She's noted that at Defcon, it's been a pattern of bad behavior, and a slow fix. Just look at the lack of women in cybersecurity.Ĭook's startup pushes for more women in technology. When women are less likely to attend because of an unfriendly environment, it can lead to fewer opportunities, Cook said. While Defcon is a massive gathering for briefings and parties, it's also a vital networking event. These issues aren't exclusive to Defcon, or even cybersecurity - but they do represent a major roadblock for women getting hired in the industry, said Ruth Chandler Cook, the founder of HireHer. Honeywell hopes that her workshop will help create that cultural shift to make Defcon a more inviting place for women, by giving people the tools to call out misogyny and bias when they see it.īiswas said she hopes women in security can move beyond harassment, and take on a male-dominated industry. Leigh Honeywell hosting her Ally Skills workshop. "There are a lot of women who enjoy that atmosphere, but I think the reality of the situation is that there are a lot of women that don't even show up in the first place because of that expectation." "These are people in this industry who don't feel comfortable in their own community," Honeywell said. The brash nature of the hacking community, the creepy "what happens in Vegas" vibes and drunken, rowdy behavior create a hostile environment for a lot of women, both Honeywell and Biswas said. It'll take an entire cultural shift over several years. She had competed in several Hacker Jeopardys when she still went, but said she couldn't keep supporting the inappropriate behavior, even if the questions were "getting more technical and less douchey."īut it'll take more than a toned down Hacker Jeopardy to get more women to come to Defcon, she said. It used to be a lot worse, Honeywell said.
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Someone in the audience took his shirt off and stood up when the host was looking to give away a free shirt. One loser was punished by wearing a gimp mask. This time around, contestants poured beers over their heads when they answered wrong. One of the teams competing the first night was EternalBlue Waffle, named after a combination of the leaked National Security Agency hacking tool and an internet hoax of a disease that turns vaginas blue. The event has gotten more tame each year after Hardy took over in 2013, but it still tries to hold onto parts of its tongue-in-cheek past. "That's the question writer having fun with the audience, where they think they'll see something naughty," Hardy said. He felt that a lot of people were taking the game too seriously and said they needed to keep the show interesting for the audience. With the innuendo-laced categories, Hardy was quick to point out that the questions had nothing to do with sex. Mark Hardy wants the focus of Hacker Jeopardy to be about the questions, not the antics that come with it. The event oozed with a fraternity-like feeling though, as chants of "Don't fuck it up!" would roar through the room as women in skimpy clothes spanked players if they got double jeopardy wrong. This year was a bit toned down, but there were two categories impishly titled "Balls Deep" and "More Pussy." Unlike last year, the racy categories were more double entendres, with questions relating to things with the word "deep" in it and to cat trivia. Many others just decided to stay home because of the stories they had heard, she said. It featured workshops on reporting sexual harassment to human resources and creating an inclusive environment for start-ups.īiswas helped create the Diana Initiative, whose name is partly a tip to Wonder Woman, as a response to the "frat house"-like behavior she had seen at Defcon, which she saw made the few women who attended uncomfortable.
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The program hosted a series of speakers, workshops and parties during Defcon, also in a suite several floors above the hacker gathering. The convention has its history of side events devoted to promoting women in security, like Tiaracon in 2016. There's also the Diana Initiative, which Cheryl Biswas co-founded at Defcon this year. People sat attentively as she talked about what it meant to be an ally, tackling privilege in security and guiding others to help make the cultural shift. This year Honeywell hosted her fourth Ally Skills workshop, which she also teaches at conferences around the country.
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