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Comment by lolinder | Hacker News Reader

Caesar's apparently explicitly said it wasn't related to anything the community did. It's possible that they're lying for some reason, but it's also possible that they're telling the truth.

> We don’t know why Caesars canceled us, they won’t say beyond it being a strategy change and it is not related to anything that DEF CON or our community has done.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Defcon/comments/1aj6ixn/def_con_was...

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> for some reason

To avoid any legal liability. Stating a specific reason would open them to possible "breach of contract" depending on whether the act(s) were significant enough or justifiable, based on the contract terms. Just say nothing, part amicably, everyone moves on without drama.

With that said, they probably weren't lying. Most likely, months after ponying up $10 million to a sophisticated international hacking group, Caesars Entertainment probably doesn't want to invite some of the world's best hackers to stay and meet at its flagship resort.

> To avoid any legal liability. Stating a specific reason would open them to possible "breach of contract" depending on whether the act(s) were significant enough or justifiable, based on the contract terms.

This is how it works for at-will employment, but it would be a very weird contract that allows backing out only if you don't say why you're backing out.

Let's say Caesars states, "we just got hacked and, as has been reported in every major newspaper, paid $10 million as ransom. We have reason to believe one or more attendees of DEF CON were part of that group."

How does making this statement this benefit Caesars in any way? Now DEF CON can demand some proof of this claim, or sue for defamation, or state that without proof, Caesars isn't acting in good faith, whatever.

I mean, attendees of DEFCON can hack Caesars even if someone else owns the projectors used for the Powerpoint presentations.

Yes, most likely. That's why it would make zero sense for Caesars to state anything publicly that would antagonize members of the community. Saying nothing (or even praising DEF CON, and claiming it was a "change in strategy") is the smarter route.

> Most likely, months after ponying up $10 million to a sophisticated international hacking group, Caesars Entertainment probably doesn't want to invite some of the world's best hackers to stay and meet at its flagship resort.

Most Def con visitors would be white hats so that would be a bit disingenious. I would expect most attendees to behave (reporting issues after finding one)

Especially considering they just got hacked, a few pentests would be good for their business.

you say that like a person informed enough to know what a white hat is lol. Let’s be real here, even the ethical hacker bunch can look VERY wonky and rowdy to an outsider, especially if you are as far removed as the hospitality industry. The only time they had to deal with hackers in the recent past was decidedly painful for them

If they hadn't hosted Def Con for the last 20 years I'd agree, but this community certainly isn't new to them.

being ambivalent towards a group, filling up your hotel, but otherwise alien to you, may be a little less polarizing than just having been forced to shell out $100M to a similar sounding demographic.

Def Con has 30,000 attendees. And maybe 99% of them aren't assholes.

But in such a large group, there's always going to be some people who'll decide to muck around with their hotel room's locks or something like that.

Primarily, it's about public image. It would look idiotic to host this group, regardless of intention. And it's about insurance -- logical or not, their insurer probably insisted they quit inviting DEF CON and associating, in any capacity, with self-identified hackers.

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