Vincenzo Iozzo, a prominent hacker with ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is not listed on the website of Blackhat, one of the world's largest cybersecurity conferences, or at Japan's Code Blue security conference.
As of Thursday, Iozzo had not appeared on the official review board pages for “Black Hat'' or “Code Blue.'' As of last week, he was still featured on both pages. Iozzo has been on the Black Hat Review Board since 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile.
In a statement shared with TechCrunch through a spokesperson, Iozzo told Blackhat that he “does not resign willingly” and welcomed a “full investigation.”
A spokesperson for Black Hat did not respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Iozzo is currently the founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup SlashID and has had a long career in the industry. Iozzo wrote one of the first manuals for hackers studying Apple's mobile software and founded cybersecurity startup IperLane in 2015. IperLane was later acquired by CrowdStrike, where he served as a senior director for almost four years.
Mr. Iozzo's name appears on more than 2,300 documents, including several emails. The documents were released on January 30 as part of the Justice Department's legally mandated effort to release investigative materials into the deceased financier and sex trafficker.
Iozzo and Epstein's relationship lasted from October 2014 to December 2018. In late 2018, the Miami Herald published a news article detailing allegations that Epstein abused more than 60 women, including teenage girls.
After these articles were published, newly released emails show that Iozzo attempted to meet with Epstein at his New York townhouse.
Contact Us Want more information about Mr. Epstein's connections in the cybersecurity industry? You can contact Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai securely from a non-work device on Signal (+1 917 257 1382) or on Telegram, Keybase and Wire @lorenzofb, or by email.
Among the new documents released by the Justice Department are more than 2,300 documents mentioning Iozzo, as well as a report from an FBI informant who claims Epstein has a “personal hacker.” The document has been redacted and does not reveal the name of the alleged hacker. However, some specific details contained in the documents strongly suggest that the informant believed Iozzo was Epstein's hacker. Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera reported on the email earlier this month, naming Iozzo as someone who may have been edited in the information document.
It is important to note that FBI informants' claims and assertions have not been verified by the FBI and may be partially false. Furthermore, there is no evidence in the emails to suggest that Iozzo did anything illegal to Epstein.
In a statement to TechCrunch, Iozzo said he “knew of Epstein for professional reasons” and wished he hadn't, but denied claims that he was Epstein's hacker or that he hacked on Epstein's behalf.
“In 2014, when I was 25 years old and raising money for my startup at MIT, the people who introduced me to me were people I trusted and respected, which prevented me from asking the right questions that, in retrospect, seem obvious,” his publicist Joan Borrello said in a statement. “I foolishly accepted a story presented to me by others that minimized the scale of his horrific acts. I regret my past relationships and take full responsibility for not using better judgment at the time.”
“My interactions with Epstein were limited to business opportunities that never materialized and discussions about markets and emerging technologies. I did not observe or participate in any illegal activity or conduct,” Iozzo added.
In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a 14-year-old girl and was registered as a sex offender in Florida and New York. In 2018, new reports surfaced that Epstein was a serial sexual abuser who allegedly trafficked underage girls on his private island. In response to these new reports, the Department of Justice formally indicted Epstein in 2019 on charges of trafficking, exploitation, and abuse of dozens of underage girls. Epstein later died in prison.
Neither Mr. Iozzo's publicist, Mr. Borrello, nor his lawyer, Emma Spiro, would explain why Mr. Iozzo was removed from Black Hat's website, but they did not contest the removal.
“Mr. Iozzo welcomed an independent investigation from Black Hat, rather than Black Hat's arbitrary decision to fire him, because he is confident that through that process he will be exonerated,” Borrero said.
Code Blue spokesperson Kenichi Saito confirmed to TechCrunch that the conference has removed Iozzo's name from its judging committee. Saito said the council had been “preparing for this update for several months” to remove Iozzo and two other reviewers who had been “inactive” and that the “timing of the website update coincidentally coincided with the release of the Epstein documents.”