After the 2013 Def Con event saw blatant anger directed at the feds, the 2014 conference saw the relationship between organisers and the feds enter a cooling off period.
Speaking to Venture Beat, the feds were in attendance according to Def Con founder Jeff Moss, but panels led by NSA and FBI representatives with nametags trumpeting their organizations and eager to hire those wanting to change the world are gone.
He said that feds failed to come up with a viable program that would have kept the crowd rapt, or at the very least, interested, and he said he was waiting for the FBI, NSA to figure out ways to engage with the community and if the feds want to do something, they need to really think it through. “We’re curious what they’re up to. And the hackers want to do good things. So let’s make that happen.”
