Last view of the crime scene that was my invaded hotel room and violated space, courtesy of @CaesarsPalace who still have not told me anything, offered me anything (except to move my room - like that really would prevent their security team screaming at me again). My last #DEFCON 
The reporting out of this event so far has noted "privacy" concerns. The fact of the matter is, a male's chief concern is privacy. Women's includes that, but our high order bit is that this policy designed to keep people safe from gun attacks *increases* our chance of assault.
Threat models change, & we as security professionals know that. October 1 changed the threat model for Vegas hotels. That in no way changed the threat models for women traveling alone. Only @CaesarsPalace security did that. They are sacrificing women's safety for gun inspections.
They added a check for the Oct 1 new threat, obliterating the existing safety controls that make women safer in hotels. Demanding unquestioning compliance is going to enable assault. *ANYONE* could claim they are hotel security & demand to be let in to the room.
No key is needed to access the floors via the elevator. The hotel employee ID card I was finally shown had the photo rubbed off. It was only shown after I had been screamed at & the door pounded on, which was after I had politely asked to verify their IDs by calling downstairs.
I was trying to follow a reasonable authentication process, in fact I was walking the supervisor on the phone through it as he talked over me about the necessity of the search. I wasn't arguing about my privacy. I was protecting my life & body from assault. He missed the point.
Anyone who thinks this compares to enhanced security at airports also misses the point. TSA is not creating a process that forces women alone to accept strange men into her room, without a protocol to verify their identity. TSA doesn't increase my chances of being raped & killed.
Hotel room inspections may be the new normal, but refusing to work with any woman who feels unsafe is ridiculous. I happen to be a woman who is listened to by the DoD & foreign allied govs, & was simply trying to verify that the men pounding on the door were not there to rape me.
Think I'm exaggerating the risk? Well, that's not true. Five years ago in Paris at a nice hotel, a man followed my female colleague in the elevator to our door, knocked on it, trying to get to her. Long story short - he turned out to be an escaped mental patient posing as a guest
Hotel security is supposed to make us *all* feel safer. No security measure that increases an already common risk of rape & assault of women should be considered effective at reducing the risk of a mass shooting. Privacy isn't the main concern here. It's only a main male concern.
Crickets from @CaesarsPalace . Not even a gesture of goodwill to comp the violated nights of my reservation (the prices were low when I reserved, this would cost them a few hundred bucks). Because they don't care about women. They care about looking like they are doing something.
If @CaesarsPalace won't create a simple process for authenticating hotel personnel when guests request it, then women will be assaulted as a direct result of their lack of accepting my feedback & that of other security professionals here. They should be held 100% at legal fault.
While I'll be saddened to hear about the inevitable tragedy, I hope the victims & their families will be awarded tons for the gross negligence of @CaesarsPalace . I'm not coming back to Vegas *ever* while this is still unaddressed. My chief concern isn't privacy, it's for my life
Employee ID cards are insufficient proof. I saw ID cards w the pictures so worn off, they were gone except the top of the head of the person. Those "ID"s alone even with a visible picture were the kind that are easily faked. Authentication via a call to the front desk is needed.
Full names given via phone from the front desk, a request by the guest for the people outside the door to produce their names (not say yes to a name given) before opening the door, & a government issued ID check upon opening it would have SOLVED THIS PROBLEM FOR ME. They wouldn't
Frankly, if this industry cares about having more women join & more women stay, authentication protocol changes should be demanded. Not some BS about cooperating with the hotel because of one changed threat model. Women's threat models are the oldest threat models in the book.
Fix this. Or I'm skipping my 20th #DEFCON and all others. I'm not risking my life to come here. I've traveled alone to Abu Dhabi, to Nairobi under State Dept warnings, all alone. I'm not afraid for my safety in those situations. I am terrified of what can happen to me in Vegas.
If you're a supporter of women, time to demand simple authentication protocol updates so that women's safety isn't thrown away for some ineffective security theater. Don't take "we're working on it" as an answer. @DianaInitiative @wisporg @defcon @BlackHatEvents @CaesarsPalace
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