Chema Alonso warned concerning the dangers of synthetic intelligence on the opening of the hacker convention

Name Alonsoa well-known Spanish hacker, opened the 20th anniversary of the Ekoparty Safety Convention, one of the crucial necessary cyber safety and hacker conferences in Latin America, with a warning about synthetic intelligence: “With AI now we have very huge challenges as a society: misinformation, pretend informationthe viralization of issues that aren’t true and the manipulation of societies, all of which lead us to to divide us as an alternative of uniting uswhich ought to occur, that we’re extra united.”

The convention, which kicked off Wednesday on the Buenos Aires Conference Middle (CEC), brings collectively hackers and cybersecurity business leaders of all ages and sectors. It lasts for 3 days, with talks, workshops, job interviews and particular actions with abilities to hack all forms of methods and units.

Leonardo Pigner, CEO of Ekoparty, opened the 2024 version on the Buenos Aires Conference Middle (CEC) to current Chema Alonso. “I discover that the spirit is strictly the identical as 20 years in the past: within the first Eko the thought was to fulfill buddies, be taught, hack all collectively and at this time there are numerous extra of us, however the spirit is strictly the identical. “Twenty years is nothing,” he mentioned.

After the brief opening, the keynote was given by Chema Alonso, a Spanish hacker who’s a star on the earth of cyber safety, with a historical past of breakthroughs, worldwide conferences akin to Black Hat and DEF CON and, for years, the safety of Telefónica in Spain. In his speech, he reviewed his profession, from how he turned keen on know-how and computer systems on the age of 14 to how he turned buddies with Kevin Mitnickfor a lot of the #1 hacker on the earth (who died final 12 months).

“In my years of hacking and studying, I didn't use know-how to get wherever: know-how was the place. Yearly I got here right here to Ekoparty, I needed to be taught one thing new,” he mentioned in his convention, by which he recalled that he had attended a number of editions of the Argentinian hacker conference. “One of many nice issues about hacker conferences is that they’re synonymous with group. And probably the most stunning factor about Eko is that, the group,” he added on the opening.

“El Chema” is an actual rockstar within the hacking area of interest: he might barely stroll among the many contributors, who stored asking him for images and autographs. His speech was scheduled for 9 within the morning, however half an hour earlier than the beginning the corridor was already full, and within the neighborhood of the CEC there was a line that ran continuous.

Nicknamed “The Evil One” or “hat hacker”is at present Telefónica's Chief Digital Officer. At 49, Alonso spoke of one among his daughters as his “model 2.zero” in a reference to his household's introduction to the world of hacking.

Later, in an Ekoparty area known as “Lado B” the place extra relaxed interviews are held with the protagonists of the discussions, Alonso spoke concerning the subject of the second: synthetic intelligence.

“When one thing is new, it’s engaging. Determining methods to work round constraints in an AI mannequin is a problem. For us it was actually enjoyable as a result of the AI ​​universe expanded in two methods: it may be used for hacking, however you too can attempt to hack it“, he assured.

“I believe AI is right here to remain and for us it's one thing inevitable in cyber safety, I believe for youths it's one other piece to be taught and prepare. Then again, the very best factor that the brand new generations have is that they’ve an web filled with content material. These days you may see all these conferences on-line, that's one thing we didn't have: It’s our era's present to the following.” he added.

After the opening, numerous discussions adopted in the principle corridor. One of the notable was that of Argentinian hacker Sheila Berta, director of cybersecurity analysis, innovation and growth at Dreamlab Applied sciences, by which she analyzed uncovered data from native official entities and in addition from corporations.

Among the many discoveries he made along with his work workforce, he advised how they discovered entry credentials to totally different databases along with his work workforce, from the municipalities of Buenos Aires to the Nationwide College of La Plata. “There are lots of databases from authorities entities, universities and even clinics which are weak on the Web. The shortage of funding in cyber safety might clarify why delicate data from residents seems virtually each week on darkish internet boards”, commented the researcher in dialogue with Clarín.

Moreover, the researcher revealed that a minimum of 892 Argentine authorities entities, together with the Senate of the Nationthey host their mail servers abroad, primarily in the US. “This can be a critical lack of sovereignty in information administration, making it simpler for different nations to spy on delicate details about the nation,” he mentioned.

He additionally narrated circumstances of personal corporations, akin to that of a electrical distributor within the south of Buenos Aires, with industrial electrical energy meters uncovered on the Web. “There are a minimum of 5 of those units seen and accessible, permitting anybody who finds them to totally manipulate them. This might pose a safety danger to the distributor,” he warned.

Later, researcher Inbar Raz spoke of “15 methods to hack copilot”, Microsoft's AI that’s constructed into Home windows, to grasp what safety points corporations utilizing customized builds might need. Home windows Hi there, the passwordless (biometric) working system identification system, was additionally on the heart of one of many major discussions.

Among the many points of interest of the villas Maximiliano Firmmanprogrammer and researcher, spoke about ponzi schemes in what he known as “ponzidemia”, a phenomenon of proliferation of younger people who find themselves interested in fraudulent investments, with one among its greatest exponents this 12 months: the San Pedro rip-off of RainbowEX .

Among the many contributors could possibly be seen audiences of all kinds and ages, from probably the most veterans of the world of cyber safety – a number of participated in talks and workshops – to the youngest, who participated in an area known as Ecokids.

“This mission is an area that connects kids and tweens, together with their households, with know-how in a approach secure and artistic. Our aim is to encourage studying from a younger age, selling abilities in cybersecurity and lateral pondering by way of leisure and academic actions,” mentioned Sol Argento, organizer of the area.

There was, once more, Future Hackeran initiative for youngsters. “Futuro Hacker is an Ekoparty initiative that goals to advertise curiosity in cyber safety amongst younger individuals with the goal of producing expertise and alternatives. Because of the fixed work with faculties and universities, we kind a group of tremendous engaged college students that grows yearly”, mentioned Sabrina Pagnotta, the director of this system, to this medium.

“In 2024 we went on tour by way of Córdoba, the place we visited 10 faculties and two universities within the capital and Normal Deheza. We additionally organized a day of discussions and workshops on the UTN campus, the place we welcomed virtually a thousand college students. We additionally continued to go to secondary faculties in Buenos Aires, Bogotá and Lima, due to the dedication of cyber safety professionals who assist us from their cities. “, he added.

For this version, they ready workshops to welcome over 400 college students. “As well as, we will likely be holding workshops on exploiting vulnerabilities within the Hack The Field platform, mentoring within the subject of cyber safety and the much-anticipated wardriving, a tour aboard a small pleasure prepare that scans town's Wi-Fi networks,” concludes Pagnotta.

Ekoparty continues on Thursday 15 November and Friday 15 November with extra talks, workshops and conferences. Extra data at this hyperlink.