Hack conference Def Con bans three people linked to Epstein | TechCrunch

Def Con, one of the largest and longest-running hacking conferences in the world, announced Wednesday that three people linked to Jeffrey Epstein will no longer be allowed to attend.

The conference justified adding Pablos Holman, Vincenzo Iozzo and Joichi Ito to the public list of prohibited personsciting the three featured in the Department of Justice’s most recent publication regarding the investigation into the deceased investor and convicted sex offender. Def Con also quoted an article in Politico based on emails the three exchanged with Epstein.

Joan Vollero, a spokesperson for Iozzo, told TechCrunch in a statement that Def Con’s actions are “completely performative, as Mr. Iozzo has barely attended the conference over the past two decades.”

“It was a hasty ruling that was not based on any investigation or misconduct by Mr. Iozzo,” the spokesperson said.

Representatives for Def Con, Holman and Ito did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

The move to ban the three comes days after TechCrunch reported that cybersecurity conferences Black Hat and Code Blue had removed Iozzo from their official ratings board pages, amid new and emerging revelations that linked the prominent hacker to Epstein, among other things.

Iozzo is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry and is currently the founder and CEO of identity startup SlashID. He previously served as director at CrowdStrike after the security giant acquired his cybersecurity startup IperLane in 2017. As TechCrunch previously reported, Iozzo had contact with Epstein between 2014 and 2018, including after the Miami Herald reported new accusations that Epstein had abused dozens of women and children.

Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting sex from girls and was registered as a sex offender in New York and Florida. In 2019, the Ministry of Justice accused Epstein of trafficking, exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls. Epstein died in prison.

Iozzo previously told TechCrunch that his interactions with Epstein were “limited to business opportunities that never materialized, as well as discussion of the markets and emerging technologies,” and that he “never observed or participated in any illegal activity or behavior.”

Prior to his startups, Iozzo was a research affiliate at MIT Media Lab, which was overseen by Ito at the time. The two appear together in several Epstein emails.

Joichi Ito was director of the MIT Media Lab until 2019 he resigned after it was reported that he was aware that Epstein was a convicted sex offender and that he and the university had extensive personal and financial relationships with Epstein.

Holman, meanwhile, is a general partner at venture capital firm Deep Future and describes himself on his website as “a hacker, inventor and technology futurist.”

Holman had been in contact with Epstein since 2010, planned to stay in one of his apartments in New York City in 2013, and tried to help Epstein hides negative online news stories about himself.

According to an emailEpstein made plans to attend Def Con with Holman in 2013, but it is unclear whether they attended. Def Con founder Jeff Moss said that, as far as he knows, “Epstein was never present.”