In March 2014 I spoke at the annual TED conference about why hackers are a vital part of the information age. I claimed that the world actually needs hackers, and that they play an important social, political and technology role. At first I thought I will encounter objection, but I found out I was preaching to the choir. Surprisingly, many of the smart, powerful, rich people at TED thought hackers were just great. Then I realized: I was preaching to the WRONG choir. It’s the hackers who are the change agents, and the only ones who can make a difference when it comes to the future of the net. That’s why this talk will speak to the heart of the hacking community about the practical things hackers can do to create a positive impact on the world. Essentially, it’s about being a good hacker while staying out of jail and making the world a better place – with things like community outreach projects, crypto parties, voluntary red teams, responsible disclosure and stopping the spread of FUD.
Keren has been a key member of the Israeli Cyber Security & Hacking scene for the past 14 years. Since 2000, Keren has been employed with leading Israeli security firms, government organizations, Big 4 and Fortune 500 companies. Keren currently covers emerging security technologies as a security industry research analyst with GigaOM research. In 2014, Keren was invited to speak at the prestigious TED conference about the important social & political role of hackers. In recent years, Keren has been a featured speaker at events like DLD 2013, RSA Conference 2013, WIRED 2012 and the NATO International conference on Cyber Conflict. Keren holds a CISSP security certification, a BA in History and Philosophy of Science and is currently a research fellow and MA candidate with the prestigious Science, Security & Technology workshop at Tel Aviv University. In 2012, Keren held the position of Security Teaching Fellow with Singularity University, a private think tank in Mountain View, California.