A few weeks ago, Def Con organizers asked federal officials not to attend their conference because of NSA spying . However, at Black Hat , the conference organizer proudly announced that General Keith Alexander , the director of the NSA, would deliver the keynote address.
He of course tried to justify the NSA by starting his speech with all the terrorist attacks the US has suffered. But as you will see in the video below, he could not convince the audience and some of the attendees disapproved of him.
“You lied to Congress. Why don’t you lie to us today?” someone shouted during his speech.
The Black Hat uploaded a video of Keith Alexander's speech to YouTube.
What do you think of the promotion of the General by the organizers?
The General's presence at the conference can mean a lot.
His presence at the conference may be considered essential for the image of the US Government and perhaps to create positive impressions after the NSA scandal. But consider the tolerance of the conference organizers, who assigned the NSA director the opening speech, while at Def Con they closed the door to all federal officials.
Black Hat 2013 is a great example of the fine lines between hackers and secret agents. We've previously written about governments hiring hackers, as well as individuals who "sent" their hacktivist groups to the FBI and continued to work with the feds.
Keith Alexander 's speech was exactly as it should have been. You wouldn't expect the director of the NSA to take the side of the people who spy on us, of course. There are certainly reasons why they spy on us, and he explained those reasons to us in detail.
But who believes that the secret service does not monitor SMS or phone conversations? Or who can believe that several members of the conference organizing committee do not have good relations with government agencies?
Ultimately, perhaps the “bullshits” heard from an attendee at 38:49 was the only truth in the opening speech.
Watch the video
