The Antisocial Engineer's Guide to Community Building: Deploying a Neighborhood Honeypot
John Ford
BSides Seattle 2026 · Day 1 · Track 1
John Ford, a self-described extreme introvert with 20 years in the tech industry (mostly at Microsoft) who left to become a mental health counselor, presents a deeply personal project: building a neighborhood "honeypot" -- a Little Free Library enhanced with a hyperlocal, offline Wi-Fi network powered by a Raspberry Pi. The project applies the security concept of a honeypot (something attractive that draws people in) to the social problem of suburban isolation, using the **Internet in a Box** platform to create a curated offline digital library accessible only within a few dozen meters.
AI review
John Ford built a Raspberry Pi neighborhood library with offline Wi-Fi using Internet in a Box. It is a genuine community project from someone who openly admits minimal technical chops. There is no security research here — no vulnerability disclosure, no novel attack surface analysis, no defensive technique. The 'honeypot' in the title is a metaphor for luring neighbors into conversation, not a security tool. BSides community track material, not a security talk.