About This Site
A brief history of Hak5 gaming
Before Hak5 started way back in the days of 2005 the crew were obsessive gamers. Like, crazy obsessive first person shooter freaks. LAN parties are probably responsible for most of our early networking knowledge, back when 10-Base T was badass cool.
Well as you know the show took off and gaming had to take a back seat. That sucked so we figured the best way to integrate the two parts of our lives was to mash it up with start hosting regular Hak5 LAN Parties.
We put out a request for game server sponsors early on and Evolans stepped up to the plate. We fragged hard in CS:S for a while and thought the dudes at Evolans were cool. We heard the founder was up in Maryland only a few hours from the Hak5 lair so we invited him down for our 2006 4th of July party.
As evident by this youtube video posted the following day, the cocktail infused game sponsor Evolans was bright enough to give us $500 for roxoring his boxorz. We later used the money to cover our first Hacker conference, HOPE in NYC. On the way we picked up our friend from Evolans and had an amazing adventure.
As you've probably figured out the dude behind Evolans was none other than current host Matt Lestock. His thirst for gaming is unrivaled. With the start of our fourth season we picked up a dedicated server a continued rocking in first person shooters, open source cross platform games, real time strategy and even whacky mods.
Put together by a band of IT ninjas, security professionals and hardcore gamers, Hak5 isn't your typical tech show. We take on hacking in the old-school sense, covering everything from network security, open source and forensics, to DIY modding and the homebrew scene. Then we wrap it all up with a healthy dose of cocktails and geek comedy. Damn the warranties, it's time to Trust your Technolust.
Darren Kitchen
Darren Kitchen has been exploring underground scenes since his first 1200 baud modem. He first found technolust after writing a BBS dialer in BASIC on a PC-XT. Since then he has made a career of his self-taught tech skills in the field of Systems Administration. After founding Hak5 in 2005 he has become fascinated with new media. Darren also pwns you in Unreal Tournament.
Matt Lestock
Matt Lestock started his career in internet media by hosting a wildly popular adult oriented talk show for nearly 6 years. After a chance encounter with Hak5, he joined the cast in August 2007 where he is now a co-host. Focusing on all things related to systems administration, Matt has proven that you don't need to be a rocket scientist to succeed in the world of tech. When not filming or recording, Matt is a Systems Architect for a software consulting firm where he manages that company's infrastructure.
Shannon Morse
With a life long aspiration for theater and love of technology Shannon Morse began her journey in the world of New Media and Podcasting in 2005. Once graduated from Missouri State University in May of 2008 and able to escape her hometown, Shannon found her way to the East Coast as a co-host for Hak5.