Vincenzo Iozzo, a well-known hacker linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is no longer listed on the website of Black Hat, a prominent cybersecurity conference.
Iozzo, currently the founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup SlashID, had been on the Black Hat review board since 2011. His removal from the website was noticed as of Thursday, and he is also no longer listed on the review board of the Japanese security conference Code Blue.
Iozzo has a long history in the industry, having authored one of the first manuals for hackers researching Apple's mobile software and founding cybersecurity startup IperLane, which was later acquired by CrowdStrike. In a statement shared with TechCrunch, Iozzo said he told Black Hat that he "will not willingly resign" and welcomed "a full investigation."
The Background
Iozzo's interactions with Epstein span from October 2014 to December 2018, according to emails released by the Department of Justice. Iozzo has denied claims that he was Epstein's hacker or did any hacking for him, stating that his interactions with Epstein were limited to business opportunities and discussions of markets and emerging technologies.
Iozzo's name appears in over 2,300 documents released by the Justice Department, including a report from an FBI informant who claimed Epstein had a "personal hacker." However, it's essential to note that the claims and allegations by the FBI informant were not confirmed by the FBI and may be partially wrong.
The Removal
Neither Iozzo's spokesperson nor his attorney explained why he was removed from Black Hat's website, but did not dispute the removal. Code Blue spokesperson Ken-ichi Saito confirmed that the conference removed Iozzo's name from its review board, stating that the conference had been preparing for the update for several months to remove Iozzo and two other review board members who had not been active.
Iozzo has welcomed an independent investigation from Black Hat, rather than a knee-jerk removal decision, as he is confident that he would be cleared through that process. The removal of Iozzo from the Black Hat website coincided with the public release of the Epstein documents, which has raised questions about the timing and circumstances of his removal.
