Black Hat USA 2024, DEF CON 32 attendees treated like children – or criminals – with invasive hotel room checks

Stefanie Schappert reports:

Resorts World Las Vegas, a popular hotel for Black Hat USA and DEF CON 2024 conference attendees, has mud on its face after it was revealed earlier this week that all hotel guests will be subjected to invasive and mandatory room checks. Cybernews, also at Black Hat this week, has the details – and an official response from the hotel defending its position.

As throngs of cybersecurity folk and hackers – both black hat, white hat, and everything in between – descend on Las Vegas this August for two of the largest and most notorious security conferences in the industry, one small post has gotten the attention, and ire, of hundreds of thousands of attendees.

In a bold move, the Sin City hotel presented a pre-emptive letter to select guests on check-in warning that it “will be conducting scheduled, brief visual and non-intrusive room inspections daily beginning Monday, August 5th.”