SAINTCON Hallway - Grifter

Security

Meet Grifter, the man behind SAINTCON Hallway, a community-focused aspect of DEF CON and Black Hat.

Key takeaways

Grifter started using the term Grifter when he played video games and it was a character’s name.
He started the DEF CON 26 SLC meetings with Stumper, a colleague from Juniper Networks, to run a community-focused aspect of DEF CON.
Initially, they just met for meetings and played games, but as time went on, they started bringing vendors in and running scavenger hunts and movie channels.
They expanded the meetings to other locations, including Denver and Utah, and they ran a mini-game and scavenger hunt with Def Con 26.
After DEF CON, they moved to Black Hat, which had grown to 10,000 attendees and they started running villages at Black Hat.
Villages allowed people to set up spaces to party and showcase their wares, and Grifter became involved in running these spaces.
As the show grew, they brought in more people to help manage the networks and the show became more professional.
Grifter credits the growth of the show to his own growth and learning from mistakes, as well as the willingness to listen and adapt to the needs of the community.
The Grifter’s influence and popularity grew as well, with more people wanting to come talk to him and discuss security-related topics.
Despite initial reservations, Grifter came to realize that running the show was something he loved, and it’s become a full-time job.
He’s also published a book, been a speaker at various conferences, and won awards for his contributions to the security community.

More talks