BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:Data::ICal 0.24
BEGIN:VEVENT
DESCRIPTION:   'Title: Strategic Resistance: How a Global Network is Fighti
 ng the\n   Spyware Industry -\n   Tags: Policy @ DEF CON | Creator Talk/Pa
 nel\n   When: Sunday\, Aug 9\, 11:00 - 11:59 PDT\n   Where: LVCCW Level 2 
 W210-211 (Policy Village) - [1]Map\n\n   Description:\n\n   For years\, th
 e commercial spyware industry – which sells software to\n   hijack devic
 es – has operated in a "gray market" with near-total\n   impunity. That 
 changed on February 26\, 2026\, when an Athens court\n   sentenced executi
 ves of Intellexa to maximum prison terms – the\n   first criminal convic
 tion of spyware vendors. This was not an isolated\n   event\, but the resu
 lt of a coordinated\, multi-year effort by a diverse\n   network of forens
 ic researchers\, legal advocates\, and civil society\n   organizations. Fr
 om the $167M civil judgment against NSO Group to the\n   closure of critic
 al zero-day flaws in global messaging platforms\, the\n   tide is turning 
 against mercenary surveillance. This session explores\n   how this decentr
 alized network supported by the Spyware Accountability\n   Initiative (SAI
 ) is dismantling the spyware business model. We will\n   move beyond indiv
 idual exploits to analyze the “policy\n   infrastructure that makes tech
 nical security research impactful.\n   We’ll show how technical discover
 y turns into legal and financial\n   consequences for spyware companies. W
 e will also detail how the SAI\n   pooled fund model coordinates resources
  across organizations like\n   Citizen Lab\, the Knight First Amendment In
 stitute\, and regional threat\n   labs on every continent. Attendees will 
 gain an inside look at how\n   this initiative operates\, how it prioritiz
 es high-impac\n\n   Speakers:Michael Brennan\,Nadine Farid Johnson\,Rebeka
 h Brown\n\n   SpeakerBio:  Michael Brennan\, Spyware Accountability Initia
 tive\n\n   Michael Brennan works at the intersection of technology\, civil
 \n   society\, and philanthropy\, helping build the funding and coordinati
 on\n   strategies that make accountability efforts possible. His work focu
 ses\n   on translating between technical researchers\, legal advocates\, a
 nd\n   policy actors to support effective responses to digital threats\,\n
    including commercial spyware. He has helped shape collaborative\n   app
 roaches to complex public-interest technology challenges and is\n   partic
 ularly interested in the often-invisible infrastructure (funding\n   model
 s\, networks\, and strategy) that turns technical discovery into\n   meani
 ngful consequences for powerful actors. He brings a\n   cross-disciplinary
  perspective on how to make resistance to\n   surveillance more durable\, 
 coordinated\, and effective. He holds a PhD\n   in Computer Science.\n\n  
  SpeakerBio:  Nadine Farid Johnson\, Knight First Amendment Institute\n\n 
   Nadine Farid Johnson is the inaugural policy director of the Knight\n   
 First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. She is responsible\n   f
 or the Institute’s policy and advocacy efforts\, leading engagement\n   
 with U.S. government and other officials to advance the Institute’s\n   
 policy objectives. A former U.S. diplomat and professor of law and\n   pol
 itical science\, Farid Johnson is a frequent media contributor\, with\n   
 commentary appearing in The New York Times\, The Wall Street Journal\,\n  
  The Atlantic\, World Politics Review\, Al Jazeera\, The Hill\, The Daily\
 n   Beast\, NPR\, and other national and international publications. She h
 as\n   also appeared on outlets including PBS and CNN International.\n\n  
  SpeakerBio:  Rebekah Brown\n\n   Rebekah Brown is a senior researcher at 
 the Citizen Lab focussing on\n   targeted threats against civil society. S
 he has over 20 years of\n   experience in threat intelligence and analysis
 . Before joining the\n   Citizen Lab\, Rebekah worked at Apple\, where she
  focused on complex\n   threat models and helped design and implement feat
 ures for individuals\n   at increased risk for stalking\, harassment\, and
  abuse. She is a\n   trained network warfare analyst and previously served
  as operations\n   chief of a U.S. Marine Corps cyber unit and a U.S. Cybe
 r Command\n   training and exercise lead. Rebekah is a published author on
 \n   intelligence-driven incident response\, and co-author of the SANS\n  
  course on cyber threat intelligence.\n\n   '\n\n   1. #LVCCW_Level2_West\
 n\n\n
DTEND:20260809T185900Z
DTSTART:20260809T180000Z
LOCATION:Policy @ DEF  CON - LVCCW Level 2 W210-211 (Policy Village)
SUMMARY:Strategic Resistance: How a Global Network is Fighting the Spyware 
 Industry -
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR