Aug 14, 2008

Booted from hacking conference for hacking

Three French journalists covering the Black Hat hackers convention in Las Vegas were expelled for … well … hacking.

With thousands of hackers milling around the Black Hat convention here, and widespread snooping on the public WiFi network, one place was supposed to be off limits: the press room.

But in a case of reporters spying on other reporters, three journalists working for the French publication Global Security Magazine were booted Thursday from the hackers' conference after they were allegedly caught hacking into the private computer network set up for the media.

The French journalists captured what they claimed were usernames and passwords of reporters from at least two media outlets - eWeek and CNET News.

Black Hat attendees are warned that the conference's public wireless network is being monitored by hackers.

People who send sensitive personal data over it are cautioned they might have that information posted on the Wall of Sheep, a forum to embarrass security professionals who don't follow proper security procedures themselves.

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