The Happy Hacker offers you the secrets and tools to become an Überhacker and Cyberwarrior, and even how to build a railgun. But who is this Happy Hacker? Though other folks are now involved with the website, Carolyn P. Meinel is the primary face of The Happy Hacker. She is a long-time computer hacker, going back to getting unapproved access to the PLATO system (previously). She started Happy Hacker because "all sorts of guys were begging me, 'teach me how to hack'." Her webpage gained attention, getting mentioned in The Happy Mutant Handbook, and being invited to speak at Defcon. But there are people who doubt her credentials, and others who are a lot more harsh. Regardless of the backlash, and the appearance that the peak of The Happy Hacker has passed, her articles are still being published.
posted by filthy light thief on Apr 29, 2009 - 23 comments

Serious as a heart attack: A collaboration of various medical researchers in the academic field has led to proof that pacemakers can be remotely hacked with simple and accessible equipment. This is a proof of concept, but the real question is: How many other pacemakers and medical devices are similarly vulnerable? (Writers may note a new twist available for the assassination of characters in their novels and screenplays.)
posted by spock on Aug 13, 2008 - 41 comments

Three MIT students planned to reveal to Defcon how to make counterfeit "Charley Cards" - the electronic passes that allow access to Boston's MBTA transit system. The MBTA sued for a restraining order, and a judge has granted it. [more inside]
posted by Kirth Gerson on Aug 11, 2008 - 104 comments

Dr. Strangelove's Doomsday device may be more fact than fiction. We've had doomsday stories here before, but what if dead hand control of nuclear devices is real? Perhaps live-hand control is better. You could always try your hand at a nuclear apocalypse.
posted by craven_morhead on Sep 3, 2007 - 25 comments

DEFCON , based off the real alert levels (and Wargames), is a game about killing innocent civilians.
posted by pantsrobot on Oct 2, 2006 - 60 comments

Project Evil - Number stations appear on VoIP and it just seems very mysterious. Slashdot picks up the story. Now all is revealed.
posted by caddis on Aug 9, 2006 - 19 comments

Technological convenience or target identifier? In the most recent chapter in the RFID + US Passport story, LA-based security analysts Flexilis--those of the world record attempt RFID read at last year's DEFCON--noticed a security vulnerability in the RF shielding being proposed for the October release of the next generation US passport. And they made a hell of a proof of concept video showing a possible exploit of the vulnerability.
posted by quite unimportant on Aug 3, 2006 - 24 comments

This NYT article on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), written by Prof. Lawrence Lessig (author of an excellent book on copyright law and policy in the digital age), raises concerns that were academic prior to the recent arrest of a Russian software programmer at a Las Vegas computer security convention for violation of the act's Sec. 1201(a)(1)(A)'s anticircumvention provision. Is Lessig right that Sec. 1201 essentially makes coders (and their employers) into de facto lawmakers and, if so, is this a bad thing? If Sec. 1201 is bad policy, are there any more reasonable alternatives for effectively protecting access to software and/or providing negative incentives for the unauthorized use of software? (NYT article, registration required)
posted by estopped on Jul 30, 2001 - 16 comments

Adobe backs down, Dmitry left on the hook. They dropped all charges against Dmitry, but the Justice Department may not.
posted by Kikkoman on Jul 23, 2001 - 1 comment

The EFF gets a meeting with Adobe, but does it come quickly enough? I, for one, am not ready to easily forgive and forget the company's actions, regardless how strong Adobe's case against him. Keep your eye on the ball and maybe we'll see a bad law overturned and an injustice corrected.
posted by Kikkoman on Jul 20, 2001 - 20 comments