ShmooCon 2006 Security/Hardware Hacks Conference and Call For Papers Announcement

[Holt Sorenson]

ShmooCon 2006 Event Summary
===========================

The Shmoo Group (http://www.shmoo.com), a non-profit think-tank comprised
of security professionals from around the world who donate their free time
and energy to information security research and development, is soliciting
papers and presentations for the second annual ShmooCon. ShmooCon 2006 will
be a highly-technical and entertaining East coast information security convention
focused on technology exploitation, inventive software & hardware solutions, as
well as open discussion on a variety of technology & security topics.

ShmooCon 2006 (http://www.shmoocon.org/) will be held in Washington, D.C.,
from January 13th to January 15th, 2006. It will be held at the Marriott
Wardman Park Hotel (http://www.wardmanpark.com/) just minutes from your
choice of 3-letter agencies. ShmooCon 2006 will have three tracks, each
dedicated to the following:

   1. Break It! Technology Exploitation
   2. Build It! Inventive Software & Hardware Solutions
   3. BoF It! Open Discussion of Technology & Security Topics

Registration is now open with the following costs, depending on time of
registration:

August  1, 2005 - October   1, 2005     $75
October 2, 2005 - December 31, 2005    $150
January 1, 2006 - January  13, 2006    $300


ShmooCon 2006 Call for Papers
=============================

Topics for the Break It! track may include, but are not limited to,
EXPLOITATION of:

    * Consumer electronic devices
    * Application, host, and network security
    * Telephony
    * Physical security

Topics for the Build It! track may include, but are not limited to,
inventive software & hardware SOLUTIONS in:

    * Robotics
    * Distributed computing
    * Community wireless networking
    * Mobile personal computing

Topics for the BoF It! track may include, but are not limited to,
open DISCUSSION of the following:

    * Privacy and anonymity
    * Exploit and vulnerability disclosure / databases
    * DRM (Digital Rights Management), fair use, copyright infringement
    * Open source software world domination strategies

Presentation Format:

All presentations & discussions will be 55 minutes in length. Presentations
in the Break It! and Build It!  tracks must include demonstrations of
personally developed techniques, working code, and/or devices, with code
and/or schematics being open-source and released to the public for free.

Initiating an open discussion for BoF It! requires subject matter
expertise, active involvement with the topic at hand, and a brief
presentation of the topic/problem scope. Shmooballs will be issued
to the audience, to facilitate a frank and open discussion of
opinions. Speakers are encouraged to present innovative ideas that
not everyone agrees with. Submission Procedure To submit, email
cfp at shmoocon.com with the following information:

   1. Speaker name(s) and/or handle(s)
   2. Presentation Title
   3. Track preference
   4. Two to three paragraph presentation description and/or outline
   5. List facilities required. Projector for use with VGA input,
      flipchart, sound projection, Internet connectivity will be provided.
   6. Speaker bio
   7. Contact info for speaker (email AND mobile number, please)


Accepted speakers will receive free admission to the conference, as
well as a $200 honorarium after evaluation of their completed
presentation.  6 runner-ups will receive free admission as
hot-alternates. They should come to ShmooCon 2006 prepared to speak,
and, if it becomes necessary for them to speak as an alternate, they
too will receive a $200 honorarium after evaluation of their
completed presentation. NOTE: select presentation submissions which
are not accepted will be awarded a 50% discounted admission to
ShmooCon 2006. Preference will be given to presentations that plan
to include source code / schematics. Additionally, speakers who do
not provide source code / schematics by presentation time will not
receive an honorarium.

Presentation proposals will be reviewed by members of the Shmoo
Group. A list of the reviewers will be posted on the ShmooCon 2006
web site when the Call For Papers is formally issued.

If you feel you have a presentation that would be appropriate but
that does not meet these guidelines, feel free to submit it anyway
but be sure to include a cover letter explaining your reasoning so
we can evaluate your proposal.

All questions regarding this call for papers should be addressed to
cfp at shmoocon.org. Feel free to contact us if you have an idea for a
talk but you're not sure how to present it at a conference.

Schedule

    * Check the web site for dates!
    * July 29, 2005 - CFP opens
    * Early Fall 2005 papers for preferential first round consideration due
    * Middle Fall 2005 - final due date for all papers
    * Late Fall 2005 - speakers notified

Any accepted speakers who have pre-registered for ShmooCon will
receive a refund of their registration fees.  Yes, it is wise to
pre-register for ShmooCon if you are unsure you will be accepted as
a speaker to ensure you get in to ShmooCon.

Submissions are due by late fall 2005. Preference will be given to
submissions received by early fall 2005. Selected speakers will be
notified by Halloween, 2005. We look forward to receiving your
submissions as well as seeing you at ShmooCon 2006!