NSA director finally greets Defcon hackers

I've never actually attended Defcon but it has started to really sound like the place to be for anyone interested in cybersecurity, including the NSA.

 Against a backdrop of relentless cyber-espionage on U.S. companies and government agencies and vulnerabilities and exploits affecting critical infrastructure providers, Gen. Alexander, who also is commander of the U.S. Cyber Command, asked the hackers for help. "In this room right here is the talent we need to secure cyberspace," he said. "You know we can protect the networks and have civil liberties and privacy and you can help us get there."

Long a staple at Defcon, the "Spot the Fed" contest served as a playful detente between the hackers and the agents who chased them for phone phreaking, distributed denial-of-service attacks, Web site defacements, and basically using the Internet as their personal playground and social experiment. 

With the increasing threat of cyber warfare many will look to the very people who made things like Defcon possible to further protect ourselves from attack. 

Related Web URL: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57481689-83/nsa-d...