Monday, July 16, 2001 | 11:07 a.m.
Not long ago, it was considered the underground party of computer hackers, where techies traded code and met their cyber chat room pals face to face.
It was also where federal law enforcers inconspicuously tried to get in on the tricks.
But Def Con 9, which attracted about 5,000 hackers and software security geeks to Las Vegas over the weekend, was hardly the underworld it once was, many conference goers said.
"A few years ago, (Def Con) was the closest thing to getting to 'zero-day exploit,' where new hack attacks were conceived," said Frank Simorjay, a computer engieer for Rockville, Md.-based Network Flight Recorder Inc.
"(The conference) now has less information exchange and more media hype," Simorjay said.
Simorjay, whose been attending the show for the past five years, said the feds a few years ago showed up covertly, taking notes on what the bad guys were up to.
The feds are no longer discreet. At last year's show, Art Money, assistant secretary of defense, urged hackers at the Las Vegas conference to join the defense side. And on Saturday, Def Con hosted a session called "Meet the Fed Panel."
But the show was still quite a social gathering of techies, from teenagers to 40-year-olds.
Many attendees -- dressed in black or with blue hair and multiple piercings -- gabbed with each other around the pool area and conference rooms or huddled against a wall tapping away on laptops at the Alexis Park Resort during the three-day hacking fest.
Some attendees said the speeches seemed filtered through lawyers or a public relations firm compared to years past.
Jeff Moss, the conference founder and organizer, said that's a reflection of society and the evolution of the computer world.
"Five years ago, there were no laws against hacking. Before, you actually had to steal something or cause damage (by hacking a site) in order for it to be a crime," Moss said. "Now, the stakes have been raised. Just hacking a site is a federal offense."
One second-time attendee known as "Netsquid" said he doesn't mind the filtered version of information.
"Learning 90 percent of something is the same as 100 percent if you don't know the other 10 percent exists," said Netsquid, 37, who works for a computer security firm in Monterey, Calif.
One indication of the amount of rookie hackers or first time attendees to the show is the popularity of one session called "newbies."
A hacker known as "Shatter" hosted a newbie session where he started by fielding questions from the audience.
The first question: "How do you spot a fed?"
"Look at his socks," Shatter said.
Shatter disputed the "myth" that federal agencies seek out criminal hackers to join their team to patch their security holes.
"Getting busted is the quickest way of not getting a job in government work ever. If they catch you, they don't want you," Shatter said.
After his speech, Shatter said feds come to the conference to talk to people with "honest knowledge" about computer security.
Shatter also disputed the notion that Def Con is a place to learn how to hack.
"If that's why you came to Def Con, you've wasted your money," he said. "Basically, we come here to have a good time and run into people we've met online."
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