Preview – Securing your information in a Target – Rich Environment

During this year’s SXSW Interactive, Darren Kitchen will be helping attendees with keeping personal information safe and secure. Kitchen, along with Matt Lestock, Shannon Morse and other crew members, runs Hak5, a tech show that covers topics such as network security, open source and DIY modding, which is modifying software or hardware to do tasks it was not originally designed to do. The tech gurus run this weekly podcast on the Revision 3 Internet TV network.

The show’s website, hak5.org, also includes a forum and a chat feature for the community to come together and exchange information and ideas, as well as an online shop, where people can buy anything from Wi-Fi pineapples to shirts and caps. There is also a blog with coverage of various conventions such as the San Diego Comic Con, E3 Expo and Def Con 2011 and other industry related news.

Darren Kitchen, besides being an integral member of the Hak5 team, also functions as a guest host on TWIT.tv’s netcast Tech News Today with Tom Merritt and Sarah Lane. In 2010 he went on a cross country tour with his motorcycle from Virginia to California and documented it in a daily vlog called Hack Across America.

During the SXSW Interactive panel, Kitchen will demonstrate how easy it is to hack into other people’s computers and look at and steal personal data while they surf the web using an unsecured wireless network. He will address what people can do to prevent others from snooping and how they can make their home and office more secure to fend off online intruders.

The specific questions that will be answered during this panel are:

1. What kinds of information can someone pull "out of the air"?
2. What are the potential consequences of someone snooping my information?
3. How can I tell if the network I'm connecting to is safe?
4. What steps can I take while I'm in Austin to prevent someone stealing my information?
5. Additionally, what can I do once I get home to be more secure?

More information about Hak5 can be found at their website and a sample of their podcasts is below.