Blonde ambition at Defcon

Reporter Michelle Madigan came to the 15th annual Defcon conference in search of a good story. Instead, she became one.

The NBC producer was hoping to capture undercover video of hackers for an upcoming Dateline segment. But Madigan ignored two salient facts: Defcon forbids hidden cameras, and the favorite sport of the Defconners is spotting undercover federal agents in attendance. A blonde 20-something TV reporter would not pose much of a challenge.

According to published reports, the show’s security “goons” repeatedly offered to give her press credentials, which any reporter of normal intelligence might take as a sign their secret identity was compromised. Not Madigan. She proceeded to enter the conference and pan her purse around the room.

Gee, is that a hidden camera in your handbag, or are you just a friggin’ idiot?

After playing a fake round of “Spot the Fed,” show leader Dark Tangent (aka Jeff Moss) decided to play “Spot the Reporter,” asking the press person with the hidden camera to please identify herself. Once Madigan realized the jig was up, she fled the room. She was gleefully tailed into the parking log by a dozen or so jeering Defcon attendees, which is the closest some of them had been to a girl in their lives.

(You can view photos of Madigan’s perp walk here, or watch a migraine-inducing video of it here. Note all the Defcon geeks carrying cameras in the photos. Photography is permitted at the show, provided you ask nicely. If Madigan had accepted the friggin’ press pass, she probably could have taken the camera out of her bag and captured as much footage as she wanted.)

Show organizers knew Madigan was coming before she even stepped onto a plane, which is frightening but not necessarily surprising. This snippet from the IDG News story by Robert McMillan and PC World’s Erik Larkin is worth repeating:

Defcon organizers identified Madigan after being tipped off by her associates, who Priest [a show organizer] declined to name. After the incident, Priest showed reporters a complete dossier on Madigan, which included a photograph, phone number, job title and social security number. He would not say how he obtained it.

I have only two rules when dealing with the hacker community: Rule #1: Don’t mess with the black hats. Rule #2: See rule #1.

Madigan has now learned that it’s not as much fun being on the other side of the camera, and when you research a segment on hackers, you need to do more than rent the movie “War Games.”

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