Horror stories of a translator and how a tweet can start a war with less than 140 characters

Presented at DEF CON 25 (2017), July 28, 2017, 8 p.m. (120 minutes)

Translators are invisible, when they are present it is assumed that they know the language and are accurately translating between the languages. But how do you assure that the translator is accurately translating or working without an agenda? Although many of the case studies presented in this talk will focus on translating between different languages, the basic premise can be applied in any case where information needs to be shared among 2 or more different contexts. (i.e.: Sales vs Engineering, Government vs Private sector etc) . The talk will showcase publicly known historical cases and personal experiences where translation errors (accidental and deliberate) have lead to misunderstandings some with dire consequences. Also the talk will showcase using translators as an offensive tool (i.e.:How to create more credible fake news). We as a society consume more information and consume it faster than before, we have to be aware of the dangers that are inherit with bad translations. Also the infosec/cyber security profession because of the potential for large scale global impacts and or the need to maintain operational security poses unique considerations when translating or using a translator. This talk will highlight the unique challenges of using a translator or translations in such environments.


Presenters:

  • El Kentaro - Hacker
    El Kentaro / That Guy in Tokyo. El Kentaro has been a communications facilitator between Japan and the rest of the world in the information technology industry since 1996. For the last 7 years Kentaro has solely focused on providing interpretation services for the infosec/cyber security industry in Japan. Kentaro also provided the Japanese subtitles for the DEF CON documentary released in 2015 and is a member of the CODE BLUE Security Conference held annually in Japan.

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