Black Hat Flashback: The Day That Dan Kaminsky Saved the Internet

He was one of the good guys.

The late, great Dan Kaminsky offered many big moments in Black Hat history, none more enormous than his reveal at Black Hat 2008 with his “Great DNS Vulnerability” presentation, where he showed up on roller skates and explained why the entire Internet was at risk and open to cyberattack.

Besides deciding to share this monumental find with the cybersecurity community and helping steer some of the best minds of the time to produce a fix, Kaminsky represented a kinder, gentler side of infosec that put people and their security first. 

To wit: He developed the DanKam augmented reality for a colorblind friend, and hearing aids for this grandmother, who made regular appearances at Black Hat as well, with plates of homemade cookies to share with everyone.

Dark Reading’s editor-in-chief, Kelly Jackson Higgins, tells the story of that seismic DNS day in 2008, and all that Dan Kaminsky meant to the cybersecurity community, in this first installment of our new series, “Black Hat Flashback.” 

On a regular basis, editors from Dark Reading will reminisce about some of the major Black Hat moments in history that changed the game forever.

Take a look, then watch Dan Kaminsky in action giving a keynote speech at Black Hat 2016.