Receiving an invitation from the New York Times is always pretty special. But, this one pressed all of my buttons. The evening includes drinks, data security discussions, and it’s in Washington, DC at The Mansion on O Street.
The invite was especially relevant because it arrived as I was watching the last episode of Showtime’s The Fourth Estate—a documentary covering how the Times reported on the first year of the Trump administration. The invitation:
Raise a drink to locked-down data — and learn how reporters circumvent it — at our Washington CryptoParty. You’ll learn the basics of cybersecurity and how to protect your personal information, which has become a commodity product. Hear from experts, including The Times’s senior director of information security Runa Sandvik, a hacker-turned-security expert (whose former associates include a pre-exiled Edward Snowden), and national security reporter Matthew Rosenberg, who will discuss how he keeps his sources and himself safe when dealing with American spies, Russian cybercriminals and private companies. They will be joined by The Times’s executive director of information security Bill McKinley, CryptoHarlem founder Matthew Mitchell, and others.
Enjoy spring cocktails while our experts will lead workshops on safeguarding your data in the face of the new threats to your digital security.
The must-attend grabber for me was, “Raise a drink to locked-down data—and learn how reporters circumvent it.” Jacob and I would be there, but we have an even more engaging event to attend that evening. We’re headed to Tio Pepe to celebrate our 25th anniversary.
Tickets to the Times‘ CryptoParty are available for supporters of The New York Times for Students and Classrooms and all-access subscribers.
For press passes, contact ari@nytimes.com. An R.S.V.P. and pass are required for press admittance.