Well the two big stories this week are the CISCO router problem and Philip “PGP” Zimmerman’s new project. Originally unveiled at Black Hat earlier this week his new crypted VOIP looks really interesting. Well it would have looked interesting if the demo had worked; eventually his partner just called on a cellphone. The goal is to return the “security” of land lines to the world of VOIP.

The app is based on the shtoom project (open source VOIP written in Python) and the crypto is strapped ontop. A nice feature of the protocol is hashing part of the previous conversation’s key into the current conversation. If you and the other person read the hash aloud and they match it means that this conversation and every previous one has been fully secure.

He’s shopping the project around to venture capital right now to make a commercial product written in C. The source will still be free though.

Most people have left by now, but they were able to get the demo going. It is funny to hear a secure call blasted over loud speakers. He’s got a switch in the software to switch off the packet decryption so you can hear what the wiretap hears

Hey! The swag is already out and in full force. Defcon is great, but beware about photos, here’s what our man with the master plan Jason C. says:

“We’re 10 minutes into the event and the first privacy/freedom of speech debate has started. The topic was, of course, photos. An organizer went off a long tirade about not taking pictures of the speakers or audience without their permission and that the press would have their film taken if they did. They did says that you could take pictures of the backs of people’s heads without permission. So, since many of you have always wanted to see the backs of 500 sweaty nerds in a tent

Viva las vegas. it’s now 12:30pm here, 3:30pm there (philadelphia).

when the box office opens for tickets, we’ll be there (we = me. eliot gets in late. torrone might be there with me)

we suggest you meet up with us. the t-shirts got lost with UPS, but they’ll be getting a new order here by saturday for us. so no worries! defcon visitors will get some!

expect more posts today. jet lag kills. don’t IM me unless you ARE going to defcon.
if you will be going to defcon, send us a tip or comment with a way to get in touch with you and we’ll let you know whats up. meet us before defcon then come ask us Q&A and show us hacks tomorrow!

plenty of stickers to give out still!

Continue reading “Defcon Day -1 At 12:40pm PST” →

let’s talk defcon.

first off, the t-shirts were “delivered” yesterday. except they either:

A. got stolen within a one hour window of no one being home in my mother’s town which has like no crime.
B. UPS screwed up hardcore. probably true.
C. I dunno.

So UPS says they got delivered, but they didn’t. This is a huge problem. So most of today I’ll spend remedying the situation. Second, will you be at Defcon? Let us know. Come by and say hi to us, meet up, talk with us, and all. It’ll be Me, Eliot, Jason Calacanis (Weblogs Inc. co-founder/CEO), Phillip Torrone (hackaday creator), and Jason Striegel will be there as well. We’ll have t-shirts, stickers, and a very limited number of pins to give out. Bring your hacks too! We wanna see em!

Also, my flight to Vegas is Thursday and I’ll be getting there SUPER early at 10:30am I believe. Would anyone from the area want to meet up? Show me around? Go to Defcon registration with me? Let me know. Eliot doesn’t get in until 10pm I believe.

So needless to say, don’t expect the usual links until next week. Instead, expect post after post about Defcon. Yes, we will be using color pictures too. Don’t cry. We’ll be throwing a few contests too so you can score a hackaday prize pack.

So as I spend the final 24 hours packing, etc., keep an eye out for us in Vegas. We’ll be 0wning it. Trust us. We’ll throw a poll up too probably.

5 last minute links for ya’ll!
#1. Google maps again. This time, find cellphone towers.
#2. Microsoft be checkin…for yo’ pirated copy a windows fool. Sucks for a lot of us I’m sure.
#3. Homemade headphones. Just like mom makes em. [cyanoacry]
#4. This wi-fi light is incredibly awesome. I mean just look at it.
#5. Actual flying star wars ship models. Insane.

Continue reading “Hackaday Lazy Afternoons” →