Sweet, juicy justice:

Bottom line: NBC Dateline wanted to do a shock-piece about hackers having a convention. They placed an under-cover reporter there to pose as an attendee with a hidden camera, so that she could get someone on tape confessing to committing a felony.

I thought that it was absolutely awesome, the way that Defcon handled it. The Defcon organizers heard about her presence, and on four seperate occasions they offered her a press pass - they don’t mind the press being there, but you have to KNOW who they ARE - and she declined.

Finally, as a last-ditch effort, they brought a bunch of people into a room and played, “Spot the press” - she fled before they even got her picture up on the projector. Then, about 150 attendees followed her out to her car.

According to reports, she’s still welcome back - but this time, she has to come with a press badge.

I thought it was really telling, as she walked away pursued by people with cameras, that she didn’t say a single thing as they tried to rile her up. It’s the same crap they (reporters) try (someone actually made reference to, “To Catch a Predator”, the show where they blindside predators with TV cameras - a show that has also resulted in several suicides). She did the smart thing; say nothing. I think you could tell that she was flustered though, she tried to exit the parking lot the wrong way.

Interestingly, from the “tech media”, the response seems to be universally supportive of Defcon and the way they handled it, and heaps condemnation on Michelle Madigan (the Dateline Associate Producer who tried to infiltrate the show)

I never believed before that, by being at the scene and reporting the truth, justice could possibly be served. This is a pretty cool moment for citizen journalism; as we probably wouldn’t have heard much of this event were it not for the videos captured by ametures (this won’t exactly lead the 6:00 news, I don’t think).

Here’s what some reporters have to say on the event:

First report I saw on the event In-depth report (which is pretty good - he was actually there) A less-good report, but with more info on how they lured her into the room where they outed her

Favourite Quote: “I dont know why you”re so unhappy - you chose a life in front of the camera”

Edit: Check out 1:30 - she says, “Guys, I’m just…” then catches herself. Were this NBC, this is where I’d be saying, “Unable to come up with a defense of her actions, she chooses to walk away in shame”