This is my mandatory, “look at me I’m at BlackHat Europe” post. Usually I’ll hide myself away at conferences in the back row and hear out all the talks because I find it much easier to talk about security when I’m alone with my camera in my room.
It was my first Blackhat and in my eagerness I’d agreed to cover the event for Infosec Island. After I’d said yes, I began to consider the ramifications of my decision and concluded that the best course of action would be to go cap in hand to my friend Jim Shields of Twist & Shout to come be my cameraman, sound man, lighting guy and manager for the conference.
Those in attendance would have seen me with Jim lugging around camera’s lights, microphones trying to convince people to say a few words to the camera. For the most part I didn’t get a chance to sit in any of the talks. But I did end up getting a private audience with most of the speakers, so don’t feel like I missed out on any of the great information that was being given out like cotton candy.
I’ve reviewed some of the early footage and it looks absolutely awesome. Jim has really woven his magic, which totally sucks for me because in future, people will only ever be disappointed in the quality of anything I’ll ever produce. So as much as I’m grateful to Jim for coming along and helping me out, I also really hate him. Maybe on our trip back I’ll sneak some of Amsterdam’s famous mushrooms into his bag and leave him to explain it at customs.
The tables were slightly turned on me as Nabil @Toolswatch who I’m convinced is Antonio Banderas’s long lost brother cornered me for an interview which turned out to be quite fun. At least in my mind I like to think I’m as articulate and motivating as Martin Luther King.
If you haven’t been to a big conference like Blackhat, I’d strongly recommend you take the time to experience it. You get to meet some great people and talk about all sorts of things that I just cannot share. You’ve got to be here to hear it. That’s kind of a good slogan. Maybe I should trademark it.
Javvad Malik 