"We want to create understanding between the two hacker cultures," said Colin Ames, who is part of a scouting team setting out for the conference.
"It's nonsense that all Chinese hackers are evil and hack for the government."
Ames told China Daily through e-mail that he wanted to learn more about the challenges China faces in computer security and share knowledge about the challenges the US faces.
"We believe that through understanding and friendship, we can avoid problems and bad assumptions we can learn from each other and improve the state of security of both nations," he said.
Analysts from IT giant Microsoft have also been invited to the conference, organizers said.
The upcoming conference is already one of the most influential gatherings in the Chinese information security circle and it aims to become "the most professional one in Asia", Fang said.
"It's not exactly between China and the US. It brings researchers from all around the world for the purpose of technical communication," said Sun Bing, an information security researcher who has spoken at Xcon three times.
The conference hall for the event will seat 270 people, said organizers, who closed the meeting to media because they wanted it to keep a low profile.
Fang said the most pleasant part of the conference each year is that it provides an opportunity for friends in the circle to gather.
"We can chat, we can drink, and we can know what's new. We can think together," Fang said.
"The computer security area is experiencing more and more hacker attacks around the world. So this conference is very necessary," said a Japanese attendee, who did not want to be named.
"I'm here to learn," he said.
(Source: China Daily)
