AfterTek

Some reporters will do almost anything to get the story that will seperate them apart from all others. A story that will advance their careers and make them famous. Unfortunately some of those reporters don’t quite accomplish that goal. As Michelle Madigan, an NBC reporter, discovered - it sometimes isn’t easy to get what you want.

Michelle Madigan took her spy camera to DefCon a place full of the best hackers the world can find. Apparently she was there to do a piece called Hackers for Hire, with the goal of showing the criminal hacker underground and possibly outing an undercover Federal agent. (Federal agents openly, and covertly, mingle with hackers at the conference, which features a panel discussion titled “Meet the Fed.”).

The hackers were alerted to her presence moments before her arrival and lured her into a room where she was told they were going to be trying to spot federal agents. When she got there they openly stated that they knew there was an undercover reporter and stated that her methods for disguise were poor. Madigan fled the room before anyone could catch up to her.

Of course it wasn’t too hard to unmask her. The security officers at the conference said that she was holding up her her bag as if it was a camera. Not only that but she informed security that she did indeed have a secret camera. First rule of thumb; if you are going to be undercover than you need to know how to keep secrets!

Apparently she wasn’t good at being an undercover reporter. Maybe she should stick to the field work where she won’t run into angry mobs of hackers yelling and laughing at her.