DEF CON Archives - Foster Institute

Hacker Convention Starts Later This Week

Mike Foster — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 13:00:02 +0000

Expect to see an increase in interesting news stories about what can be hacked this week. The big hacker convention DEFCON starts this week and lots of new announcements will be made as part of the program.

If you will be in Vegas, leave your laptop and phone at home – lest you end up on the infamous wall of shame for being hacked. The website is defcon dot org

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Your IT Pros Deserve This

Mike Foster — Tue, 03 Nov 2015 15:00:37 +0000

Give your IT Professionals an edge, and show your appreciation of them at the same time.

Mark these dates on the calendar:

8/5/2016    Fri       DEF CON®
8/6/2016    Sat       DEF CON®
8/7/2016    Sun      DEF CON®
8/8/2016   Mon    SuperTech 2016
8/9/2016    Tue     SuperTech 2016
8/10/2016  Wed    SuperTech 2016

DEF CON® is the famous security and hacking convention in Las Vegas. This is an exciting event for all IT Pros.

The Foster Institute “SuperTech” experience in Napa Valley empowers your IT Professionals to grow in ways that will propel your organization’s success to new levels.

Invest in your IT Pros – sometimes their future is your future.

IT Pros give so much energy, long hours, and are dedicated to the success of your organization. They show patience with end-users.

Reward them with this awesome experience in return. They’ll look forward to it all year!

Forward this to other executives who want to show more appreciation to their IT Professionals too. It is a win-win for your organization.

Save the dates. They’re the only ones until 2017.

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Hackers Can Kill You

Mike Foster — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 14:43:46 +0000

Am at the famous DEF CON ® Hacking Conference. One of the presentations today is entitled, “I Will Kill You.” A skilled hacker will show how he can do so by creating a doctor’s medical document showing cause of death, how to create a funeral director record showing that your body was disposed of, how to get a death certificate, and so on.

What if someone is angry at you, and they create your “death” and you wind up, so far as the government and business world knows, dead. Just try to apply for a loan or insurance after that! Am not sure if you will still have to pay taxes though… even after you are officially, but not really, dead.

Not only would this devastate you personally, the ability to forge someone’s death will create a whole new world of nightmares for businesses and governments alike. Imagine HR implications in your own organization. Insurance, accounts receivable, the list goes on…

But, all is not lost. He will also demonstrate how to create a new birth certificate. He shows how hackers can create a whole new identity.

And, related to identity theft, the hacker asks the question: If someone steals the identity of a person who isn’t a person, is that a crime since there is no victim?

How will it affect your organization if you don’t know who is really alive or dead, and if you can’t tell if people exist or never existed in the first place?

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