Feds look to hire at Defcon

Jim Christy, director of the U.S. Department of Defense's Cyber Crime Center, has been to eight Defcon events. One reason he attends the hacker event every year is to find talent. "I'm hiring 21 people in the next month," Christy said.

The cybercrime center aids in the investigation of cybercrimes by training law enforcement agents, running a forensics lab and developing tools for investigations. Christy is looking for electrical and computer engineers and programmers, among other people. He might fight some of those people at Defcon, he said.

Of course the DOD is not hiring criminal hackers. Anyone Christy hires will have to pass background checks, he said. "We'd like to hire intelligent people," he said.

On Saturday Christy and representatives from other federal agencies hosted a "Meet the Fed" session at Defcon. They pulled an old prank. First, all attendees were asked to stand. Then everyone who had not hacked into any system illegitimately was asked to sit down. The Feds then pulled out cameras and started snapping pictures.