Ekoparty Security Conference one of the most important cybersecurity and hacker conferences in Latin America, celebrates its 20th anniversary next week with world-class talks. In addition to the visit of Chema Alonso,a Spanish hacking celebrity, there will be Argentines who will exhibit their findings during 2024 and the usual workshops in the different “villages”, spaces to hack from banks to opening locks. Admission is free at the Buenos Aires Exhibition and Convention Center (CEC) (registration here).
In addition to the return of Chema Alonso, a Spanish celebrity from the world of hacking, Ekoparty will have a series of talks this year that positioned Argentina on the international scene this year: the Argentine Enrique Nissim will present his DEF CON 3 conference, the largest hacker conference in the world that takes place every year in Las Vegas, in which he found, together with the Polish researcher Krzysztof Okupski, a very serious vulnerability in AMD processors that forced the North American company to patch it in mid-August.
Chema Alonso is known for giving talks at international conventions, mainly for his work in cybersecurity and ethical hacking at Telefónica, a company that was one of the first to be affected by the famous Wannacry cyberattack that brought hacking to the front pages around the world in May 2017.
There will also be Octavio Gianatiempo and Gastón Aznarez, researchers from the Argentine cybersecurity company Faraday, who found a flaw that affects more than half a million DrayTek routers, and Sheila Berta, from the Swiss company Dreamlab Technologies, will tell how to scan for large-scale vulnerabilities, along with their discoveries at major sites nationwide.
“We will have 9 auditoriums in parallel with more than 240 hours of simultaneous talks during the 3 days of the conference, more than 300 speakers, interviews for those looking for work in the sector, challenges, CTFs and more activities,” he explained in a statement. Leonardo PigñerCEO of Ekoparty, who highlighted that for the first time the activities are uploaded to Hacker Tracker, an application that compiles talks from hacker conferences around the world.
Among the featured activities, Worldcointhe identity project of Sam Altman (creator of ChatGPT), will bring an iris-scanning “orb” to the conference and call on hackers to try to violate it (the company is one of the sponsors of the conference).
Workshops, talks and music in a cyberpunk space
Among the featured talks there are researchers who will try to demonstrate how to “break” the SUBE, others who found information exposed in electricity distributors, government sites, municipalities, banks, universities and even airlines. It will also be SINGLEa Swedish hacker known in the world of “bug hunting”, that is, hunting for vulnerabilities in systems and platforms that pay to find them, such as Hacker One, all within the framework of what is known as “offensive security”a current branch of cybersecurity that analyzes how to exploit systems to eventually protect them.
There will also be those from the “other side”, the talks and activities of the BlueSpacethat is, those who focus on defending the systems, in addition to the space of CyberFinance which has prepared talks on banking Trojans and some surprises around challenges that will get attendees talking.
All of these spaces are called “villas” and take their inspiration from international hacker conferences, where different areas are separated, from hacking cars to computers and even satellites. The schedule of these spaces can be visited at this link.
With cyberpunk decoration, there will be, like every year, workshops and activities: challenges and even a live music set with Dual Core, an international hip hop duo renowned at international conferences.
Future Hackeran initiative that travels the country training children and adolescents in cybersecurity, also returns recharged. Last year they presented the “Ekoneta”, this 2024 they are preparing new activities.
“Futuro Hacker, the space for students within the eko, where different schools and universities exhibit technology and cybersecurity projects. There is a lot of talent and commitment on their part and we want to give them the platform to show themselves to the community and continue making their way From research and awareness talks to hardware and software development or our own student radio, everything is done by and for students,” Sabrina Pagnotta, director of the program, told this medium.
There are also initiatives for the little ones: “Our goal is to inspire learning from an early age, promoting skills in cybersecurity and lateral thinking through recreational and educational activities,” Sol Argento, coordinator of Ecokids.
This year, for the first time, an electronic waste collection space is added. “We add a special focus on education about WAES (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment). We want to teach the little ones, in a fun and practical way, the importance of recycling responsibly and taking care of the planet. All this contributes to developing a environmental awareness from an early age”, Argento added, in an effort to combat planned obsolescence.
“What happens to the equipment that people bring? We have two paths: we work together with a cooperative in Buenos Aires that is responsible for safely disposing of the waste, and the pieces with artistic potential are delivered to creators who transform them into unique works,” he told Clarion Clarisa Lopez, in charge of coordinating this space e-waste. The work is in line with what the Cybercirujas collective does (see here).
And there will also be Wardriving, the famous little train of hacker joy that scans WiFi networks throughout the City of Buenos Aires in search of vulnerabilities to reveal the current state of Buenos Aires wireless connectivity.
Like any cybersecurity conference, the talks and activities overlap. For this reason, it is important to remember that everything is uploaded to the YouTube channel and can be seen later, asynchronously.