From the "Black Hat as job fair" files:

LAS VEGAS. Last year, US Government made a plea to hackers at Black Hat to join the government.

Did it work?

Marcus Sachs, executive director of government affairs and national security policy at Verizon and a former government employee argued that the DHS has created a disincentive environment to keep people in DHS.

It's a position that the current government employees don't agree with.

"As we grow, we do have career paths for many of you,"  US-CERT's Mischel Kwon said. "We have open positions and we welcome you to come and join us. Yes it does take a while to get in and we're looking to fix that."

Col. Mike Convertino of the Air Force Cyber Command said that Black Hat and DEFCON have been tremendous recruiting efforts for them. Convertino said that last year the Air Force hired 60 people it met at Black Hat.

"So it is possible for agencies to populate themselves but it takes effort and certain good events like this one to move things forward."

Picture: US-CERT's Mischel Kwon Credit: Sean M Kerner