LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has issued a “cyber awareness advisory,” specifically mentioning the Black Hat and DEF CON conventions in town.
“Black Hat and DEF CON are known as playgrounds for attackers of all kinds to target the attendees and try our new techniques and tools,” read the LVMPD advisory.
The police advisory urges guidelines before, during and after the conferences. They include, turning off all Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, locking devices, restarting phones daily to remove malware installations and avoid using credit cards or any contactless payment methods.
Shannon Wilkinson, Chief Technical Officer for local cyber security company Tego Cyber, also suggests people turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth while on the Las Vegas Strip because of hacking vulnerabilities with phones.
She says government agencies may recruit talented hackers at DEF CON and says companies will encourage hacking there.
“Companies will actually say hey I’ve got this product; I want you to try to hack it. And they’re often offered rewards for it, or some sort of competitive trophy or something like that,” said Wilkinson.
Wilkinson says people may try to hack digital screens at casinos and other targets.
“It’s about reputation and kind of going like hey, I did that. They’re not necessarily trying to be malicious or trying to hold anybody for ransom for money or anything like that. It’s very competitive and kind of an ego thing, I would say,” said Wilkinson.
She also said the Sphere might be a big hacking target this week.
“Because who wouldn’t want to claim the reputation of being the one who hacked the Sphere,” said Wilkinson.
FOX5 reached out to the Sphere to see if it it’s doing anything different when it comes to cyber security, but we didn’t hear back.
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