IT Security Girl of the Year

I have never ever seen a worse idea for an award at an IT Sec conference. There are people who are concerned about the lack of women in IT and especially in IT Sec. Then the organizers of IT sec conferences pull shit like this and we are surprised that woman don't feel drawn to working in our field. I really want to know the exact thought process that led to the creation of this award. Unless someone can explain it to me in more detail, I picture a bunch of sweaty neckbeards sitting around going "You know what we should do? Make a special award for girls. The girls will love us, especially the one who wins" - "Brilliant idea broseph, we're so gonna score. Hi-fives all around".

The whole concept behind this award strikes me as incredibly demeaning for the following reasons.

First, the award is titled IT Security Girl of the Year and was given to Joanna Rutkowska. Now I have never met Joanna or had any contact with her at all as far as I know but I am pretty damn sure she is not an "IT Security Girl" but a serious IT security researcher and a grown woman, not a girl. Can you imagine an award named "IT Security Boy of the Year" that is seriously given out to males older than 16 years? I can't either. Unless we are talking about a satirical award, which is why I was searching for it when I first came across the FRHACK website.

Second, the way the award is advertised on the website. Click here to see it. And just in case the FRHACK organizers recognize the shamefulness of the whole situation and edit the website I have actually made a screenshot to document the whole thing. Look at the two pictures that accompany the announcement. I think there is nothing left to say there. Imagine if the Pwnie Awards were advertised like that. We would see a topless Alex Sotirov kissing his biceps while striking a pose.

Third, "This prize should be delayed by Miss Franche-Comté.". I am reasonably sure that the word delayed should be replaced by delivered or something in this sentence. Anyway, I can only imagine the situation. Joanna Rutkowska is on stage. A 2nd-class beauty queen shows up, gives Joanna the award and maybe even says a few words about Joanna. You know Andrew Wiles? The guy who won the Fermat prize for solving Fermat's Last Theorem? Image a comparable situation. "Professor Wiles, we are proud to award you the Fermat Prize this year. This year the award will be given to you by Heidi Klum who will also give a short overview of your life and the proof you developed. Ladies and Gentlemen, applause for Heidi Klum please". Now I actually think Heidi Klum is a pretty funny/nice/cool/strong/underrated woman, and I am sure Miss Franche-Comté is also a swell person all-around but some things are appropriate and some are not.

Alright, let's wrap this up. The whole idea and execution of the IT Sec Girl award is so lacking in class and professionalism that I can not really find words. Since I love giving advice to people I have never met I will end this entry with giving advice to Joanna. If I were Joanna I would reject this award. Hell, I would even think twice about showing up to the conference. And should I decide to show up anyway I would use a few minutes of my presentation to talk about the award (permission to recite this blog entry on stage is hereby given). But I am not Joanna, and maybe Joanna actually thinks that this award is totally awesome and wants to be treated like a little princess instead of a serious security researcher at a professional conference. After Miss Franche-Comté gave her the award she can then prove her worth to the audience by presenting incredible talents like juggling pins while whistling the Polish national anthem or something.

There are a few problems with this blog entry. I am not a woman and I am far away from receiving any kind of award at any kind of conference. So maybe I am totally misinterpreting the situation with my overwhelmingly male brain and all the women in IT sec actually think this award is the best thing since sliced bread. There is also the chance that the IT Sec Girl of the Year is actually a satirical award. In that case, yeah, I've been had. Mea culpa, I gave the reaction you tried to get. You can post comments to this blog entry to make fun of me now. Maybe I should also just lighten up. I don't know. At least I took a break of nearly six hours between first wanting to write this blog entry and actually writing it. Otherwise it would have been significantly less friendly.

Update: The FRHACK organizers threatened to take legal action against me if I do not remove the screenshot I took of their website. Their specific complaint was that one of the photos (the one with the woman and the gun) shown in the screenshot is copyrighted. Turns out the FRHACK organizers do not even own the copyright of that photo. I actually contacted the guy who does own the copyright (Jason Snell) and asked him about his opinion. He has granted me permission to keep up the screenshot and stated that "I, and many of my fellow security researchers in SF, agree with your point. I contacted the French group immediately because I was shocked at their tasteless use of my work." The FRHACK organizers have taken down Jason's photo after they received Jason's request. That's why the FRHACK website now looks different from the screenshot I took. You can find Jason's blog where he posted the photo in question at http://3d.syne.net/ . Thanks again Jason.