Dateline NBC 'mole' outed, booted at Defcon 15 (Dinosaur Media™ Humiliation)

InfoWorld ^ | August 03, 2007 | Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

[SteveMcKing]

In a story of betrayal worthy of an episode of Dateline NBC, undercover producer Michelle Madigan was exposed and forced out of the conference on Friday

Dateline NBC Producer Michelle Madigan was publicly outed at the Defcon security conference in Las Vegas Friday after show organizers were tipped off that she was trying to film show attendees with a hidden camera.
...
Madigan ran from the show after organizers publicly threatened to escort her from the event at the beginning of a 4 p.m. conference session by noted hacker HD Moore. "She literally kicked the door open," said "Priest," a show official who declined to be identified. "She made the mistake of running. Had she taken it like an adult, she would have been treated with kid gloves, treated with respect."
...
The Dateline NBC producer continued out to a nearby parking lot, surrounded by a small crowd of show attendees and media, talking briefly on her mobile phone and not saying anything to the gathering crowd.
...
Show organizers had been warning attendees all day of Madigan's presence and had repeatedly asked her if she would register as press, Priest said.
...
Show organizers believe that Madigan had been looking to talk to hackers and federal agents, possibly with the intention of drawing attention to the fact that federal agents participate in a show whose attendees are known to skirt the law. "My guess is that she wanted a splash piece along the lines of, 'We have a whole bunch of people who are criminals. We have federal agents here as well,'" Priest said.

[SteveMcKing]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCvmkxO5hoQ

"If you'd like to wear a press badge, you're welcome back. Otherwise please go home."

Dateline Mole Allegedly at DefCon with Hidden Camera -- Updated: Mole Caught on Tape

---

 
My favorite line in the video:   "YOU MUST FEEL LIKE LINDSAY LOHAN RIGHT NOW."

[SteveMcKing]

ping (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch™)

[hsalaw]

I heard Rush say that “journalists” are in the “lowest-respected professions” category. Right down there with used car salesmen and probably lawyers (sigh).

[Constantine XIII]

OMG 1336+1 h@x!!!!one lim x=>0 (sin x)/x

[Constantine XIII]

Also, blonide, discussing computer security isn’t against the law.

Of course, she probably stands in awe of people who can use Excel, so this rant is probably wasted. :p

[ChessExpert]

Used care salesmen are MUCH better than journalists, IMO. Lawyers? Well, it depends. But to make a sweeping statement, lawyers are also better than journalists. I don’t mind the fact that journalists are dumb. But dumb, vain, and lacking in integrity is just too much for me to bear.

[SIDENET]

OWNED.

[hsalaw]

But to make a sweeping statement, lawyers are also better than journalists.

Thank you for those kind words.

[garbanzo]

A hacker conference is probably not the best place to try out your undercover-fu unless you know what you’re doing.

[Nonesuch]

I like Priest,he's a great guy (in the video he's the BIG guy in the Hawaiian shirt). And he has a history of making female reporters cry.

I first met Priest at DEFCON 7 where I witnessed him personally banning another reporter (Carolyn Meinel) from every attending another DEFCON.

Trust me, when Priest tells you to leave, you go.

[burzum]

No kidding. The reporters might be able to outsmart sexual predators and mechanics at Jiffy Lube, but they aren’t going to win that game at a hacker conference. Dateline should just go back to their standard method of reporting: making it up!

[llevrok]

I don’t see federal agents being at Defcon odd. How do you find hacking talent to break terrorist codes?

[spyone]

Journalist discraced for trying to make the news.

[Anti-Bubba182]

The Video was funny. A reporter gets chased for a change.

[OCCASparky]

PwN3d....WO0T!!!!

[ansel12]

Holy Cow, the last three or four minutes of that video was the best I’ve seen this year. What is the new term? Owned or Pawned or something?

That “reporter” will never forget this.

[pepsionice]

When you look at nightly news...doesn’t matter if its NBC or Fox or CBS or ABC...at least 30 percent of the news that night...is manufactured. Its gotten bad enough that I just hit the mute button and wait for a commercial to restore sound...which was the opposite intention of the mute button in the first place.

Personally, I’d like to see more of these producers sued in court and face some financial fines. That would be an enriching experience for these punks...who don’t measure up to any standard that we used to know about.

[Slings and Arrows]

Must-see video!

"We just want to ask you some quessssss-tions!"

[Shelayne]

ugh, I can’t believe I know this, but...

I believe you are looking for PWN3D! (like “owned” with a p)

[A_Tradition_Continues]

I liked the line “Excuse me Miss...but have you ever been on 60 Minutes?”

[ansel12]

Thanks, she really was PWN3D!

[eyedigress]

She is PWNED and I am series. Hugh story!

[singfreedom]

Uh oh, the ultimate “my bad” in the journalism world: reporter becoming “the story”. Next time I see her trying to horn in, I’ll recognize her.

[MaxMax]

at least 30 percent of the news that night...is manufactured.

Imagine what they got away with for the last 60-years pre-internet...

/Salute

[dsc]

“Imagine what they got away with for the last 60-years pre-internet...”

I know for a fact that they made up some of the anti-Marcos riots when they were trying to bring him down.

[Enterprise]

The issue you guys raised is profound, and perhaps someday we will know the true scope of lies, slander, and false reporting the MSM did to people prior to talk radio and the internet. It must have been nice to absolutely ruin people with impunity and know that no one had the ability to stop you.

[spotbust1]

ping

[ovrtaxt]

LOL sweet!

[ovrtaxt]

Defcon organizers identified Madigan after being tipped off by her associates, who Priest declined to name. After the incident, Priest showed reporters a complete dossier on Madigan, which included a photograph, phone number, job title and social security number. He would not say how he obtained it.

Ahhahahah!!! That's hilarious!

[norton]

"PWN3D"

" To be beaten badly at something"
"An intended mispelling in leet speak, originally coming from having root access to a UNIX operating system such as if it were your computer you would own it, but by means of exploiting a hole in their system, you gain full control of their system, and in essence own it, or should I say 'pwn' it. If you are a victim of such an escapade you would be considered 'pwn3d'. This has been taken out of context as you can see over the years buy wannabe "hackers" and children with nothing more to do than try to act `leet`.

(Examples)
"Yeah, he was running a vulnerable finger daemon and I pwn3d his ass with a simple buffer overflow"
"haha, you got pwned by that guy with 4 fingers"
"all your base are mine, i pwn you"

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

(At least I recognized "all your base are mine".

[dorben]

“She made the mistake of running. Had she taken it like an adult, she would have been treated with kid gloves, treated with respect.”

Oh yeah baby .. Stepping out of that bubble can be a bitch sometimes , huh ?

[Clioman]

“journalists” are in the “lowest-respected professions” category. Right down there with used car salesmen and probably lawyers...”

Pvt Beauchamp wants to be a journalist. Enough said.

[Travis McGee]

Imagine what they got away with for the last 60-years pre-internet...

One of the most important anti-war incidents and quotes of the Viet Nam War was created from whole cloth by Peter Arnett, and went unchallenged for years after it did its damage. I refer to "We had to destroy the village in order to save it." Researchers have been unable to find the officer quoted, the village, any other corroboration etc etc. Arnett just made it up, and it worked. Naturally, Dan Rather thought the fake National Guard letters would work. But it's a different world today.

[Travis McGee]

hacker ping

[Salo]

Tech pings.

[vladimir998]

It’s actually kind of nice seeing a reporter hounded for once.

[Chode]

and the RATS, take another one in the...............HA ha!!!

[GWB00]

This video warms the cockles of my heart!

[NHResident]

The daughter of a friend works at ABC - it is a REAL chore to spend time with her - EVERY stupid theory and claim of the left is repeated as gospel truth. To listen to her conservatives, Republicans and anyone not in the media are dupes, drooling idiots, baby killing Neanderthals!

[SteveMcKing]

There really is no ignoring the "blond" aspect.

She probably hasn't dealt with nerds since high school, and thought that she could still "smile and toss my hair" out of any situation.

Fair guess says she called her preppiest girlfriends to go out for drinks that evening, and that made it all better....

[SteveMcKing]

DefCon ping

[JRios1968]

Hmmm...that limit must be evaluated using L'Hopital rule...

lim x=>0 (sin x)/x = lim x=>0 (cos x)/1 = 1

[Lurker]

For later.

L

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

I disagree with the etymology listed for "pwned." It's origin was most likely in multiplayer games (which is very common for l33t speech), though perhaps borrowing from *nix/hacker-speak. The substitution of the "p" for the "o," however, is almost certainly a product of multiplayer games. After a particularly humiliating kill, a player could be said to have "owned" the other player. The o-p transformation then would either be an accidental mispelling that becomes intentional (the "o" and "p" are next to each other on a QWERTY keyboard... see the use of 1s for exlamation points to mimic hurried typing: pwn3d U!!!!11!1!) or an imitation of part of a smiley (the p, often used in conjunction with a colon for "eyes" or a semicolon for "winking"), usually standing for a tongue sticking out (:P). Neither of these modifications make sense in the context of hacking, but they make perfect sense as part of evolving terminology in a frantically-typed multiplayer game.

This is Free Republic, people... let's make sure that even the little things are correct! *grin*

[theFIRMbss]

>A hacker conference is probably not the best place to try out your undercover-fu unless you know what you’re doing

These guys suspect that Madigan was just a plant, a red herring to attract attention and let a real reporter get in un-noticed!

[CodeToad]

Many of these types of meetings are for sharing information not intended for public consumption for security reasons. These guys share the information to help them to protect computer systems and they do not want others to know the weaknesses or hacking techniques. People seem to attribute nefarious goals to these types of meetings.

[N3WBI3]

My bud who got sent by his employer as a business trip, I was so envious. I have family in vegas and Im going to see if I can get out to it next year..

[N3WBI3]

not really, its pretty easy to obtain video of the whole conference. She could have stayed with a press pass..

[AKSurprise]

She’s a troll

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Statement: "Dateline NBC 'mole' outed, booted at Defcon 15..."

Response: Those who 'outed' and removed the media creature apparently failed miserably. They did not whip her from the conference.