Originally posted by Danny Yadron on The Wall Street Journal
Last year, National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander keynoted DEF CON, a large annual hacker convention in Las Vegas, in jeans and a tucked-in black t-shirt.
This year, he's not welcome.
Following a string of revelations about how the NSA keeps tabs on domestic phone and Internet traffic, dark arts hackers and the government's cybersleuths "need some time apart," DEF CON founder Jeff Moss, who goes by the pseudonym "The Dark Tangent,"announced Wednesday.
It underscores the widening rift between the NSA, the government's electronic eavesdropper, and one of its biggest talent pools, hackers, after former agency contractor Edward Snowden leaked a series of classified documents on government surveillance.
The link between the two communities has always been awkward, if good natured. DEF CON attendees usually play "Spot the Fed" each year to out government attendees who look out of place. Those who pick out spooks get "I spotted the fed!" t-shirts. The outed spooks get "I am the fed!" t-shirts.
Nevertheless, NSA officials, including Gen. Alexander, regularly showed up to recruit and keep tabs on the latest developments in cybersecurity.
Mr. Moss wasn't specific about why the government isn't welcome this year, but alluded to Mr. Snowden's leaks.
"When it comes to sharing and socializing with feds, recent revelations have made many in the community uncomfortable with this relationship," Mr. Moss said. "It would be best for everyone involved if the feds call a 'time-out' and not attend DEF CON this year. This will give everybody time to think about how we got here, and what comes next."
Gen. Alexander meantime does not appear to have lost all ties to the hacker community. On July 31, one day before DEF CON starts, he'll keynote Black Hat, another cybersecurity conference being held at a different Las Vegas hotel.
Mr. Moss, meantime, has his own connections to official Washington. He serves on the advisory council to the Department of Homeland Security, which helps American companies fight cyberthreats, often with intelligence gathered by the NSA.
The NSA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
