Hacking conference Def Con bans three people linked to Epstein

Def Con, one of the world’s largest and longest-running conventions, announced Wednesday that three people linked to Jeffrey Epstein will no longer be allowed to attend.

The meeting justified the addition of Pablos Holman, Vincenzo Iozzo, and Joichi Ito to their collective list of banned peoplenaming the three appears in the Department of Justice’s recent release of files related to its investigation of a late investor and sex offender. Def Con was also mentioned article in Politico based on emails the three exchanged with Epstein.

Iozzo’s spokeswoman, Joan Vollero, told TechCrunch in a statement that Def Con’s move “is a good move, as Mr. Iozzo has not attended the convention in two decades.”

“It was a rush to judgment without reference to the investigation or Mr. Iozzo’s wrongdoings,” the spokesman said.

Representatives for Def Con, Holman, and Ito did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

The move to ban the trio comes days after TechCrunch reported that cybersecurity conferences Black Hat and Code Blue. removed Iozzo from their official websiteamong new and emerging revelations that link the famous hacker, among others, to Epstein.

Iozzo is a cybersecurity industry veteran who is currently the founder and CEO of identity startup SlashID. He previously worked as a director at the security giant CrowdStrike after it acquired its cybersecurity startup IperLane in 2017. TechCrunch previously reportedIozzo was in contact with Epstein between 2014 and 2018, including after the Miami Herald report new accusations that Epstein abused many women and children.

Epstein he pleaded guilty in 2008 to solicit sex from girls and register as a sex offender in New York and Florida. In 2019, the Department of Justice the accused Epstein trafficked, exploited, and abused many teenage girls. Epstein he died in prison.

Iozzo previously told TechCrunch that his interactions with Epstein “were purely business opportunities that were not seen, and discussions about emerging markets and technologies,” and that he “never witnessed or engaged in any illegal activities or practices.”

Prior to that, Iozzo was a research assistant at the MIT Media Lab, which was overseen by Ito at the time. The two appear in several of Epstein’s emails together.

Joichi Ito was the director of the MIT Media Lab until 2019, when he resigned after it was revealed that he knew Epstein was guilty and that he and the university had extensive and financial ties to Epstein.

Currently, Holman is a partner at Deep Future and describes himself on his website as a “disruptor, innovator & future tech.”

Holman has been in contact with Epstein since 2010, planned to stay at one of his homes in New York City in 2013, and he tried to help Epstein hides bad news from the Internet about himself.

According to the emailEpstein planned to go to Def Con with Holman in 2013, but it is unclear if he attended. Def Con founder Jeff Moss he said as far as he knows, “Epstein never went there.”