“Off The Clock” is a blog series that explores the interests and causes to which ECS employees devote themselves outside of work.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
EXCELLENCE. GRIT. DRIVE. COMMUNITY.
He is also a four-time winner of DEF CON’s Black Badge. DEF CON is the world’s largest and longest-running hacker convention, drawing the best cybersecurity experts, researchers, and programmers in the world. In DEF CON’s own words, the “Black Badge is a powerful talisman, awarded only to those who have emerged unbeaten from the crucible of elite DEF CON competition.” Winners get free entry to the conference for life.
James Dieteman
Director of Cyber Analytics Products at ECS
Q: What’s special about DEF CON for you? What draws you to return year after year?
Q: After such a successful run in the DEF CON games, what’s it like transitioning from competitor to game creator?
Q: Alien numbering systems, musical notation, Gregorian chants: Where do you draw inspiration for your games?
I mean, a lot of it comes back to 80s hacker culture. So much of the feeling of DEF CON comes back to that — people in dark rooms with loud electronic music, skateboards, and ridiculous stuff like that. Watching Hackers, and movies like that, can help you get in the mood.
On top of that, we draw a lot of inspiration from escape rooms. Escape rooms are not a one-to-one comparison to hacker competitions. The former tend to be more physical in nature with fairly straightforward arcs. However, escape rooms often give you new ways of looking at things, as well as the framework for ideas you can roll into coding challenges.
Q: For so many people there’s a bright line between their work and their passions, but for you it sounds like there is significant overlap when it comes to cybersecurity. How do these competitions influence your day-to-day work?
I always come away from these challenges having learned something new. And anytime you’re learning anything new, it adds to that repertoire in your mind: things you can draw on, things you can go back to, or an association you wouldn’t necessarily make otherwise. That’s one thing I found very helpful, especially when mentoring other security folks in the field. Having a broad background will help you so much in cybersecurity because it offers new ways of thinking about security that are not just academic.
For example, if you do lockpicking, it helps you understand the interactions of manufacturing and system flaws when it comes to security. If you understand history, then you may have a better understanding of attackers’ motivations as opposed to “Oh, it’s just the hackers™.” Instead, you analyze their geopolitical motivations, their socio-economic motivations, etc. All of this knowledge helps build a better, more robust picture of what you’re trying to do in cybersecurity and why.
Q: Can we get a little preview of this year’s storyline?
This year is an extension of last year’s storyline. The evil mega organization, Mayhem Industries, is still up to its nefarious ways. This time they’ve moved into a new headquarters. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to infiltrate the different arms of their building, each with different characters, themes, challenges, and more. As you move through the levels, you learn more about the sinister plot and make your way towards sabotaging their plan.
It’s going to be a lot of fun.
