11.23.07

[SecTor Review] Hacking Hollywood

Posted in Conferences / Training Sessions, IT, Reviews, Security at 9:53 pm by Tyler Reguly

SecTor Day #2
Speaker: Johnny Long
Download Audio (wmv)

This was my first time seeing Johnny talk and he definitely lived up to the stories I've heard. This wasn't a technical talk by any means, but it was highly entertaining and hilarious.

Before Johnny started his talk, he took advantage of his the platform to fill in the attendees on IHackCharities.org. The basis of the organization is fairly simply... they match hackers/it professionals who are unemployed with charities that are seeking IT-related help... e.g. a charity that needs a web page built for them. In exchange for the few hours of work that the hacker donates, they get references from leading industry professionals who have verified their work. I actually see this as being quite useful and was excited to hear about it. I have to contact Johnny still as he mentioned unemployed professionals, but I'm wondering if the employed can volunteer as well. It's a way that everyone can give back, even if it's just a little bit. This is something that the SecTor organizers should have picked up on and presented to the entire con, as it's definitely a worthwhile cause.

Back to the presentation... Johnny took several popular hacker related movies and demonstrated why scenes were either 'leet' or 'lame'. The movies included Hackers, The Matrix, Swordfish, and Code Hunters... although there were plenty of others. The presentation was a lot of fun, however it might have been more fitting as a keynote so that everyone could have enjoyed it.

Valid uses of security in movies were pointed out, as were the completely wacko ideas. There were typos identified and examples of Hollywood using yet to be discovered technologies.

The hour flew by and could have most likely been extended, as everyone was drawn into the talk, which included audience participation.

Permalink