Vincenzo Iozzo, a famous hacker linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is no longer listed on the website of Black Hat, one of the world’s largest cyber security conferences, nor the Japanese security conference Code Blue.
As of Thursday, Iozzo does not appear on the official leaderboard pages Black hat or Code Blue. It was still listed on both pages as of last week. According to his LinkedIn profile, Iozzo has been on the Black Hat review board since 2011.
In a statement shared with TechCrunch through a spokesperson, Iozzo said he told Black Hat he “will not resign willingly” and welcomed “a full investigation.”
Black Hat representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Iozzo, currently founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup SlashID, has had a long career in the industry. Iozzo wrote one of the first manuals for hackers investigating Apple’s mobile software, and in 2015 founded cybersecurity startup IperLane, which was later bought by CrowdStrike, leading him to serve as a senior director at the company for nearly four years.
Iozzo’s name appears in more than 2,300 documents, some of which contain many emailsreleased Jan. 30 as part of the Justice Department’s legally required effort to release material from its investigation into the late stockbroker and sex trafficker.
Iozzo’s interactions with Epstein span from October 2014 to December 2018. In late 2018, the Miami Herald published news detail the allegations that Epstein abused more than 60 womensome of them teenage girls.
After these stories were published, they were recently released emails are displayed Iozzo was trying to meet with Epstein at his New York mansion.
Contact us
Do you have more information about Epstein’s connections in the cybersecurity world? From a non-working device, Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai can be reached securely on Signal at +1 917 257 1382 or via Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb or via email.
Among the new material released by the Justice Department, in addition to more than 2,300 documents mentioning Iozzo, was also a report from an FBI informant who claimed Epstein had a “personal hacker.” THE document is redacted and does not name the alleged hacker. However, some of the identifying details included in the document strongly suggest that the whistleblower believed Iozzo was Epstein’s hacker. Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera he said in the emails earlier this month and named Iozzo as the person most likely listed in the whistleblower document.
It is important to note that the FBI informant’s claims and allegations have not been confirmed by the FBI and may be partially incorrect. Furthermore, there is no evidence in the emails to suggest that Iozzo did anything illegal for Epstein.
Iozzo said in a statement to TechCrunch that he “knew Epstein for business” and wished he hadn’t, but denied claims he was Epstein’s hacker or did any hacking on his behalf.
“They were introduced to us in 2014, when I was 25 at MIT fundraising for my startup, by people I trusted and admired. Because of that, I didn’t ask the right questions that, in retrospect, seem obvious,” reads the statement sent by his spokeswoman Joan Vollero. “I foolishly accepted the narrative presented to me by others that greatly minimized the magnitude of his horrific actions. I regret the previous relationship and take full responsibility for not exercising greater judgment at the time.”
“My interactions with Epstein were limited to business opportunities that never materialized and discussions about markets and emerging technologies. I never observed or participated in any illegal activity or conduct,” Iozzo added.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting sex by 14-year-old girls registered as sex offenders in Florida and New York. In 2018, new reports emerged that Epstein was allegedly a serial sex offender and had trafficked underage girls on his private island. Following these new reports, the Justice Department officially charged Epstein in 2019 for trafficking, exploiting and abusing dozens of underage girls. Epstein later he died in prison.
Neither Iozzo Vollero’s spokesperson, nor his attorney Emma Spiro, explained why Iozzo was removed from Black Hat’s website, but they did not dispute the removal.
“Mr. Iozzo welcomed an independent investigation by Black Hat, rather than a knee-jerk removal decision, because he is confident it will be overturned through this process,” Vollero said.
Code Blue spokesperson Ken-ichi Saito confirmed to TechCrunch that the conference removed Iozzo’s name from the review panel. Saito said the conference “has been preparing for this update for several months” to remove Iozzo and two other review board members “who were not active” and that “the timing of our website update coincides with the public release of the Epstein papers.”
