be taken into the virtual realm? What
strategies for "online demonstrations" have we seen so far? How about
the ethical and legal dimensions? Who gets hurt? Host Maximillian
Dornseif will present a new approach for conducting online
demonstrations without adversely affecting other users on the net.
DMCA Legal Update
Saturday, 11 am
Area "A"
Since we last met, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has claimed
more victims and been at the forefront of all kinds of legal action. We
even had the first instance of a programmer being thrown into prison
because of a program he wrote while in his native Russia! Hear the
latest on the Dmitry Sklyarov case and others that the DMCA is
responsible for as well as what is being done to put an end to it.
Hosted by Mike Godwin, Eric Grimm, and Robin Gross
Domain Stalking
Sunday, 6 pm
Area "A"
Ever wanted to legally have a $900 million dollar company in
your debt? Intellectual property is a big deal to a lot of companies
(witness the 2600 vs. Ford case) and it can be very easy to legally
screw with it. This presentation will be a discussion of how easy
it can be to get a company in your debt by simply watching their
domains and catching them when they neglect to renew. It's a
bigger problem with large companies than you think and can
be exploited for many good causes. Hear how everyone from
Symantec to the Red Cross to Jello Biafra has benefited from
RenderMan's watchful eyes.
Educating Lawmakers - Is It Possible?
Saturday, 12 noon
Area "A"
Trying to educate Congress about technology is approximately as useful
as teaching a pig to type. It doesn't work and you get one peeved pig.
But there are sometimes ways to make a difference in law and policy
circles without becoming a wholly owned tool of the Demopublican Party.
A discussion with journalist Declan McCullagh and cryptologist Matt
Blaze.
Everything you ever wanted to know about spying
and did not know who to ask....
This is pure balls-out fun. Former spy Robert Steele will answer questions about
any aspect of intelligence or counterintelligence, to include covert
action in Central America, ECHELON, how and why we completely missed
the warnings on bin Laden and 9/11, etc. This can be considered an
extension of the H2K session, which lasted for hours.
Face Scanning Systems at Airports: Ready for Prime Time?
Saturday, 5 pm
Area "B"
A talk about the technical problems of face scanning systems being used
at airports to pick out terrorists. Will these systems work like the
promoters are claiming they will? Or will they fail to catch terrorists
and instead turn our airports into round-up zones for petty criminals?
Hosted by Richard M. Smith
"Freedom Downtime"
Saturday, 10 pm
Area "D"
A presentation of the 2600 documentary on the Free Kevin movement
followed by a Q&A session with some of the key people involved in the
making of the film.
Freedom: File Not Found
Friday, 8 pm
Area "B"
Since the explosion of the world network in the early 1990's,
visionaries and pundits have been promising that "information
wants to be free" and the web's free exchange of knowledge and
ideas would be a liberating political and economic force throughout
the world. It's been almost ten years now: where is this newfound
freedom, especially in places like China? The Middle East? What
about right here at home? This talk will discuss government/corporate
efforts to restrict the free flow of information on the Internet and the
political, ethical, and socioeconomic consequences. Topics will include
hardware in use by the People's Republic of China to monitor and censor
information it deems "subversive," routing tactics in Saudi Arabia to
enhance government oversight and censorship, and the constitutionality
of email snooping hardware and software in use in America. A Q&A
session will follow.
Hosted by Bryan Maloney
Fucking Up the Internet at ICANN: Global Control
Through the Domain Name System and How to Escape
Friday, 3 pm
Area "A"
Did you know that the entire Internet domain structure is controlled by
a mysterious group called the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (ICANN)? Andy Mueller-Maguhn, longtime member and spokesman
of Germany's Chaos Computer Club and currently elected from European
users to be on the board of ICANN, will explain the latest developments
at ICANN and how the mixture of intellectual property and governmental
interests affects the freedom of the Internet. Paul Garrin, founder of
name.space and FREE.THE.MEDIA!, will talk about his initiatives to
establish rights to access to the legacy ROOT.ZONE, from the historical
antitrust action against Network Solutions in 1997 through the US
Department of Commerce's IFWP process (the predecessor to ICANN), and
Name.Space's $50,000.00 TLD application to ICANN in 2000 (ICANN kept
the money and took three TLD's previously published by Name.Space). The
question is raised: Is there hope for seeking fair access to the legacy
ROOT.ZONE through due process or is it time to treat ICANN as "damage"
and route around it?
Fun With 802.11b
Friday, 5 pm
Area "A"
Would you be surprised if you could turn on your laptop anywhere in the
city and find yourself on someone else's network? How about if you were
able to connect to the Internet? Or see someone's private data go
flying by? It's all possible and it happens all the time - all over the
country. This panel will cover 802.11 wireless ethernet networking
basics, as well as detecting and monitoring wireless networks with
active and passive methods. Community free networks, custom antennas,
and methods of securing wireless networks will also be covered.
Hosted by dragorn, Porkchop, and StAtIc FuSiOn
Fun With Pirate Radio and Shortwave
Sunday, 10 am
Area "B"
Too few people take the time to appreciate shortwave radio. Even fewer
have the opportunity to appreciate pirate radio. Here's your chance to
learn more about these fascinating subjects. Allan Weiner will talk
about his days operating Radio New York International, a famous pirate
station from the 80's that served the New York area before it was
raided by federal authorities in international waters. (We have no idea how
the feds got away with that.) Today Weiner operates shortwave station WBCQ -
along with chief engineer Timtron - which serves nearly the entire
western hemisphere from studios in Maine. Craig Harkins joins the panel
to talk of his experiences operating Anteater Radio during much of the
90's from an 18-wheeler truck. He received international acclaim from
listeners while consistently evading American and Canadian radio police.
Hosted by Craig Harkins and Allan Weiner
GNU Radio: Free Software Radio Collides with Hollywood's Lawyers
Sunday, 2 pm
Area "B"
The GNU Radio project is building a platform for experimenting with
software radios - systems where the actual waveforms received and
transmitted are defined by software, not special purpose hardware. One
of their projects is building an all-software ATSC (HDTV) receiver. An
all-software free ATSC receiver would allow among other things the
construction of the mother of all "personal video recorders." Think
Tivo or Replay on steroids. The folks from the Broadcast Protection
Discussion Group (BPDG) have other ideas. They'd like to lock up the
cleartext signal and make sure that only members of their club would
be allowed to build receivers, modulators, and storage devices for
digital TV. A discussion of where this is all likely to head. Panel
participants include GNU Radio technical folks Eric Blossom and Matt
Ettus as well as representatives from the EFF.
H2K2 Closing Ceremonies
Sunday, 7 pm
Area "A"
A final review of the events of the weekend along with all kinds of
guests, giveaways, and more. Remember, only wimps leave early.
Hacking for Community Radio
Saturday, 3 pm
Area "B"
The technical and political struggle to take back the airwaves for the
community. A panel discussion about the attempt to build linux based
free software that can stream broadcast quality audio over the Internet
from a studio to a transmitter site. In addition, there will be
discussion on attempts to use wireless ethernet to shoot broadcast
quality audio across town with high gain antennas and 2.4 gigahertz
amplifiers.
Hosted by Pete Tridish from the Prometheus Radio Project, Josh
Marcus, Dave Arney, and Roland Aguilar from the Philadelphia
Independent Media Center, and K. Clair from the Genderchangers.
Hacking Nanotech
Sunday, 4 pm
Area "B"
Nanofabrication technology is an up and coming field that will
revolutionize the way humans live on a day to day basis. Host Jim
"Cips" tells what the future projections about nanofabrication are -
things like robots so small you would need an electron microscope to
see them. There will also be an examination of some amazing
achievements that have been accomplished already as well as an analysis
of the possible ethical problems that may arise with nanofabrication in
the future.
Hacking National Intelligence:
Possibilities for a Public Intelligence Revolution
Saturday, 7 pm
Area "B"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Robert David Steele, author of two books on intelligence reform and
sponsor of the Council on Intelligence, will provide a briefing on the
state of the world, 21st Century tradeoffs that are NOT being made by
our elected leaders, and how citizens can take back the power by
practicing the new craft of intelligence to monitor and instruct their
elected officials on key national security decisions. Among other major
aspects, this would translate into a freezing of the Pentagon budget at
$250 billion a year and redirection of $150 billion a year toward
global education, public health, water and energy conservation, and
"soft power" options including diplomacy and information peacekeeping,
a term Steele devised in the early 1990's.
Hacking the Invisible World
Sunday, 5 pm
Area "A"
Everything you could possibly want to know about the workings of
scanners, frequency counters, intercepting/spoofing RF A/V feeds,
STL's, pagers, infrared signs, night vision, electronic surveillance,
etc.
Hosted by Craig Harkins, Bernie S., and Barry "The Key" Wels
Hardware Q&A
Saturday, 12 noon
Area "B"
Explore a different form of hacking and interface directly with fellow
electronics enthusiasts. Javaman and friends will try to answer any
questions related to hardware and electronics including but not limited
to hardware tokens, radio/wireless technologies, embedded systems,
smart cards, and secure hardware design.
How to Start an IMC in Your Town
Sunday, 10 am
Area "A"
At H2K, Jello Biafra urged attendees to become the media. Since then, many
people have done just that. One of the most powerful tools in fighting
the corporate media's stranglehold on information in this country has
been the Indymedia network. Learn what's involved with becoming a part
of Indymedia, the various hurdles and roadblocks you can expect to
face, and how you can make a difference.
Human Autonomous Zones: The Real Role of Hackers
Sunday, 1 pm
Area "A"
How the role of hackers in society has changed. They used to be a
necessary counterbalance to corporate and government power. Now, it's
more like hackers are the only ones who understand the technology. They
have become a balance to the power of technology itself. A discussion
by renowned author Doug Rushkoff.
"I Am Against Intellectual Property"
Friday, 5 pm
Area "B"
In the words of host Nelson Denoon: "Quit fucking apologizing for
filesharing. Intellectual property is evil, filesharing is freedom
fighting, and the sooner Jack Valenti is bumming quarters for a living,
the better. The question is not how to protect artists, it is how to
muster enough force to protect the right to hack."
The Ins and Outs of Webcasting
Saturday, 10 am
Area "A"
While the airwaves have been almost completely taken over by corporate
interests, there is a whole world of broadcasting on the Internet just
waiting for creative minds. Find out what it takes to get an Internet
station going and what kinds of creative programming are possible.
Also, learn what the recently mandated RIAA licensing fees will mean to
the future of this broadcasting medium.
Hosted by Lee Azzarello, Lynea Diaz-Hagan, Tarikh Korula, Lazlow, and Kevin Prichard
Introduction to Computer Viruses
Saturday, 1 pm
Area "B"
Understanding the fundamentals of how to identify, remove, and
defend against hostile code. Robert Lupo will cover how
different computer viruses work - boot sector, file infector,
multi-parti, VBS, Java, the different OS viruses, etc. He will
also explain how to remove different computer viruses with
and without anti-virus software and discuss the future of
computer viruses and hostile code.
Jello Biafra's State of the World Address
Saturday, 9 pm
Area "D"
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Since his keynote address at the H2K conference in 2000, Jello Biafra has
witnessed further corporate consolidation and censorship of mass media.
He's also been on the front lines of the growing uprising against
corporate power itself. He may speak about that, and/or the Bush mob's
cynical exploitation of the tragedy on September 11, or the corporate
music biz convention on "the future of digital music" he was invited to
speak at a few days before H2K2. He's not sure yet so stay tuned.
Keynote: Aaron McGruder
Saturday, 1 pm
Area "A"
Just about everyone has at one time or another read the daily comic
strip "The Boondocks." Not everyone has appreciated it. In fact, it's
generated a share of controversy among the mainstream for its
"alternative" views. In addition, McGruder has devoted space to hacker
issues, most notably the DeCSS case - which was presented accurately
for probably the first time in most of the papers his strip appears in.
McGruder is one of those rare individuals with access to the mainstream
who actually "gets" the technical issues. Needless to say, he has been
targeted relentlessly by censors for daring to speak his mind. Sound
familiar?
Keynote: Siva Vaidhyanathan
"Life in a Distributed Age"
Friday, 1 pm
Area "A"
Distributed information systems of all kinds are challenging cultural
and political assumptions. The moral of the story is that whether we
like it or not, it's time to take anarchy seriously. We have spent the
past 200 years thinking centralization of power and information was the
greatest challenge to republican forms of government and corporatized
commerce. But now, it should be clear, decentralization and encryption
have emerged as the most important dynamics of power.
Lockpicking
Sunday, 12 noon
Area "A"
Barry "The Key" Wels returns from The Netherlands to provide details of some
high security lock weaknesses and to demonstrate some state of the art
techniques of exploiting them. He will tell the story of a company that had
the famous line "Nobody can pick this lock" on their website. Of course,
this was the ultimate motivation for the sport-lockpickers. This panel is where
you can find out if a particular lock can be picked or not. Spare locks are
always welcome, as TOOOL (The Open Organization of Lockpickers)
is short of good locks.
LPFM Basics
Friday, 6 pm
Area "A"
Learn exactly how to navigate the LPFM licensing process. Pete Tridish
of the Prometheus Radio Project and John Ramsey of Ramsey Electronics
will present background about the fight for community radio and explain
the absurd technical limitations placed on low-power community FM radio
stations by powerful corporate interests.
Magical Gadgets: The Profound Impact of Yesterday's
Not-So-Trivial Electronics on Our Digital World
Friday, 7 pm
Area "B"
Rewind to an age when electronics had originality; the era
when a new product was inspired by creativity. Get the story
about the evolution of IC-based devices, and see for yourself
how the soul of electronics has been sold out.
Hosted by Jay Hanson and Paul Zurek
Magic Lantern and Other Evil Things
Friday, 4 pm
Area "B"
A talk by Rudy Rucker Jr. on the BadTrans worm and the FBI's Magic
Lantern software. Both of these pieces of software are very similar and
install keystroke logging software on clients' machines. Rucker has
collected a couple of gigabytes of the BadTrans data and will explain
how he parsed it and created a web-based tool for people to browse the
database.
Making Money on the Internet While Still Saying "Fuck"
Saturday, 5 pm
Area "A"
Pud of fuckedcompany.com will speak about his experiences setting up
and maintaining a popular Web site for corporate rumors. How does he
handle confidentiality of rumor-mongers, avoid lawsuits, provide custom
software to drive the site, and make money from it?
Negativland - Past, Present, Future
Saturday, 7 pm
Area "D"
Part 1
Part 2
If there is any one group who personifies the concept of "fair use,"
that group would have to be Negativland. The Bay Area based band has,
over the years, drawn the ire of everyone from rock band U2 to American
Top 40 host Casey Kasim to angry parents to confused legislators. Founding
member Mark Hosler hosts this presentation which will focus on media
literacy as well as the activism, pranks, and hoaxes that Negativland
has engaged in over the years. A number of rare Negativland films will
also be shown.
The New FBI and How It Can Hurt You
Friday, 9 pm
Area "A"
On May 29, the Federal Bureau of Investigation dramatically changed its
focus. Now, instead of investigating crimes, its mission is to prevent
them, meaning they have virtual carte blanche to infiltrate any law
abiding organization or gathering to make sure all is right. And, even
better, their third priority of dangerous crimes to stop (next to
terrorism and espionage) is "cybercrime." We all know what a wide net
that can be. Hear the dangers firsthand from the people who follow this
kind of thing.
Hosted by Mike Levine, Declan McCullagh, and Robert Steele
Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual
Sunday, 1 pm
Area "B"
The OSSTMM came about as a need for an open, free security testing
methodology in response to the numerous security testing companies who
claimed to have a secret, internal, and corporate confidential
methodology for testing. It was this methodology that they used to
differentiate themselves from other testing companies. The problem was
that often it didn't exist and the tests turned out to be no more than
commercial scanners set loose on a list of systems. The development of
the OSSTMM began as a series of logical steps to make a good test and
grew into the need to make the most thorough test. This presentation
will show the origin of the OSSTMM and the logic behind it, as well as
results of reverse-engineering the reports of corporate tests,
commercial tools, and commercial presentations.
Hosted by Tyler Shields
"Owned"
Friday, 10 pm
Area "D"
A new film on the hacker culture, produced and directed by Jennifer Read. From the inception of modern-day
hacking in the 1960s to the current state of hacking art, this is an oral history of a tech tradition that
spans five decades.
The Password Probability Matrix
Saturday, 2 pm
Area "B"
A winnowing method for brute-force password cracking using lossy
compression. Cryptologist Jon Erickson will present the specifics for a
newly developed password cracking method and perform a demonstration of
it. The method is a hybrid between using computational power and
storage space for an exhaustive brute-force attack utilizing a
compressed matrix of probabilistic values. He will demonstrate the
ability to crack any 4 character password with a fixed salt in under
8 seconds (assuming 10,000 cracks per second), using only a 141 meg file.
A normal exhaustive brute-force on the same system would take over
2 hours, and flat text storage of the plaintext/hash pairs would normally
use over a gigabyte of storage. This translates to 99.9% keyspace
reduction and 89% storage compression.
The Patriot Act
Sunday, 3 pm
Area "B"
Members of the New York City People's Law Collective will be discussing
the dangers of the Patriot Act and providing information on warrants,
hacktivism, what is legal and what is not, and ways that hackers,
activists, and normal citizens can protect themselves from The Man.
Protection for the Masses
Saturday, 6 pm
Area "B"
Host Rop Gonggrijp gives updates on two projects designed to help
people protect their privacy from prying eyes. One is a localhost mail
proxy for PGP that is really nice and could "save the world" as the PGP
plugins stop working (soon...). The other one is Secure Notebook, a
project to create a notebook which runs Windows, yet is secure against
theft. Source for all projects will be open for review.
Proximity Cards: How Secure Are They?
Sunday, 6 pm
Area "B"
They're used everywhere but they could be making you even more
vulnerable to privacy invasion. Delchi has been working with proximity
based card systems for two years and has developed a method of casually
extracting data from proximity cards in a public environment. Riding in an
elevator, subway, or just walking down the hall, a person can bump into you,
say "excuse me," and walk away with the decoded information from the
proximity card in your pocket. It could then be possible to build a device that
can capture and replay these snippets of information on demand or to even
brute force a proximity card system. This talk will focus on the vulnerabilities
of the systems and show a low power working prototype. Alternatives will be
discussed, as well as other vulnerable aspects of proximity based building and
computer access systems.
Report From Ruckus
Sunday, 5 pm
Area "B"
Very recently, history was made in California as The Ruckus Society held
its first-ever Tech Toolbox Action Camp. It lasted for a week and brought
together geeks and activists from around the world who shared information
on how they're using the Internet and other technologies in working for change.
Part of the goal was to emerge from this and show others what they learned.
Some of the attendees of the Ruckus Camp will be here to do just that.
RetroComputing
Friday, 12 noon
Area "A"
This year's retrocomputing panel will focus on hardware hacking and
cloning such systems as the Apple ][ and C64. Also included will be a
discussion on homebrew microcomputers and kits from the 70's as well as
antique cellphone hacking. Witness firsthand genuine pieces of history.
Attendees are encouraged to bring their really old (working) computers for the
"retrocomputer neighborhood" in the network room.
Hosted by Mr. Ohm, Sam Nitzberg, Nightstalker, and Bernie S.
Secure Telephony: Where ARE the Secure Phones?
Saturday, 4 pm
Area "B"
Panel participants will take a look at the history of secure phones,
what's worked and what hasn't, who the players are, and what needs to
happen to make truly secure telephony a ubiquitous reality. Panel
members include former Starium CTO Eric Blossom and Rop Gonggrijp of
NAH6.
The Shape of the Internet: Influence and Consequence
Friday, 10 am
Area "B"
Network researchers have discovered strong power law relationships
in the Internet. These can be interpreted as a direct fingerprint
of the fractal structure present on the net. Work has only recently
begun on analyzing the implications of such a structure on attack
tolerance, government snooping, and the like. In this talk, a review
of these topics will be presented, along with a proposed network
structure that can avoid such issues.
Hosted by Javaman
Social Engineering
Sunday, 4 pm
Area "A"
A tradition started at the first HOPE conference in 1994, the social
engineering panel remains one of our most popular each and every time.
It would be wrong for us to tell you what we have planned because then
our victims might have a fighting chance of escaping. Suffice to say,
we will find someone somewhere who will tell us something they really
shouldn't have because they believed we were somebody we weren't. This
panel is always open to participants so if you feel you're worthy, just
let us know during the conference and you might find yourself up on
stage trying to be clever on the phone.
Standing Up To Authority
Friday, 11 am
Area "A"
"How is it you folks have gotten away with not getting shut down by the
powers-that-be?" is the question most frequently asked of Cryptome
(www.cryptome.org) since its inception in 1996. Post-9/11 H2K2 is an
opportune time and place to reconsider implications of this question
with Cryptome founders John Young and Deborah Natsios, New York
City-based architects (of bricks and mortar), who will discuss their
means and methods of sustaining activism in the face of opposition,
with reference to ongoing cases.
Steganography: Wild Rumors and Practical Applications
Friday, 2 pm
Area "A"
Is Osama bin Laden sending coded messages in the pictures of goods for
sale on EBay? Is that MP3 file carrying a secret note that tracks the
listeners? Steganography is the art and science of hiding information
in digital data and it stretches the boundaries of information theory
and philosophy. An artful programmer can hide secret messages in such a
way that a 1 is not always a 1 and a 0 is not always a 0. This talk
will explore some of the popular schemes for inserting messages and
discuss how they're used by hackers, poets, corporate bean counters,
and programmers on a deadline.
Hosted by Peter Wayner
Strategic Thought in Virtual Deterrence and
Real Offense: The Computer's Role
Friday, 3 pm
Area "B"
Computers are pivotal components in modern society: daily life,
banking, and military. What must be considered and what risks do we all
face when they are used in conflict? These concerns are societal in
nature and apply to both "minor" and "major" groups, governments, and
militaries. There will be opportunity for ample questions from the
audience. The intention is to share the overall attendee perspective.
The goal is to be thought provoking, not scare-mongering.
Hosted by Wanja Eric Naef and Sam Nitzberg
Teaching Hacker Ethics with a Common Curriculum
Friday, 11 am
Area "B"
An introduction of a new proposed curriculum guideline for teaching
information ethics to students in elementary school, high school, and
college. This curriculum is being proposed through the North Carolina
chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. The idea
is to foster creative, exploratory, effective, and intelligent use of
information tools (aka, the hacker ethic), rather than powerless
end-user mentality. There are many reasons to desire a common suggested
curriculum for different educational levels. We might argue that most
major advances in computing were brought about by hackers. We could
point out that it's necessary to encourage creative and exploratory
behavior for the next generation of computer users to do brilliant
things. For today's hackers, the goal is simply to shape tomorrow's
hackers so that they will use their abilities to help create a better
society.
Hosted by Greg Newby
Technomanifestos: Visions of the Information Revolutionaries
Friday, 1 pm
Area "B"
Author Adam Brate discusses the seminal works of the information
age, from Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics to Abbie Hoffman's
Steal This Book to Richard M. Stallman's GNU Manifesto,
uncovering the remarkable stories behind the beginnings of the
personal computer and the Internet and how they are changing society.
Tracking Criminals on the Internet
Friday, 6 pm
Area "B"
How certain criminal investigations have been investigated in the past
couple of years with perps being tracked by IP addresses, email, and
web surfing. Such cases include the murder of Daniel Pearl, the search
for Bin Laden, the Melissa virus release, the Clayton Lee Waagner
escape, the anthrax attacks, and the Wakefield mass murders.
Hosted by Richard M. Smith
The Ultimate Co-location Site
Sunday, 3 pm
Area "A"
Sealand was founded as a sovereign principality in 1967 in
international waters, six miles off the eastern shores of Britain. The
island fortress is conveniently situated from 65 to 100 miles from the
coasts of France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. HavenCo has been
providing services since May 2000 and is fully operational, offering
the world's most secure managed servers in the world's only true free
market environment - the Principality of Sealand. Avi Freedman and
Ryan Lackey of HavenCo will talk about the challenges and potential
of this unique working environment and what it could mean to the
future of the net.
The Vanished Art of Human Intelligence or Why the World
Trade Center Would Still Be Standing if Defense Against Terrorism
Had Been Contracted Out to the Private Sector
Friday, 7 pm
Area "A"
Part 1
Part 2
A collection of videos and analysis by WBAI talk show host and 25 year
federal agent Mike Levine. Learn about the dangers of the use of human
intelligence in the hands of amateurs and imagine what is about to
happen under the new anti-terrorism laws.
Speaker Info
Lee Azzarello. Lee Azzarello is a musician who works with computers. When he's not creating generative compositions with the SuperCollider programming language, he works as an audio engineer and network admin for a small art studio in Manhattan.
Bernie S.. Bernie S. started playing with microcomputers in 1978 when he built one using RCA's 1802 microprocessor (since it controlled the first Viking Mars Lander, he though it was cool). Shortly thereafter he built an intelligent video terminal (a big deal back then) and 110 baud modem, then started hacking the local Sperry Univac mainframe at Mansfield State College. Since then he's stayed involved with computers and telecommunications, and pushed the envelope a bit too much for the U.S. Secret Service.
Loyd Blankenship. Loyd Blankenship has at various points throughout his career been an author, game designer, sports reporter, computer programmer, multimedia developer, cook, musician, and convenience store clerk. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, two dogs, and three cats, where he is developing Palm applications for use in political canvassing. You may also know him as The Mentor, author of "The Conscience of a Hacker."
Matt Blaze. Matt Blaze has been involved in all sorts of stuff, from evaluating Carnivore and Key Escrow for the government to writing the crypto file system to writing dozens of papers on crypto. He was the co-designer of swIPe, a predecessor of the now standard IPSEC protocol for protecting Internet traffic. In 1994, he discovered a serious flaw in the U.S. government's "Clipper" encryption system, which had been proposed as a mechanism for the public to encrypt their data in a way that would still allow law enforcement to have access to it.
Eric Blossom. Eric Blossom has been designing telecommunications software and hardware systems for 25 years. He founded Communications Security and Starium, where he designed and manufactured portable secure telephony devices that operate over standard phone lines. He also founded the gnuradio project, which seeks to develop an open source, multiprotocol RF receiver/transmitter.
Adam Brate. Adam Brate is a freelance science and technology writer who has followed the Information Revolution around the globe to places such as India, Argentina, and Finland. His first book, with David Bunnell, was Making the Cisco Connection, The Story Behind the Real Internet Superpower. His latest release is Technomanifestos: Visions from the Information Revolutionaries.
The Cheshire Catalyst (Richard Cheshire). The Cheshire Catalyst (Richard Cheshire) was the last editor/publisher of the TAP Newsletter of the 1970's/1980's, while hacking the World Telex Network. He has pretty much rested on his laurels since then, only coming out every couple of years to speak at HOPE conferences and to carry on the fight to make web sites accessible to non-graphic Internet users. His web site is at CheshireCatalyst.com.
Jim "Cips". Jim "Cips" received an Associate's Degree in nanofabrication from PSU in 2000 (first graduating class in the U.S. for that degree). Since then he has stayed in college learning and getting degrees in electronics, optoelectronics, and computer networking and picked up skills in microradio, hacking, lockpicking, and other activities along the way.
The Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc). The Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) has worked since 1984 to disrupt the digital status quo. For nearly two decades, this collective of freethinkers and malcontents has structured their activities on a set of principles involving personal liberty, security, and availability of access. Opposed by commercial enterprises and government institutions the world over, the Cult of the Dead Cow has focused public attention on problems affecting the communication networks, including insecure systems, intrusive monitoring, and corrosive censorship. In recent years, the cDc has involved itself in online hacktivism, as well as human rights generally. The cDc is probably best known for releasing the remote administration tool Back Orifice, and its open source successor Back Orifice 2000.
Cyberjunkie. Cyberjunkie has been part of the BBS scene in England since the late 80's and became part of the hacker scene in the early to mid 90's. He's the co-founder of the British hacking group The AoHP. He now works as a security consultant and lecturer to organizations such as the British Ministry of Defence (the other MoD).
Delchi. Delchi has been covertly undermining the known universe as a member of the cDc Ninja Strike Force. Weaving together 15 years of experience from satellite earth stations, NOC operations, consulting, physical security audits, appearances in comic books, and behind the scenes convention work, he has earned the name "The Entropy Technician." Now all he needs is a tour bus, a knowledge of brain surgery, and an oscillation overthruster.
Nelson Denoon. Nelson Denoon is a picker, a grinner, a lover, and a sinner. He gets his loving on the run.
Lynea Diaz-Hagan. Lynea Diaz-Hagan has been involved with the New York City Independent Media Center since the fall of 2000, working with the sound collective and the outreach working group. With a background in music, film, and theater production, she is interested in the relationship between creative culture and technology.
Maximillian Dornseif. Maximillian Dornseif is a hacker turned law scholar. Once involved with the Chaos Computer Club in Germany, he is now a Ph.D. student at the University of Bonn. He also still appears at the annual CCC Congress in Berlin to trade information with fellow hackers.
Dragorn. Dragorn is the author of the wireless network detection program Kismet, several wireless security articles, and is an all-around paranoid Linux security guy.
Jon Erickson. Jon Erickson has over seven years of experience in the realm of computer security. He has spoken at computer security conferences around the world. He works as a cryptologist and enterprise security designer for a health care infrastructure consulting company in San Francisco.
Avi Freedman. Avi Freedman started the first ISP in Philadelphia in 1992 (netaxs.com - now part of FastNet) and grew it into a regional backbone and hosting provider on the east coast. In 1998 he became VP of Engineering at AboveNet, a global hosting and backbone provider (though MFN has since driven it into the ground). In 1999 he went to Akamai where he's in charge of the overall network architecture and technology, though he spends most of his time on special projects for special customers. Freedman also was a founder of HavenCo on the Principality of Sealand in 1999.
Paul Garrin. Paul Garrin founded the name.space project in 1996 to catalyze the divestiture of the U.S.- sanctioned monopolies that govern the Internet and bring new and expressive extensions to the Internet Domain Name System while reforming domain policy, an initiative that continues to this day. Garrin recently co-founded Free.The.Media!, a non-profit, member-supported autonomous network and cultural think tank whose purpose is to reclaim public space on the net and preserve free expression, privacy, and access for all through education, community ownership of media infrastructure, and the development of open source software. Garrin is also known for capturing on video a controversial "police riot" in New York City back in 1988, one of the earliest sparks that ignited the "camcorder revolution."
Mike Glasser. Mike Glasser is a manufacturers' rep for electronic security products. He is a certified registered locksmith licensed by New York as a burglar and fire alarm installer as well as a member of both the Associated Locksmiths of America and the North Jersey Master Locksmith Association. And of course, he is also a phreak and hacker, as he's been most of his life.
Mike Godwin. Mike Godwin served as the first Staff Counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where he informed users of electronic networks about their legal rights and responsibilities, instructed criminal lawyers and law enforcement personnel about computer civil liberties issues, and conducted seminars about civil liberties in electronic communication for a wide range of groups. Currently a senior policy fellow at the Center for Democracy and Technology, he also remains an "IP Land" columnist for The American Lawyer magazine, and is a contributing editor at Reason.
Emmanuel Goldstein. Emmanuel Goldstein is editor and co-founder of 2600, chief organizer of the HOPE conferences, host of WBAI's "Off The Hook," director/producer of the documentary "Freedom Downtime," and the target of lawsuits and threats from all elements of Corporate America. He has been playing with and breaking phone systems and computers since his childhood.
Rop Gonggrijp. Rop Gonggrijp founded ITSX in 1998. He began hacking in his teens and founded the magazine Hack-Tic in 1989. In 1993, he was a co-founder of the Netherlands' first public Internet provider (xs4all.nl). He also played a role in the founding of De Digitale Stad, Amsterdam's Digital City. He is well known in the Netherlands and abroad as an expert in computer and telecommunications security. He has regularly been an expert witness for court cases, and is a guest lecturer on the Information Revolution and its political impact.
Gonzo. Gonzo is a member of the now disbanded L.O.S., and has been involved with the hacker community for 12 years. He is also editor-in-chief of the new ezine Reprimand, which can be reached at www.reprimandmag.com.
Eric Grimm. Eric Grimm and his law firm CyberBrief, PLC, specialize in the resolution of technology-related legal disputes. Most recently, he represented 2600 when we were sued by the Ford Motor Company for pointing www.fuckgeneralmotors.com to www.ford.com. And, not surprisingly, he won.
Robin Gross. Robin Gross is an intellectual property attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and specializes in digital music and intellectual property policy. In June 1999, she founded EFF's Campaign for Audiovisual Free Expression (CAFE) that works to protect freedom of expression in digital media. Gross frequently publishes and speaks on intellectual property, digital copyright, and the DVD/DeCSS and MP3 legal wars.
Gweeds. Gweeds is a hacker activist (not a hactivist) and wants to be your friend!
Jay Hanson. Jay Hanson has been a collector of personal electronics since his first digital watch over 20 years ago. His obsession with the development and evolution of integrated circuit-based products has led to his career in commercial radio in Connecticut and Maine. He co-hosts a shortwave radio show and web site on the golden age of electronics, both called "Pocket Calculator."
Craig Harkins. Craig Harkins has been operating Anteater Radio International since the 80's from an 18-wheeler truck over pirate shortwave.
Edward Hernstadt. Edward Hernstadt, part of 2600's legal team during the DeCSS case, specializes in First Amendment and media, intellectual property, employment discrimination/Title VII law, and entertainment litigation. He has written and spoken numerous times about the DMCA, including on National Public Radio and CNNfn.
Mark Hosler. Mark Hosler is a founding member of Negativland, the experimental music and art collective that has been recording music/audio/collage works since 1980, producing a weekly three hour radio show ("Over The Edge") since 1981, and performing live on occasional tours throughout America and Europe. Negativland have released 18 CDs, one video, and one book ("Fair Use: The Story Of The Letter U And The Numeral 2") since 1980. They were the subject of the 1995 feature film "Sonic Outlaws" by Craig Baldwin, and composed the soundtrack/sound design for a critical 1997 documentary on advertising, "The Ad and the Ego". Negativland coined the term "culture jamming" in 1984, and this phrase is now often used to describe the work of many different media artists and activists.
Javaman. Javaman is a Philadelphia-based hacker with a background in RF engineering, specifically high UHF/low SHF. He has done design work for major telecommunication companies, the military, and universities. Past projects have included RF amplifiers, phase shifters, web-based remote instrumentation control, and data acquisition.
Philip J. Kaplan (known as Pud). Philip J. Kaplan (known as Pud) is a 25-year-old computer programmer, creator of fuckedcompany.com, and uber-geek. In May 2000, on Memorial Day weekend, Kaplan started his own consultancy, PK Interactive as well as fuckedcompany.com. He emailed the web address to six friends, took off on a planned trip to Rio, and came back to 20,000 new registered users, press interviews, and just a few "cease and desist" letters. Now attracting over 3.5 million unique readers per month and a flurry of press attention, fuckedcompany.com has turned Kaplan into a hero amongst millions of fellow "dilberts" throughout the world - and into a nemesis to dot-com executives and venture capitalists.
Tarikh Korula. Tarikh Korula is an artist, computer programmer, and media activist. His work has been exhibited internationally from Siggraph to London's ICA. He received his Masters in Interactive Telecommunications from NYU in 1999. Korula is a founding member of the New York City Independent Media Center, where he helped start the sound collective in August of 2000.
Ryan Lackey. Ryan Lackey is the CTO and co-founder of HavenCo Ltd. He lives on the Principality of Sealand full-time.
Lazlow. Lazlow is a nationally syndicated host of a daily technology update aired on hundreds of radio stations nationwide. He gives listeners an honest and opinionated look inside the world of technology. For years, he has been warning of the danger of media conglomeration in the world of radio - and today, media giant ClearChannel owns over 1200 radio stations with no end in sight. Lazlow has seen the industry from the inside - and it ain't pretty.
Leo. Leo is a fan of alternative science and spends his time posting news article links on his live journal. He is currently a writer for e-zine Reprimand.
Mike Levine. Mike Levine is the host of The Expert Witness Radio Show on WBAI-FM in New York. He is a veteran of 25 years of covert and deep cover operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration and one of its most highly decorated officers. He is also a world recognized court-qualified expert witness, trial consultant, and lecturer in all matters relating to human intelligence, covert operations, narcotics trafficking, police procedures, RICO and conspiracy investigations, and the use of force. Levine has testified as an expert in over 500 civil and criminal trials internationally and domestically. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller Deep Cover and the national best-seller The Big White Lie.
Lucky225. Lucky225 is a writer for 2600 Magazine and Hacker's Digest. At age 19, he has been involved in telephony for as long as he can remember and has a vast variety of knowledge about phones - everything from regular telephones, payphones, cellphones, and voicemail systems to ANI, Caller ID, PBX's, switches, and much more.
Robert Lupo aka "V1RU5". Robert Lupo aka "V1RU5" is a network security engineer and holds several network and security certifications. He lectures nationwide on computer viruses and network security and has been featured on CNN.
Bryan Maloney. Bryan Maloney first saw a computer when his father brought home a Macintosh in 1984. He grew up using the old Mac to call up BBSes and experiment with scripting and wardialing, but eventually took to the philosophical implications of computers in the world. He currently works in high end server engineering for Sun Microsystems.
Josh Marcus. Josh Marcus is a community activist and programmer living in Philadelphia. He has been a developer on the open source projects that underlie the Philadelphia Independent Media Center, including the Slashcode based open publishing system and the studio-transmitter link software that powers WPEB 88.1 FM. He is also a contributor to various open source projects, and the Director of Technology of Datarealm Internet Services, a Philadelphia based webhosting company.
Declan McCullagh. Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent and a senior writer for CNET's news.com. An award-winning journalist, he writes and speaks frequently about technology, law, and politics. For the last four years, he has been the Washington bureau chief for Wired News. Previously he was a reporter for Time Digital Daily, Time's The Netly News, and Time Magazine, as well as a correspondent for HotWired. McCullagh moderates Politech, a well-known mailing list looking broadly at politics and technology that he founded in 1994.
Aaron McGruder. Aaron McGruder is the writer and illustrator of the daily comic strip Boondocks which has been entertaining, educating, and outraging members of the populace for years. Some of these strips have focused on hacking and have come closer to accuracy than virtually anything else in the newspapers they appear in. McGruder graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in Afro-American Studies with a concentration in Social and Cultural Analysis, and has no intention of ever returning to school for a graduate degree of any sort. Occasionally he can be heard co-hosting the Soul Controller Mix Show on WMUC 88.1 FM, College Park, Maryland. McGruder also has an unhealthy and expensive affinity for Star Wars merchandise and Japanese animation.
Mixter. Mixter has been into full disclosure since 1999 and is known for writing code such as the NSAT scanner, LibMix, and TFN (early DDoS technology), as well as some technical and political papers (mixter.warrior2k.com/papers.html). He worked as a security consultant in Israel at Ehud Tenenbaum's 2XS Ltd. and is now core developer at RedICE, an IT security company specializing in cryptography-based communication. Since mid 2000 he's been a member of Hacktivismo and is strongly interested in both technical aspects and political pro-freedom goals of the movement, and in creating the projects with which we will achieve those goals.
Andy Mueller-Maguhn. Andy Mueller-Maguhn has been a vital member and spokesperson for Germany's Chaos Computer Club since the 1980's. He's become even more dangerous by getting elected (by a landslide) to the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) where he's been keeping a watchful eye on that organization and reporting back to people like us.
Wanja Eric Naef. Wanja Eric Naef is a graduate of the Department of War Studies at King's College in London. He is currently reading for an MSc in Information Security at the Information Security Group, Department of Mathematics, Royal Holloway. He has a particular interest in Information Operations and Critical Infrastructure Protection. He is also a partner with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) in supporting the InfraGard Manufacturing Industry Association. He also maintains the Infocon newsletter.
Deborah Natsios. Deborah Natsios has practiced architecture in New York City since 1981, and taught in graduate architecture programs at Columbia University, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, and The University of Texas. She received a BA in Mathematics from Smith College in 1975 and a Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University in 1979. She currently operates cartome.org, an archive of news and spatial/geographic documents on privacy, cryptography, dual-use technologies, national security, and intelligence.
The New York City People's Law Collective. The New York City People's Law Collective is the first standing anarchist legal collective that is dedicated to aiding activists. They have been providing aid since the Republican Convention of 2000 and have worked with groups ranging from community gardeners, black blockers, the mentally ill, and anti-globalization protesters in Washington, New York, Quebec, Philadelphia, and elsewhere. They also provided help for the raisethefist.com case.
Greg Newby. Greg Newby is a professor at UNC Chapel Hill with a Ph.D. in Information Transfer. He teaches Unix/Linux systems administration and information security, and has a research project to develop open source search engines. He is a founding member of the North Carolina chapter of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), and the CEO of Project Gutenberg.
Nightstalker. Nightstalker has been a Commodore enthusiast since the mid-80s, and a retrocomputing/retrotechnology fan. He's been a member of the Cult of the Dead Cow since 1990. He built an Altair back in the 70s, as well as a Don Lancaster designed TV typewriter terminal with a 110 baud acoustic coupled modem to use with it. Bending over printed circuit boards, soldering iron in hand, for almost 40 of his 50 years, Nightstalker has probably inhaled far too many fumes from molten solder.
Uzi Nissan. Uzi Nissan came to the US from Israel in 1976 and used his surname to identify a number of business enterprises. The first was Nissan Foreign Car in 1980 (while Nissan Motors was still known as Datsun). In 1987 he started an import/export business known as Nissan International, Ltd. and in 1991 he founded Nissan Computer Corporation. On June 4, 1994, he registered the domain name nissan.com to promote Nissan Computer's related products and services on the Internet. In 1996 he registered the domain name nissan.net and began offering Internet services, including dial-up and direct connections to business. In 1999 legal action was instituted by Nissan Motors for trademark infringement, trademark dilution, and cybersquatting. He's spent a fortune since then literally battling for his name.
Sam Nitzberg. Sam Nitzberg is a consultant with an extensive background in software engineering and information security. He has bachelors and masters degrees in Computer Science and Software Engineering, respectively, as well as several years of doctoral studies in Computer Science. He has published and presented on subjects relating to computer security, information warfare, technology and ethics, and military informatics in numerous national and international venues. His web sites include www.iamsam.com and www.NitzbergSecurityAssociates.com.
Mr. Ohm. Mr. Ohm has been involved in the New York City 2600 community for four years. He is an advocate for the exploration of archaic technology and the use of hacking in politically and socially conscious roles, including hacktivism and electronic sabotage.
Porkchop. Porkchop started with 2600 when he began the live streaming of the radio show Off The Hook over the Internet in 1997. Since then, he has been involved in many projects including filming and editing Freedom Downtime. He spends his days in upstate New York finishing school and using technology in an attempt to effect social change there.
Kevin Prichard. Kevin Prichard is a particle physicist, neurosurgeon, and martial arts master, and also plays in a band. When he's not working as an open source software developer, he can occasionally be heard on the New York City Indymedia radio stream (http://nyc.indymedia.org/sound/) discussing civil liberties, online freedoms, and other critical issues of the day. In his copious free time he contributes to the ROACH project at Indymedia (Ratty Old Arrays of Computer Hardware).
Steven Rambam. Steven Rambam is a licensed private investigator and the owner and CEO of Pallorium, Inc., an investigative agency with offices and affiliates throughout the world. During the past 21 years, he has conducted and coordinated investigations in more than 50 countries and in nearly every U.S. state and Canadian province. For the past eleven years, he has also been the owner and director of PallTech, an online service which provides database and investigative support services to investigative agencies, special investigative units (SIUs), and law enforcement. PallTech offers interactive and non-interactive access to nearly 600 data sources, including five major proprietary databases such as Skiptrace America and BusinessFinder America. The Skiptrace America database, which currently contains more than 5.3 billion unique records, is believed to be the largest individual reference database in the United States, excluding those databases maintained by the three U.S. credit bureaus. Ten years ago Rambam forced the tightening of airport security in Texas airports by publicly exposing those airports' security flaws. In 1997 he exposed the presence in Canada of 162 Nazi war criminals and also conducted investigations which resulted in the prosecution and conviction of war criminals on murder charges. He is also the inspiration for "Rambam the detective" in Kinky Friedman's series of murder mysteries.
John Ramsey. John Ramsey founded Ramsey Electronics 30 years ago and has been producing innovative kits for electronics hobbyists and hackers ever since. His low-power radio transmitter kits have received worldwide acclaim, and are used by thousands of microbroadcasting stations around the globe.
RenderMan. RenderMan is an anti-virus critic who has been making a hobby of annoying anti-virus vendors and other large companies for the last two years. He also fought successfully for the recategorizing of Netbus as a trojan by several anti-virus vendors.
Rudy Rucker, Jr.. Rudy Rucker, Jr. is an ex-dot-commer who owns and operates a local ISP in San Francisco. Fascinated with pop culture, he makes websites which amuse some and trouble others.
Douglas Rushkoff. Douglas Rushkoff is the author of eight best-selling books on new media and popular culture, including Cyberia, Media Virus, Playing the Future, Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say, and the novels Ecstasy Club and Exit Strategy. His radio commentaries air on NPR's All Things Considered, and his monthly column on cyberculture is distributed through the New York Times Syndicate and appears in over 30 countries. Rushkoff lectures about media, art, society, and change at conferences and universities around the world. He hosts and writes documentaries for PBS, Channel Four, and the BBC.
Rev. Sergey. Rev. Sergey, having emigrated from Russia, is a member of the Barbelith Underground, founding member of the Weird Science Club, and is an ordained minister with the Universal Light Church. His site can be reached at www.enamon.com.
ShapeShifter. ShapeShifter became a bit of a national figure shortly after the H2K conference in 2000 when he was jailed for a week during the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia and held along with three others for over half a million dollars bail. The odd thing was that there was no actual evidence that he did anything wrong and eventually all charges were dismissed. But it was a frightening example of how individuals can be targeted simply because they speak out. (He had given a talk on planned protests at the RNC during H2K.) ShapeShifter is also the layout artist for 2600.
Anatole Shaw. Anatole Shaw is an independent researcher and engineer, self-employed professor, and longtime advocate of practical cryptography.
Tyler Shields. Tyler Shields is the director of OSSTMM (Open Source Security Testing Methodology Manual) Knowledge Transfer project and co-founder/lead technical resource for Security Sciences Corporation (www.securitysciences.com). He is heavily involved in penetration testing, information reconnaissance, and developing the OSSTMM Security Testing Certification training courses for the USA. His name is known to many open source security projects and a few old-school hacker groups.
Tray Smee. Tray Smee has been a network administrator and computer programmer since 1995. He is a Microsoft Certified Professional and is involved with many different aspects of communications equipment, from programming 2-way radios, pagers, and cell phones to modifying them. He has been an amateur radio operator since 1996. He loves to take things apart to see what makes them tick. Reverse engineering and learning protocols for different types of systems are what take up most of his free time.
Richard M. Smith. Richard M. Smith once headed the nonprofit Privacy Foundation but now focuses on technology related to security issues. He's been described by The New York Times as "perhaps the nation's most vocal authority on data privacy." A former software entrepreneur, Smith is credited with uncovering dozens of incidents in which high technology companies were trying to breech consumers' privacy by secretly tracking online movements. He has teamed up with the ACLU to show that facial scanning technology would be largely ineffective in identifying terrorists. Smith operates a web site that reports "computer bites man" stories, named ComputerBytesMan.com.
StAtIc FuSiOn. StAtIc FuSiOn has been infatuated with computers, electronics, and technology since he first laid hands on a computer. After getting his feet wet in hacking at an early age he instantly found his calling which led to many years of exploring, learning, and practice in computer security. He has become a regular at the Calgary 2600 meetings over the last few years and has come to know many wireless hacking enthusiasts in the area. Recently he has become interested in wireless 802.11b, advanced aspects of TCP/IP, various spoofing methods and authentication bypass, and social engineering - due to its relation to another one of his passions: psychology.
Robert Steele. Robert Steele, a 25 year veteran of the U.S. national security community and counter of oss.net, is the author of The New Craft of Intelligence: Personal, Public, & Political - Citizen's Action Handbook on Fighting Terrorism, Genocide, Disease, Toxic Bombs, and Corruption. He gave the keynote address back in 1994 at the first HOPE conference. He's been described by writer Bruce Sterling as "10,000 times as dangerous as the best of the hackers, for he is successfully hacking the most challenging of bureaucracies, the U.S. intelligence community, and doing it for the right reasons."
Pete Tridish. Pete Tridish is one of the founders of Radio Mutiny, 91.3 FM in Philadelphia, and its successor RadioVolta.org. He is also a founder of the Prometheus Radio Project, an organization that organizes for low power radio and provides free assistance to LPFM applicants. He actively participated in the FCC rulemaking and the grassroots organizing campaign that led up to the adoption of LPFM. He tours the country regularly to help start community radio stations and fight for democratization of media.
Siva Vaidhyanathan. Siva Vaidhyanathan, a cultural historian and media scholar, is the author of Copyrights and Copywrongs: The Rise of Intellectual Property and How It Threatens Creativity. He is currently working on a book about Napster and the ways we regulate our information ecosystem. He has written for many periodicals, including The Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Chronicle of Higher Education, msnbc.com, The New York Times Magazine, Salon.com, and The Nation. After five years as a professional journalist, Vaidhyanathan earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He has taught at the University of Texas, Wesleyan University, and the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is an assistant professor in the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University.
Peter Wayner. Peter Wayner is the author of 11 books, the latest two being Translucent Databases and Disappearing Cryptography. He lives in Baltimore.
Allan Weiner. Allan Weiner operated a famous pirate radio station back in the 80's - Radio New York International. Now he operates a 50,000 watt shortwave radio station in Maine called WBCQ.
Barry "The Key" Wels. Barry "The Key" Wels is one of the founders of TOOOL, The Open Organization of Lockpickers, a European lockpick sportclub. He also assists in professional lockpick/safe opening seminars given by the famous Paul Crouwel in the Netherlands. More info on lockpicking as a sport can be found on www.lockpicking.org or www.toool.nl.
John Young. John Young has been a New York City architect since 1970, and taught in graduate architecture programs at Columbia University, Pratt Institute, and through Urban Deadline, which he co-founded in 1968. He received a BA in Philosophy from Rice University in Houston in 1962, a Bachelor of Architecture from Rice in 1963, and a Master of Science in Architecture from Columbia University in 1969. He currently operates cryptome.org, a site that has become a vital source of free information on the net and which "welcomes documents for publication that are prohibited by governments worldwide, in particular material on freedom of expression, privacy, cryptology, dual-use technologies, national security, intelligence, and blast protection - open, secret, and classified documents."
Paul Zurek. Paul Zurek had his electronic eyes opened at the age of 7 when he received his very first handheld game, a Parker Brothers Merlin. He graduated to coin-ops and then computers when his mom bought him a $30 TI99/4A from K-Mart. Today he pursues all sorts of old electronic devices from games to stereos to computers.
Again, this is merely a preliminary list of what we're working on for the conference. You can also look forward to panels and talks on social engineering, pirate radio, conspiracies of all sorts, 802.11 fun, lockpicking, nanotechnology, Indymedia, cryptography, steganography, satellite hacking, and a whole lot more plus showings of your favorite hacker movies including "Freedom Downtime" and a brand new one called "Owned."
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