EFF at BSidesLV, Black Hat, and DEF CON 👨‍💻

It's time. Time for tinkerers, security researchers, hackers, and fellow nerds to gather together in signature black hoodies and utilikilts to beat the heat in Las Vegas for the summer security conferences: BSidesLV, Black Hat USA, and DEF CON.

EFF's lawyers, activists, and technologists are excited, as always, to support this community of folks that push computer security forward. If you're attending the conference and have any legal concerns about an upcoming talk or sensitive infosec research—during the Las Vegas conferences or anytime—don't hesitate to reach out to info@eff.org where our intake team is ready to assist! Share a brief summary of the issue, and we'll do our best to connect you with the right resources. You can also learn more about our work supporting technologists on our Coders' Rights Project page.

Be sure to swing by the expo areas at all three conferences to say hello to your friendly neighborhood EFF staffers! You'll probably spot us roaming the conference halls, but we'd love for you to stop by our booths to catch up on our latest work, get on our action alerts, and become an EFF member! For the whole week, we'll have our limited-edition DEF CON 34 t-shirt on hand. We're excited to see them—and other EFF gear—take over each conference!

EFF Staff Presentations

Privacy's Defenders: How Hackers Helped and Can Do So Again

Hackers have a long history standing up for justice and that history has a lot to teach and inspire the hackers of today as we face a world with 360-degree surveillance that is increasingly marshaled against us by both companies and governments. My talk will tell background and stories from my book, Privacy's Defender, that tells the story of my 30 years working with EFF to try to protect security and privacy in the digital age. Cards on the table: I'm trying to recruit you to join in the fight. WHERE: Florentine F | BSides Las Vegas WHEN: Monday, August 3 @ 11:00 WHO: Cindy Cohn - Former EFF Executive Director 

Ask EFF at BSidesLV

Panelists from the EFF Staff will give brief updates on key topics in their expertise before turning it over to BSides attendees to ask their burning questions about policy, advocacy and making the future of tech brighter. It's a dynamic session fostering engaging discussions on digital rights featuring an EFF staff attorney, activist, and public interest technologist. WHERE: Florentine F | BSides Las Vegas WHEN: Tuesday, August 4 @ 14:00 WHO: EFF's Rory Mir, Kenyatta Thomas, Alexis Hancock, Haley Pederson, and Cindy Cohn

What Election Security Researchers Need to Know about Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

WHERE: Voting Village | DEF CON WHEN: Friday, August 7, 10:30-11:00 WHO: EFF Staff Attorney Tori Noble

Privacy's Defender: How Hackers Protected the Internet Before and Can Do It Again

EFF's Outgoing Executive Director Cindy Cohn' presents her first-person stories from her recently published book, Privacy's Defender, that take you Inside the privacy battles that have shaped today's Internet. It includes the hackers who helped free up encryption technology from US governmental control, allowing us to have the still imperfect privacy and security we now have online, and the battles to stop the mass NSA spying and eternal gag orders that arose from the governments formerly secret mass spying programs in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. She then draws from that long career of legal activism to the fights of today and tomorrow, featuring the role that hackers can play in helping to bring about a better, more just future. WHERE: Creator Stage 1 | DEF CON WHEN: Friday, August 7, 15:00-16:30 WHO: Former EFF Executive Director, Cindy Cohn

Why Mandatory Age Verification Keeps Us All Less Safe

WHERE: Creator Stage 7 | DEF CON WHEN: Saturday, August 8, 13:30-14:30 WHO: EFF Director of Engineering Alexis Hancock & EFF Social Media and Video Manager Kenyatta Thomas

ESP32 As A Counter-Surveillance Platform

Privacy should be accessible to all. Historically, counter-surveillance tools have been expensive, complex, and inaccessible to most individuals, often limited to well-funded researchers and costly hardware configurations. The ESP32 offers a transformative alternative. This presentation will demonstrate how an affordable microcontroller has become the foundation for a growing suite of open-source, user-friendly anti-surveillance tools. We w