Hackers hold charity auction to aid needy cancer patients

• Charity auction of hacker memorabilia and geek collectibles
• Proceeds go to Needy Cancer Patient Fund managed by Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital in Penang

AMONG the fun side events at next week’s Hack In The Box security conference and hacker meet-up (HITBSecConf) in Kuala Lumpur would be one with a social impact too – a charity auction whose proceeds will go forward to aid needy cancer patients in Malaysia.

The Hack In The Box (HITB) team has been ramping up its preparations for HITBSecConf2012 (or HITB2012KUL), to be held Oct 8-11 at the Intercontinental Kuala Lumpur hotel, which also celebrates its 10th anniversary by welcoming back on stage over 42 of its most popular speakers.

To celebrate 10 years of hacking history, it is only fitting that the conference ends with a chance to take home a piece of hacker memorabilia, HITB said in a statement.

The HITB Charity Auction will take place just before the closing ceremony on Oct 11, with all proceeds going to the Needy Cancer Patient Fund managed by Mount Miriam Cancer Hospital, a hospital located in the northern Malaysian island of Penang whose goal is to make treatment affordable to all cancer patients.

The auction is open to the public and takes place at Intercontinental hotel’s ballroom at 6.30pm (MYT). Tthe auction will be streamed live and remote bidding will be allowed via Skype (username: HITBCharityAuction).

Going under the hammer is an XBox 360 250GB console complete with a one-of-a-kind #HITB2012KUL design, donated and customized by Microsoft Corp. Apple iOS themed items will also feature prominently, including a Chronic-Dev Team iDevice serial cable with letter of authenticity as well as iPad and iPhone 4/4s covers autographed by all members of the Chronic-Dev Team.

Other auction items include an autographed copy of Bruce Schneier’s latest book, Liars & Outliers, HITB auctioneer and founder of Zone-H Roberto Preatoni’s arrest warrant, plus iconic t-shirts from The Pirate Bay, L0pht and other hacker collectibles.

For further details on the Needy Cancer Patient Fund and a listing of items up for auction, go to http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2012kul/event/charity-auction/ or follow @HITBSecConf on Twitter for up-to-the-minute event updates. The hashtag for the conference is #HITB2012KUL.
 
HITBSecConf2012 will also include a number of other side events, such as the Capture The Flag network hacking challenge; the HackWEEKDAY 36-hour hackathon which made its first appearance at last year’s conference; two days of hands-on technical training workshops; and the HITB CommSec Village, an area that would be dedicated to highlighting various security related projects from the open source community and from various hackerspaces.

Digital News Asia is amongst the official media for HITBSecConf2012. For more on the conference and HITB itself, go here.