A security researcher and executive who was banned from the DEF CON hacking conference earlier this year for misconduct is hitting back in court.

Christopher Hadnagy, formerly the organizer of DEF CON's social engineering village, claims that the conference's decision to ban him from the show and publicly announce the move has caused personal and professional damage. He has filed suit against both DEF CON itself and show founder and organizer Jeff Moss in the Pennsylvania Eastern District US court.

"My company and I consistently deny and continue to deny any and all allegations of misconduct," Hadnagy said in a statement to TechTarget Editorial. "To address these false accusations, defamatory statements and innuendos, I have filed a lawsuit against both DEF CON Communications and Jeff Moss."

The complaint stems from DEF CON's announcement in February that it would not allow Hadnagy to attend the 30^th edition of the conference or oversee operations in the Social Engineering Village section of the show.

Def Con's transparency report claimed that show organizers had received multiple reports of code of conduct violations involving Hadnagy.

"After conversations with the reporting parties and Chris, we are confident the severity of the transgressions merits a ban from DEF CON," the report stated.

Hadnagy said neither he nor his attorneys have been given any explanation from DEF CON or Moss regarding specific incidents that led to the ban or what violations of the code of...

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