[robxorb]

IMO the thing that may matter most here is the PR effect on Defcon. It's the badge - every attendee takes this thing home and engages with it. It's a talking point, memento and representation of the spirit of the conference.

That's an unmitigated PR disaster for Defcon. It doesn't matter to this who was right or wrong or what laws were broken, even if somehow all legally ended up in Defcon's favour, the damage to the brand is huge, enduring and set aside from those issues.

To address this, whoever at Defcon ultimately actioned this series of events should be held to account, for this PR aspect, and the matter immediately and publicly handed to someone with an appropriate understanding of Defcon's culture & reputation.

[clwg]

It seems to have been Dark Tangent[0] (aka Jeff Moss), the creator and organizer of Blackhat and Defcon.

https://x.com/dmitrygr/status/1822126826606739678