Black Hat and DEFCON are full of win

Here’s an experiment. Go to a hacker conference, and then ask for help. See what happens.

Sure, there are trolls and skiddies that will screw with you, but usually behind your back. There are the egos that find you below their notice, but they’re few and generally don’t venture far from their entourage. Throughout most of my career, I haven’t had the time or money to make it to many conferences. The ones I have made it to have floored me with the level of friendliness and community (neighborly, as Travis would put it). This was my first Black Hat, and only second DEFCON.

Years ago when I was working as a security consultant, my boss at the time talked me into joining Twitter, where a lot of the hacker/infosec community hangs out, and I dove in. I found an almost neverending supply of friendly folks willing to answer questions, help out and even collaborate on projects.

Being relatively new to the huge Black Hat/DEFCON scene, there were many opportunities for my week to get screwed up and my ‘con experience’ to go south. Thanks to some awesome people, it didn’t.

I hope I thanked everyone individually, but being a natural introvert, I occasionally fail to show my appreciation. I only hope I have the opportunities to reciprocate with the grace, class and humility that I’ve been given. Though I already had a list of thank yous compiled it was Johnny’s HFC thank you post that convinced me that it wouldn’t be cheesy to publicly share it. This kind of stuff comes naturally to Johnny, but I feel like I’ll never be able to write it without sounding derpy.

In no particular order:

Thanks to Alex for all the time you spent explaining some ridiculously complex (to me at least) concepts, and teaching me how to deal with it.

Thanks to everyone that tried to carry a conversation with me, though I had become partially deaf from so much loud music.

Thanks to all the friends and strangers that were quick to share their tables, cabs, conversations and meals. I met some great people just from being willing to share a cab! Growing up in East Tennessee, sharing transportation is an alien concept. The simple act of sharing a ride was one of the highlights of the whole week for me.

Thanks to the TSA for being able to take a joke (though I probably shouldn’t press my luck).

Thanks to Scott, Richard and ______ (< Oi, forgot your name, sorry! I’m awful with names…) for randomly adopting me for an evening, sharing your time, whiskey and company at Hofbräuhaus.

Thanks to my colleagues and friends Wendy, Garrett and Javvad for sharing advice on how to survive the ‘con with my sanity intact.

I always love hearing about Adam’s (@tatanus) and Adam’s (@adamcaudill) latest projects. It isn’t often you meet hackers that are both ‘idea guys’ and have the ability to build and execute amazing stuff.

Thanks to Guillaume for a romantic dinner (lol, I think this is the first of two times I might have been mistaken for being out on a date) and some great company. It was great meeting you — looking forward to the next conference we can hang out!

Thanks to Chris and Steve for a great time rehashing pentesting and QSA war stories.

Thanks to Dan for the chili powder, great conversation and VNC laughs/nightmares.

Thanks to Rich for the conversation and assistance navigating the DEFCON badge acquisition process (oi).

Thanks to Rick for sharing war stories and putting together an awesome analyst dinner/hangout.

Thanks to the awesome folks at Peppermill Restaurant for finding and returning my wallet at the previously mentioned analyst dinner/hangout!

Thanks to Hugh and John for good food and conversation. It was at the beginning of Black Hat, so it is a bit blurry, but I recall guacamole and laughter.

Thanks to Wendy for sharing some Irish food and atmosphere. What a nice way to relax and chill out for breakfast after all the Black Hat insanity!

Thanks to the guys at BugCrowd for introducing me to this new vuln-finding/testing community and a ton of crazy, but awesome Aussies.

Thanks to Jayson for being naturally friendly, crazy and an awkward hugger. We all forgive you for being a Pepsi drinker. I can’t imagine a hacker con without running into you.

Thanks to Casey for yet another ‘romantic dinner’. Sorry you had to see me belly dance. I hope the food was worth it.

Thanks to the guys running the ‘bomb disposal’ challenge in the tamper evident area at DEFCON. That was a… wait for it… BLAST < it physically hurt me to type that.

Like anyone trying to put together one of these lists, I can’t come even close to remembering all the great moments and people I should thank, so please don’t feel left out. Looking forward to seeing many of you at DerbyCon next month!

Almost forgot to thank Wesley for one of the most epic hacks/trolls I’ve ever seen!

Would it be too cheesy to say that I love this industry? Oh well, I do.

—Adrian (@sawaba)

P.S. My experience continued, even on the flight home as I was able to snap some amazing cloud shots out my window ☺