Hackers on the Hill

Have a cyber policy idea you want to work on with congressional staffers? Submit it to the Cyber Policy Shark Tank and get the chance to make your case to them directly! hackersonthehill.org/critical-eff...

What a great event!! I had the opportunity to talk to staffers who listened and understood. Citizen cyber for real! Thank you to all who worked on this; I’ll be Bach.

This was a fantastic experience. I’m really glad it’s continuing and even growing.

Thanks for a great event @hackersonthehill.org and all the folks in thread who made learning about Congress and visiting Congressional offices a reality this week 💕

This was such an amazing event. Definitely will be back!

Very grateful for work of the volunteers and ambassadors, though the list is incomplete without a monumental thanks to @beauwoods.com.

cc @ladynoble.bsky.social

Three Hackers on the Hill badges, whites black, and purple

And finally, thank you to our Badgemaker, Tracy White, who has done a lot over the past few years to ensure everyone who participates gets some nice memorabilia to take home

She'd get a big kick out of seeing her work out in the world, so if you're wearing it around, share a photo!

And to all the cybersecurity researchers and practitioners who come out to get involved in public policy so we can provide independent, technically literate voices of reason as a counterbalance to all the others that policymakers have to endure

All the other volunteers - who take on key roles in planning and day of the event so things can run smoothly and who make it look effortless

All the Congressional Staffers - who graciously host our rabble, balancing their demanding schedules and all the last minute disruptions (especially this year) to help make cyber policy a lot better

All the Hacker Ambassadors - who take on a lot of work wrangling unruly hackers and coordinating with Staffers to make our lives easier

To the Cyber Policy Shark Tank participants who really put themselves out there in pitching an idea and the Staffers/Sharks who worked with them on their ideas!

Emily Park - who arranged facilities last year and this year, plus welcomed multiple groups of hackers, and innovated the Cyber Policy Shark Tank

Katie Noble - whose gift for herding cats graciously and knack for organizing have made everything significantly easier over the past few years

@rororah.bsky.social - who has navigated the audio/video every year, making sure we look and sound good for YouTube and streams. He's also been Swag maestro most years, hand making/machining/designing many of the things we've given away

@harleygeiger.bsky.social and @infosecjen.bsky.social - who nudged the event into its current format several years ago.

Harley has been a staple of the event, with his annual overview of what’s hot on the Hill

And this year Jen led the first ever UK version, Hackers in the House

Nick Leiserson - who started it all by asking if any hackers in town for Shmoocon might want to take a tour of the US Capitol building. At the time he was a staffer for Rep Langevin, he then went on to be Deputy National Cyber Director and organized Hackers in the White House with us!

Around one hundred cybersecurity researchers and practitioners, and cyber policymakers in the Dirksen Senate Building room 106 for Hackers on the Hill

Thank you to the dozens of volunteers and ambassadors who helped plan, set up, and run Hackers on the Hill this year, as well as the ~150 hackers who attended and the 20+ staffers who were gracious enough to host us (many on a day their office was officially closed). ❤️

A few special thank yous

a man in a suit says i already know it 's gonna be awesome ! ALT: a man in a suit says i already know it 's gonna be awesome !

who will i see at @hackersonthehill.org and @shmoocon.bsky.social ?

mostly off social media the past year. Too much going on in life and a real lot of work projects & travel (30k miles driven, 32k miles flown in 2024). At least I am not bored.

I’ll be at @hackersonthehill.org & @shmoocon.bsky.social this week. Looking forward to seeing my people!

Whether you care about the Internet (capitalized) or the internet, let's talk about ways to make technology more resilient.

@hackersonthehill.org January 9, Washington DC

Yes! and
will you be around for @hackersonthehill.org next month?

Huge thanks to all the volunteers who make this happen every year because they want YOU to be better equipped to engage on cyber policy, and want Congressional staffers better informed on key issues for us.

And thanks to you for all your patience.

In the meantime, don't forget to F5 this Sunday!

Who wants to meet with Congressional staffers Jan 9, before @shmoocon.bsky.social? Yeah we know you do! And we're *almost ready* for it. By weekend we should have the registration form up, emails out, space secured, and a few offices on board. Keep your eyes on your inboxes and hackersonthehill.org

Who's ready for #HackersInTheHouse this Friday? We are! hackersonthehill.org/uk

The team of organizers and Hacker Ambassadors are making final preparations today and tomorrow to be ready for it.

Miss the reg deadline this year? We will hopefully be back again next year, too!

The first Policy Village at BSides Ottawa was a success! Thanks to the speakers, attendees, & organizers who made it happen. Next year’s edition will include a CFP—help us spread the word! If you know someone in public policy, let’s connect. @hackersonthehill.org
#PolicyVillage #BSidesOttawa

Stickers for BSides Ottawa's first Policy Village

The first Policy Village at BSides Ottawa is kicking off soon. Come on over and see some incredible sessions bridging the gap between the hacker and public policy communities.

So if you’re a technical cybersecurity practitioner or researcher who wants to engage in public policy dialogs (whether you’ve had experience before or not), save the date for January 9, 2025.

Sign up for our email notifications at hackersonthehill.org

Participants in the all-volunteer event (run by @IAmTheCavalry) have briefed dozens of Congressional offices on key issues facing policymakers like security researcher rights, encryption backdoors, supply chain resilience, disrupting ransomware, and (of course) AI.