Security agents sometimes pose as journalists in order to attend security conferences like Defcon, reports Computerworld. According to one of the show's senior organizers, called "Priest", past events have seen members of Mossad and the French Foreign Legion, posing as journalists.

While there are generally no rules barring government agents from these shows, registering as a journalist allows them to spend more time with and ask more probing questions to various researchers there.

I'm not sure if I should feel offended, but Priest noted that it was "easy" to spot the French Foreign Legionnaires in the past. He was quoted by Computerworld as saying, "There's a certain body type you find with people who are in that type of work... [They were] in far, far too good shape to be press."

For more on this story:
- check out this article at Computerworld

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