Hacker News Reader

What exactly could DefuseSec be marketing here?

Disclosure: He and I have been friends for years.

Advertising is always about grabbing attention. The more impressions, the more odds of sales or uptake. It's a legit consideration anytime some stunt happens in public spreading on media or social networks.

Not that I think that has anything to do with this. Looks more like normal goofing around by security or hacking folks. If anything, he looses money or precious beer from it.

He could market himself and his site in order to increase his self branding.

Even if it is a marketing stunt, it is a nice one.

Taylor (@DefuseSec) is one of the organizers of the Underhanded Crypto Contest at DEFCON; it started as an open invitation to try to social engineer him so he can improve himself. It wasn't a marketing stunt, at all.

I always wonder why in general there is such a distrust / avoidance of marketing in tech communities.

I can't speak for others, but I see marketing as manipulation and I see manipulation as a dehumanizing act that robs humans of their own agency.

Why would you have to pay anything? Have a friend tweet the response.

Even more clever...