The 1997 Summer Security Conference "SUMMERCON IX.V" May 31st, 1997 Atlanta, GA This is the official announcement and open invitation to the nine and 1/2 summer security conference, Summercon. A long time ago, Summercon was an invite-only hacker gathering held annually in St. Louis, Missouri. Starting in 1995, SummerCon became an open event to any and all interested parties: Hackers, Phreaks, Pirates, Virus Writers, System Administrators, Law Enforcement Officials, Vigilantes, Neo-Hippies, Secret Agents, Teachers, Disgruntled Employees, Telco Flunkies, Journalists, New Yorkers, Programmers, Conspiracy Nuts, Musicians, Nudists, and Rug Sucking Wannabes. This con is going to be different than previous SummerCons. First off, there are two other major cons happening this summer, Defcon and Beyond HOPE. If you want to see good technical speakers, meet a ton of hackers, and have a good time for a couple days, I suggest you go to one or both of those cons. DefCon information is at http://www.defcon.org, Beyond HOPE info is at http://www.2600.com. So why have SummerCon at all? Well, its a tradition, and most of the people I talked to said we should have it anyways. But, because of the other 2 cons, I am really aiming just to make this a fun weekend with yer friends in a new city, not a technical hacker gala. If you want to learn something, go to HOPE or Defcon. If you want to meet hackers, go to HOPE or DefCon. If you have to choose one con to go to this summer, this one should NOT be it. If you are already going to DefCon and HOPE, and still have one more weekend you want to waste this summer, this is the perfect place for you. If you are a criminal, if you are an anarchist, if you are interested in pulling fire alarms or breaking things, don't come to this con; we don't want you here and you wouldn't like us anyhow. Why 9.5? Well, SummerCon X should be this huge major security conference, but with HOPE this year, we didn't think it was the right year to do another one of those. So, we'll have SummerCon X next year, this one is just going to be a little party. LOCATION It will be held in Atlanta, GA, but we haven't actually figured out WHERE in Atlanta. That's because this is a pre-release of the announcement, when this becomes official, we'll fill in the details. DIRECTIONS Fly to Hartsfield International Airport, look for the hackers. CONFERENCE INFO It has always been our contention that cons are for socializing. "Seekret Hacker InPh0" is never really discussed except in private circles, so the only way anyone is going to get any is to meet new people and take the initiative to start interesting conversations. Because of this, the formal speaking portion of Summercon will be held on one day, not two or three, leaving plenty of time for people to explore the city, compare hacking techniques, or go trashing and clubbing with their heretofore unseen online companions. Futhermore, except for maybe getting Mudge up on stage to blow us all away with some cool technical details, it is probably a pretty good bet that the speeches will end up being boring, long, and a complete waste of time. Don't come to SummerCon to learn anything, because you won't. If you are coming from out of town and want the full hacker/tourist experience, we will be having a specially scheduled 2600 meeting Friday, May 30th, at 6pm at Lenox Mall food court. If you don't know how to get there, just ask, everyone in Atlanta knows. The formal conference will be held on Saturday, May 31st, 1997, from 10am to 5pm (with a break for lunch). There will be a variety of speakers, panel discussions, demonstrations, and other events that will hopefully keep everyone entertained; if not you can always start drinking early. No video or audio tapes will be allowed in the conference room. No still photography will be permitted in the conference room without prior permission of all those being photographed. Violation of these policies will result in you being asked to leave the conference. There will be no selling of t-shirts, disks, firewalls, payphones, etc. in or around the conference area without prior permission of the organizers, and you WON'T get permission. We can't keep you from selling t-shirts in your hotel room, but we can keep you away from the actual conference area, and we can probably get you kicked out of the hotel for soliciting, and if we can, we will. T-Shirt sales is where we make up all the money we spend putting on the conference, and so we will be the only ones selling them. If you want to sell t-shirts, go have your own con. If you are interested in demoing or selling something, please contact us at the address listed at the bottom. If you offer us money, we might let you do it. SPEAKERS The speakers list for Summercon X is still being finalized, but it is sure to be much less interesting than previous years. In fact, right now we have NO speakers, and probably we won't until the day of the con. So again, don't come to summercon for the speakers. If you are an expert in some aspect of computer, network, or telco security and are interested in speaking at Summercon, please contact us to discuss the possibility further at the address listed at the end of this document.. We won't pay you, don't ask. We are also going to be having short speeches by real hackers or phreakers giving their own perspective on some issue or insight into a new technology. This is an open invitation for you hackers to be heard; just provide us with a brief outline of the topic you will be covering and the amount of time you will take (suggested: 5 - 15 minutes) at the address listed below. COSTS Costs for SummerCon X are as follows, these are same rates as last year, which I think is pretty good. There will be NO refunds, and if you annoy any of the organizers, we reserve the right to throw you out, and you won't get your money back. Secret Service / FBI Rate: $500.00 Government / Institutional Rate: $ 80.00 Hacker / Individual Rate: $ 20.00 Members of the United States Secret Service or Federal Bureau of Investigations, and anyone that has in the past or currently is providing information or services to the Secret Service or FBI are required to pay the 'Secret Service / FBI Rate'. Employees of a local, state, or federal government, members and associates of any L.E.O., must pay the 'Government / Institutional Rate'. Anyone that does not fit into one of the above categories is eligible for the 'Individual / Hacker Rate'. Due to historical lack of interest, there will not be pre-registration for the conference. Registration will begin at 10am the day of the conference, and will continue for the duration of the conference or until the meeting facilities have reached their capacity. Since the latter is likely to occur, it is suggested you don't oversleep. No purchase orders, checks, money orders, foreign currency, stock certificates, IOUs, or coins will be accepted for registration. Secret Service agents, small unmarked bills only, please. Bring money for t-shirts, they are cool, and this year we will make enough for everyone (we hope). HOTEL INFORMATION Still working on this part. The cost for a double occupancy room at the hotel is $XX. There is no special conference rate, there is no need to mention you are with a conference at all, the people in reservations probably won't know what you are talking about anyhow. If the hotel is damaged in any manner, you are going to pay for it, and you will probably end up in jail. And even if you are lucky enough to get away with it, the rest of the hackers staying at the hotel will end up paying for it, and I'm sure that's going to make you a well-liked and respected hacker, especially among some of the bigger hackers who might feel tempted to inflict bodily harm on someone who causes any damage to the hotel. Please act responsibly, don't drink and drive, chew all your food before you swallow, don't swallow your gum, and recycle. Anyhow, if you pull a fire alarm, if you damage a room, if you spit on the floor, and any of the organizers, or any of their friends find out, we are going to call the police and have you arrested. In fact, we are making a game out of it. If anyone does any damage to the hotel, we will give whoever tells us what person or persons did it $100 in cash if we are able to get that person taken to jail. CONTACTING SUMMERCON ORGANIZERS You can contact the Summercon organizers through e-mail. If you haven't figured out e-mail yet, you probably shouldn't be coming to Summercon. As a final note, if you are planning on coming to Summercon, we would appreciate you sending e-mail to us with the subject of "GOING TO SCON" or something similar, just so that we have a rough idea of how many people are going to show up.