In the fall of 2017 and most of 2018, I used to associate with two InfoSec groups in Urbana, IL; DC217 and CU2600 – collectively referred to as CuteSec. During that time, I met many people in those groups, including Brenda Larcom (Twitter @asparagi, LinkedIn, Tall Order Software LLC) and her partner Adam Nichols (Mastodon: @CryogenicNighthawk, Twitter/X: @adamofdc949, LinkedIn, diseasedmind.com, DC949). DC217 meetups were really my first time in life interacting with other people and being social outside of my college classes. After a while of attending group functions I built up my first set of friends ever, primarily Brenda and Adam, and found what I thought was my first safe space where I felt free to be myself. However, both of these individuals proved to be more toxic and I ended up suffering sexual harassment, emotional manipulation, and exploitation at their hands. This is the story I will tell you; it’s long but I think that it’s important not to exclude any important detail, and I hope you will stick with it until the end as this details a case of sexual harassment, gaslighting, emotional exploitation, and abuse within the hacker scene and the InfoSec community. It is known about by some but brushed under the rug, so to speak.

Over time, I grew very close to three people affiliated with the DC217 and CU2600 groups, also known as “Champaign-Urbana Technology Enthusiast Security or CuteSec“: Lori (a.k.a. Spike), Adam, and Brenda. The events in my story kind of get muddled, even to me, because I wasn’t just taken advantage of by one person, rather, it was both Adam and his partner Brenda. By the end of my story, Adam was no longer allowed to participate in DC217 for his behavior while I am present; the group was initially supportive of me and I was thankfully allowed a safe space to continue attending for a while. Though nobody is technically “banned” from attending DC217, as long as that person “isn’t a douche”, a central character in this story (Adam) is the first to come close. However, despite the founder stating that only those who aren’t “a douche” can attend, when I left the country Adam was allowed back into the group. This facilitates that idea that I am the problem, and not my abuser. Ultimately, I stopped participating in DC217 as I felt unsafe, with an aggressor back into the group and radio silence even though the members knew full well what Adam and Brenda had done. I felt that asking for his removal would have painted me the one to incite “drama” so I moved on. I returned to DC217 only recently, as I am set to speak with a friend at The Ethics Village at DEF CON 27.