Hacking Government Bureaucracy, presented by Greg Conti

UNITED STATES

12.01.2020

Video by Steven Stover 

780th Military Intelligence Brigade (Cyber)

Part of the AvengerCon V presentations cleared for public release: In theory, bureaucracy isn’t a bad thing. Really. Bureaucracy allows large organizations to scale and accomplish complex missions that would otherwise be impossible. In practice however, bureaucracies easily become their own worst enemy. Bureaucracies can be soul crushing, destroyers of efficiency and agility. Particularly vulnerable are the innovative people, new missions, and new organizations essential for success in cyber conflict. However, if navigated appropriately, success is still possible despite the bureaucracy, and sometimes even because of it. Hackers are adept at bending complex systems to their will, and bureaucracies are nothing if not complex systems. The techniques, tactics, and rules of the game are a bit different in the bureaucratic domain, but the hacker mindset is the same.

This talk provides strategies for hacking bureaucracy that everyone can apply. To be clear, I’m not suggesting anything illegal, but instead offering ways to accomplish legitimate objectives using legitimate means despite the mountains of TPS reports you may have to face. Doing your homework (RTFM) and being nice (until it is time not to be nice) cover about 80% of the challenges you will encounter, but we’ll dig deeper into a spectrum of more advanced techniques, the risks involved, and potential intended and unintended effects. You’ll leave this talk with a toolkit of techniques to better accomplish your mission of defending the nation in cyberspace, despite itself.

AvengerCon is a free security event hosted every fall by Maryland Innovation and Security Institute to benefit the hackers of the U.S. Cyber Command community and the U.S. Army 780th Military Intelligence Brigade. The event is open to all service members and employees of U.S. Cyber Command and Department of Defense personnel supporting cyberspace missions. AvengerCon features presentations, hacker villages, training workshops, and much more.

The event is open to all service members and employees of U.S. Cyber Command and Department of Defense, and related partners supporting cyberspace missions.

• Date Taken: 12.01.2020
• Date Posted: 10.20.2022 14:32
• Category: Series
• Video ID: 861456
• VIRIN: 201201-O-PX639-137
• Filename: DOD_109279013
• Length: 00:40:19
• Location: US