DEFCON Announcements!

Call for Papers Closing Soon

Mon, 12 May 2008 15:24:18 -0700

You've only got a few days left to submit your groundbreaking research to the DEFCON Call for Papers. Go to https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-16/dc-16-cfp-form.html and get your submission in for the chance to give a talk at DEFCON 16!

DEFCON 16 Capture the Flag Qualification Announcement

Mon, 12 May 2008 12:47:25 -0700

Kenshoto will be back this year bringing all out cyber-warfare to DEFCON 16. The qualification round for this year's Capture the Flag contest has been officially announced.

From the DEFCON Forums:
Deputy Director of Homeland Security, Dr. Kenneth Shoto today announces a call to cyber-ninjas everywhere to sign up for his annual fight-to-the-death qualifying competition for the Defcon Capture the Flag (CtF) contest. The qualifying competition will start at 10PM on Friday, May 30th and end at 10PM on Sunday, June 1st.

Find out more at https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=9352 or http://kenshoto.allyourboxarebelongto.us:1337/

Race to Zero and Dan Kaminsky on CBC Radio

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:07:23 -0700

The buzz concerning the new unofficial Race to Zero Contest at DEFCON 16 just keeps on building. Dan Kaminsky provides his thoughts on the mounting controversy in an interview with Search Engine, a Canadian public radio program.

Check it out here:http://podcast.cbc.ca/mp3/searchengine_20080508_5692.mp3

pics.defcon.org is Back!

Thu, 08 May 2008 15:42:46 -0700

After a hiatus due to an XSS vulnerablity, The DEFCON pics site is back up and running! Don't hesitate to head on over and upload your favorite photos and videos from past DEFCON conventions!

Race to Zero Makes Headlines

Fri, 02 May 2008 17:22:23 -0700

The Race-to-Zero anti-virus challenge was announce scarcely a week ago, and already the controversy surrounding it has bubbled all the way up to Wired. The contest's basic premise is that competitors will be given sample virus code and rewarded for modifying that code in such a way that it defeats common AV products.

AV vendors have made their discomfort with the idea clear, with various spokesmen for the industry voicing concern about the creation of new threats to existing AV products. Contest organizers have countered that the contest is categorically not about creating new virii, rather it is about demonstrating the speed with which currently blocked virii can be modified to defeat current virus-blocking software.

While it's important to note that while the contest will be happening at this year's DEFCON, it is not an official DEFCON contest. To learn about the contest from its creators and organizers, please check their website at www.racetozero.net.

Links:

http://www.racetozero.net/
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/04/hacker-challenge.html
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/28/Security-vendors-slam-Defcon-virus-contest_1.html

Go to https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=419 to chime in on the controversy

DEFCON 16 Artwork Contest Call for Submissions

Fri, 02 May 2008 16:10:26 -0700

Whip out your favorite medium and get to creating, because the official DEFCON 16 Art Contest is now underway! This year’s contest is a bit different from previous years, and will run now to June 15, 2008.

Go to http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-16/dc-16-artwork-contest.html

New Contest! The Race to Zero

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:40:33 -0700

Check out this new contest brewing for DEFCON 16!

From the DEFCON Forums:
The Race to Zero involves contestants being given a sample set of viruses and malcode to modify and upload through the contest portal. The portal passes the modified samples through a number of antivirus engines and determines if the sample is a known threat. The first team or individual to pass their sample past all antivirus engines undetected wins that round. Each round increases in complexity as the contest progresses.

Further details are available here: http://www.racetozero.net/

DEFCON 16 Black & White Ball Call for Talent

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 18:44:50 -0700

This is the Official CALL FOR TALENT :

This year the ballroom will lead a double life .

By day: the room will be a chillout/break out room complete with wifi
By night: the room will transform into the black and white ball complete with dance floor, lights,headlining acts and a bar.

This said we are currently taking all submissions for DJ/acts for the chillout/breakout . and have a few slots for black and white ball .

some of the styles we are looking for are :
drum n bass
trance
breaks
electro
industrial

If you are interested in performing please contact :
blackandwhitedjs@gmail.com

DEFCON 16 Call for Papers Now Open!

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:04:57 -0800

That's right! It's time again to submit your hacktastic discoveries to be considered as a DEFCON 16 talk! New and interesting research is always welcomed in the realm of security, hardware hacking, social engineering, lockpicking, and anything else you can modify, bypass or reverse engineer. Out of the box thinking is what we're after... Go to the CFP form and submit!.

DEFCON 15 [Video] Podcast now online.

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:43:04 -0800

The Defcon 15 Video Podcast is now online. If you didn't make it, or missed the speaker you wanted to see here is your chance to download and watch the presentations any time.
http://www.defcon.org/podcast/defcon-15-video.rss

Supporting Materials will be online at:
https://www.defcon.org/html/links/defcon-media-archives.html#dc_15

DEFCON 15 [Audio] Podcast now online

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 15:34:49 -0800

The Defcon 15 Audio Podcast is now online. If you didn't make it, or missed the speaker you wanted to see here is your chance to download and hear the presentations when you want.
http://www.defcon.org/podcast/defcon-15-audio.rss

Supporting Materials will be online at:
https://www.defcon.org/html/links/defcon-media-archives.html#dc_15

Tiger Team with Pyr0, long time DEF CON Goon(tm)

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:31:08 -0800

Tiger Team is a new series on TruTV (formerly CourtTV) featuring a familiar face from DEFCON, Luke McOmie aka pyr0.

From wikipedia:
The show follows a "tiger team" of Chris Nickerson, Luke McOmie, and Ryan Jones, which is hired to infiltrate organizations with the objective of testing their weaknesses to electronic, psychological, tactical, and physical threats. Attacks executed on organizations in this television show include social engineering, wired and wireless hacking, and physically breaking into buildings.

The television show's first two episodes aired Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 11:00 pm ET and 11:30 pm ET. The first episode is available on TruTV's website in streaming flash format.

TruTV Feedback: http://www.trutv.com/contact/feedbackform.asp?subject_id=148&start=true

Join the DEFCON LinkedIn Group

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:20:34 -0800

Join the DEFCON LinkedIn Group!
We have created a DEF CON group on LinkedIN, if you already have an account at LinkedIN please join us.

We don't collect email addresses so there is no easy way to pre-approve people, just use the following link to request membership.

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/47798/109B061719DC

Pre-DEFCON 16

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:27:13 -0800

It's beginning already... Check out the Pre-DEFCON 16 Discussions in the DEFCON Forums. If you want to get involved, start here!

DT Speaks Out On the "To Catch a Hacker" Scandal

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:26:10 -0800

The media storm that followed the NBC producer fleeing DEFCON included a lot of opinions, but none of them came from the DEFCON staff itself.

DT recently contributed a piece to the Thinkernet blog at InternetEvolution.com. It's an interesting piece about the significance of the event and some of the lessons that the media can take from all the hoopla.

DEFCON FORUMS now support user blogs

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:20:29 -0800

The DEFCON foums (forum.defcon.org) now supports projects and blogs. We have licensed the
blog http://www.vbulletin.com/features_blog.php, tool, and anyone with a
forum account can now create a blog. We'll be doing more with this in the
future, but for now we are encouraging people to create accounts and play
with it. If it works we'll keep it, if not we'll look for other software to
try.

We've also licensed Project Tools (http://www.vbulletin.com/features_project.php) that
everyone can use to plan DC Groups projects, events at the con, or their
latest hacking project.

If you're a forum member, we hope you'll take a little time to try out the new features. If you're not, here's hoping this helps you decide to join us.

DEFCON 15 Badge finalist in Design Challenge

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:41:13 -0700

The Defcon 15 badge is a finalist in the Freescale Semiconductor Black
Widow $10,000 Design Challenge. Freescale selected the ten finalists
from a field of more than 775 participants. Each submission was judged
on creativity, design efficiency, technical complexity, number of
Freescale devices used, and overall application innovation and usefulness.

Photos of DC 15 Badge Hacks

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 16:40:40 -0700

Check out these photos of the badge hacking and final hacks at DEFCON
15. For badge source code, video of the hacks, and source of selected
hacks, check out Joe Grand's badge page at:

http://www.grandideastudio.com/portfolio/index.php?id=1&prod=54

DEFCON Network Survival Guide

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:00:19 -0700

It's a little late, but it's never to early to start planning for next year. If you must get online at DEFCON, here's a little guide to help keep you from getting completely owned.

>From The Register:
"..Defcon, the most bacchanal of security conferences and perhaps the single largest gathering of technically adept pranksters. Now is the perfect time to map out a strategy for keeping emails private and making sure your system doesn't get ransacked by the scowling kid with the nose ring and jet-black hair."

The Traveling Terabyte Project

Fri, 21 Sep 2007 16:02:43 -0700

Many of you know Deviant Ollam, from his extensive involvement in the Lockpick Village and his running of the Beverage Cooling Contest, as well as his new "Titanium Chef" and "guess the Flesh" contests at the Toxic BBQ this year. We came across a story about one of his projects and though we'd share.
>From tgdaily.com:
A New Jersey network engineer is on a mission to send some love and care – of the digital kind – to Americans stationed overseas. Going by his hacker handle ‘Deviant Ollam’, he’s been sending out hard drives filled with popular movies, television shows and music for over a year. Dubbed the Traveling Terabyte Project (TTB), the drives have seen action in war-torn countries and one set is now making a small contingent of Marines very happy in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan.

Photos at:

http://www.tgdaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogsection&id=18&Itemid=41&slideshow=20070920

Kingpin: far from soft, reprezentin' l0pht.

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:16:29 -0700

This little slice of gangsta was part of the winning Badge Hacking Contest submission by Team Osogato. This rap song was created by The Brothers Grimm and based on Kingpin's "Ode to the DEFCON 15 Badge" poem printed in the conference program. Played at the DEFCON 15 Awards Ceremony on Sunday afternoon.

Thanks to Kingpin for posting this on the media server at pics.defcon.org. If you've got any pictures or media from DEFCON, please consider sharing it with the DC family at pics.defcon.org.

DEFCONbot video

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 14:26:49 -0700

Ever wonder what it takes to compete in the DEFCONbot shootout? Check out some fascinating behind-the-scenes video from a team that had a sentry gun in this year's competition at the Burnt Popcorn blog. For more information about DC 15's DEFCONbots winners or data on past competitions, be sure to visit defconbots.org.

Call for DEFCON 15 photos

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:45:07 -0700

If you have pictures of this DEFCON 15 (or any previous DEFCON) you'd
like to share, please upload them to https://pics.defcon.org
We're trying to create a visual record of all
the shows and your help is appreciated. Just create an account and start
uploading pictures and videos!

DEFCON media archives updated

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:07:11 -0700

The DEFCON media archives have been updated with slides, white papers and extras for DEFCON 15 presentations. Come check them out, and stay tuned - we'll be adding audio and video from DEFCON 15 as soon as it's ready.

DEFCON In The News

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:07:16 -0700

Many interesting things happened at this year's DEFCON, from the sensational hackable badge by Joe Grand to the eye-opening talk by Zac Franken on access control reader (in)security. We blew the undercover reporter's cover, and we found out that a kid can bump a "bump-proof" deadbolt. We even married two Feds. What a year! Here are just a few of the headlines arising from DEFCON 15:

http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/08/medeco
Medeco Readies Assembly-Line Fix for DefCon Lock Hack

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do
command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9029080
$10 hack can unlock nearly any office door

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/i-married-a-fed.html
I Married a Fed at DefCon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCvmkxO5hoQ Michelle Madigan Video: Dateline Reporter Uncovered At DEFCON 2007.
http://weblog.infoworld.com/zeroday/archives/2007/08/defcon_diary_th.html
Defcon diary: The real story

A Word from DEFCON 15 Badge Creator Joe Grand!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 18:52:18 -0700

Joe Decided to drop us a line and clue send us some info on whats going on with the badges AFTER the con. We loved the badges this year and apparently we arent the only ones who found them awesome.

>From Joe Grand

"You've probably noticed that people are still going *nuts* over the badges. That's a really awesome feeling and hopefully there will be some of the 40 people who took components and development kits coming back next year with some radical hacks.

Here are some pictures I took of the Black Hat and DEFCON conferences (and badge hacking):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joesmooth/sets/72157601295119952/

and here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joesmooth/sets/72157601302838516/

The badges have been selling like hot cakes on eBay:
http://search.ebay.com/defcon-15
Take a look at the completed listings, too, to see the high bidders!

Also, there were TONS of blog and news reports about the badge. You've probably read most of them, but here are the ones I liked the best:

* Hack-a-Day, August 2, 2007, http://www.hackaday.com/2007/08/02/the-defcon-badge

* The Register, The romance and mystery of a good hack, August 6, 2007, http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/06/defcon_final/

* The Inquirer, Defcon ID badge comes with its own technical manual, August 3, 2007 http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41436

* boingboing, Defcon's hackable badges, August 3, 2007, http://www.boingboing.net/2007/08/03/defcons_hackable_bad.html

* Wired, Threat Level, Badge Hack at DefCon, August 3, 2007 http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/08/badge-hack-at-d.html

* Makezine.com: Defcon 15 round up, August 5, 2007, http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/defcon_15_round_up.html

* Makezine.com: Hackers on a Plane - Defcon, August 7, 2007, Http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2007/08/hackers_on_a_plane_defcon_1.html

* Gizmodo, DefCon Badge Hacked in 10 Minutes, August 3, 2007, http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/defcon/defcon-badge-hacked-in-10-minutes-285998.php

I'll be putting up a webpage with complete badge development info, badge hacking contest results/hacks/source, etc. in the next week or so. It will be directly accessible from the main www.grandideastudio.com site for a while.

Details on the winning badge hacking contest entry from Team Osogato can
be found here: http://www.osogato.com/hacks This was the only entry out
of seven that combined hardware and firmware modifications - they hacked
the badge into a line-level meter for under $10 that used the LED matrix
to display the peak audio levels of an audio signal fed into one channel
of the A/D. The two capacitive touch buttons are used to adjust the
input levels of the signal and there are even three shades of
"greyscale" for a fading effect on the LEDs. For the icing on the cake,
the team worked with The Brothers Grimm from Michigan
(http://www.myspace.com/CompleteError) to create a rap song based on my
poem that I wrote for the DC15 program (on page 3). What an honor! The
song is freely available at the Team Osogato link above and step-by-step
hack details are forthcoming.

Hope you guys are recovering!

Joe"

DEFCON 15 Supports EFF! Dunk Tank Results!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 15:04:16 -0700

This year the Dunk Tank raised $4,700 We matched that and added our contribution to reach a total of $12,000 to the EFF! We know they will put it to good use with their hard work!
For the past 17 years, EFF has been proud to take on the hard cases to ensure that your liberty is not sacrificed unnecessarily. They are responsible for loads of support for Tor, stopping RIAA lawsuits, Privacy Issues, etc.

You don't have to wait till the next Dunk tank@ DEFCON 16 to support them! Join EFF today!
They work all year round so support them by donating to EFF at http://secure.eff.org/. Spread the word to your friends and family.

Short goal list of current EFF Projects :
Pull Congress Back Into the Wiretapping Fight!
Repeal the REAL ID Act!
Reform the PATRIOT Act!
Support the FAIR USE Act!
Fight the Justice Department's Copycrime
Stop the SPY Act!
Stop the Broadcasting Treaty Flip-Flop!
CA Alert - Keep RFIDs out of State IDs!
Don't Let Congress Shackle Digital Music!
Tell Congress to Support E-Voting Reform! make sure every counts!
Improve the Freedom of Information Act!
Don't Let Cable Companies Ratchet Up Restrictions!.

theSummit at DEF CON 15

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:07:09 -0700

Want to help support the EFF and Hacker Foundation? Would you like to meet with authors of those security books you have been reading all year long? Craving some live nerdcore? Kill three birds with one stone!
Thursday August 2, 2007 @ 9:00PM Vegas 2.0 presents "theSummit" a fund raiser with a twist! Meet with computer security guru, listen to some great live music AND support two great causes at the same time! Meet up with us in the Riv Skyboxes this Thursday, tickets are $35 at the door. Need more details? Visit http://www.vegassummit.org

DEFCON 15 FINAL Schedule now on-line!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:59:57 -0700

We are proud to present the FINAL schedule of speakers and events for DEFCON 15!

This year DEFCON has grown, and is offering the largest line of up speakers ever - thanks to all the new space available at our new venue, the Riviera Hotel. Because of this there are also more contests. There is an overwhelming amount of things to participate in.

Pending Natural Disasters, Emergency, Missing, kidnapped or Canceled speakers this is our final schedule...well that's the intention anyway!

If you are speaking or involved in the content side of things and you see a problem or something missing please let us know!
See you at the show!

(beta) DEFCON 14 Black and White Video and Audio released!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:01:11 -0700

The video and audio from DEFCON 14 has been encoded and ready for download!

There may be some minor tweaks, but all the video that is available has been encoded to iPod Video specs, H.264 and 320x240. Audio is in .mp3 192k format.

We are trying to identify the artists in each hour, so if you know who they are please let us know and we'll update the file names so everyone gets proper credit.

The following links will have to get you by until the complete RSS feed with iTunes and MRSS tags is complete:

http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-Carthsis-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-Regenerator-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-Jackalope-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-Mind-Pop-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-Minibosses-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-hour-2-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-hour-3-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-hour-4-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-hour-5-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-hour-6-320-517kbps.mp4
http://media.defcon.org/dc-14/music/dc-14-BandW-Ball-hour-7-320-517kbps.mp4

Black and White Ball Lineup Announced!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:08:42 -0700

The Black and White ball is back in effect with the following bands and DJs ready to throw down.

Friday Night Black Ball
Industrial/ ebm / Noize Dress: your best blacks: Bondage Rubber and Fetish Encouraged

Featuring :
Regenerator http://www.regenerator.net/

DJs Patrice
Wintamute
SailorGloom
Great Scott!
Catharsis
Kriz Klink And more ...

Saturday Night: White ball
==Geekdom Release party==
Dress: Your finest stormtrooper suit, togas, bedsheets and the likes.

Featuring : Miss DJ Jackalope // Jungle Chaos http://www.dj-jackalope.com/
DualCore // Live Nerdcore Set http://dualcoremusic.com;
*Minibosses // NES classics http://www.minibosses.com/

DJs
Rustcycle / Electronic live mix http://www.rustcycle.com
Crashish // DNB
Casey // psytrance
Mitch Mitchem // breakbeat/electroclash

* scheduling tentative
All acts subject to change. please see a complete listing posted throughout DEFCON venues

Amateur Radio at DEFCON 15

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:17:08 -0700

For all you radio geeks!

146.58 (FM Simplex) will be the unofficial Defcon 15 frequency for Amateur Radio enthusiasts.

Sushicon 4.0

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 20:50:27 -0700

Wednesday, August 1st at the Sushi Factory on Tropicana will be the location for ShshiCon 4.0 right before DEFCON.

Love sushi? Want to meet new people and hang out in a sake fueled pre-con ritual? Then ShshiCon is for you!

Organized byGonMinusOne, check out the forums for the latest details.
https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=8578

World Premiere of Infest Wisely to be shown at DEFCON

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 18:24:45 -0700

This year's DEFCON Movie Night will feature the new and highly buzz-worthy film "Infest Wisely." The film is centered around the increasingly less science-fictional world of commercial nanotechnology and it's been described this way:

"Infest Wisely asks what would happen if Critical Mass teamed up with the geeks from DEFCON to stop commercialized nanotech from taking over our bodies and the world."

It's a feature length movie in seven episodes, each with different directors but all written by novelist Jim Munroe, who will be our special guest for the screening. As always, there's no charge - come join us and support cinema licensed under the Creative Commons. For more information about the film, you can check out it's website. http://www.infestwisely.com/

DEFCON 15 Schedule now on-line!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 6 Jul 2007 17:19:41 -0700

We are proud to present the schedule of speakers and events for DEFCON 15!
DEFCON
This year DEF CON has grown, and is offering the largest line of up speakers ever - thanks to all the new space available at our new venue, the Riviera Hotel. Because of this there are also more contests. There is an overwhelming amount of things to participate in.

Please note that this is the first schedule version and is not final. As speakers and contests finalize their information the schedule will be updated up to the last minute.

If you re speaking or involved in the content side of things and you see a problem or something missing please let us know!

New ToxicBBQ Contests!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 6 Jul 2007 17:08:52 -0700

From Deviant:

"There are two contests/events that I'll be running at this year's ToxicBBQ, both of which involve the "Exotic Meat" theme that I tend to focus upon year after year.

I have a web page up online with full details, rules, info, etc...
http://deviating.net/toxicbbq"

-=[ Titanium Chef ]=-

Cost to Participate: $40 per team
Prizes for Winners: OiNK invite for each team member, secret grand prize, refund of entry fee, extreme bragging rights and Free giveaways of fun stuff to all participants
DefCon Forums Sign-up Thread: https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=8367

Teams of up to three individuals will put their heads together and engage in heated battle to concoct a delicious dining experience focused around a secret theme ingredient. These hacker chefs will have both their culinary skills and their organizational abilities put to the test in this challenging event. All participants will gather together a few hours before the Toxic BBQ in order to witness the revealing of the event's secret ingredient, then they will disperse in order to gather supplies, reach Sunset Park, and prepare their food for the judges.

Whose cuisine will reign supreme? Will opponents' grill-fu be stronger than you? Participate and find out!

-=[ Guess The Flesh ]=-

Cost to Participate: $10 per person
Prizes for Winners: OiNK invite for first three people to correctly identify all meats. Free giveaways of fun stuff to all participants

DefCon Forums Sign-up Thread : https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=8365

Have you ever thought to yourself, "Gee, i wish i could dine on the meat of nearly every kind of beast to walk the earth... but I don't own many high-powered firearms, i don't have the money to travel the world, and no government in their right mind would issue me a hunting license?"

Well, now your dreams can become a reality. For less than the cost of what passes for a movie and popcorn nowadays, you can have a sample platter featuring eight meats that you aren't likely to see at the supermarket. However, instead of just cooking and randomly giving out samples willy-nilly, this year i have something new planned. I intend to prepare morsels of these meats and plate them in a way that they are not immediately identifiable or distinguishable from one another. Those who are eager to try some new flavors -- and those who think their pallets are up to the challenge -- can take a whack at identifying these various animals by taste and texture alone.

Be Prepared! Update

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 6 Jul 2007 16:49:50 -0700

The be prepared section of the DEFCON 15 site has been updated!

Check it out.

Las Vegas concerts for Black Hat and DEFCON time frame

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 5 Jul 2007 17:12:23 -0700

From IrishMASMS on the DEFCON forums comes this helpful post:

Las Vegas concerts for Black Hat & DEFCON time frame
Some out of town folks hit me up asking about concerts around town during this year's Black Hat andDEFCON. I took a quick look on http://pollstar.com/ and http://www.jambase.com/ for what might be interesting. YMMV, though I thought sharing is caring.

Fri 07/27/07 Violent Femmes Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Fri 07/27/07 Jonny Lang House Of Blues
Sat 07/28/07 Tesla House Of Blues
Sat 07/28/07 Rush MGM Grand Garden Arena
Wed 08/01/07 John Lee Hooker Jr. Santa Fe Station Hotel & Casino
Thu 08/02/07 John Lee Hooker Jr. Boulder Station Hotel & Casino
Fri 08/03/07 Godsmack The Pearl Concert Theater At Palms
Sat 08/04/07 Buckcherry, Hinder, Papa Roach The Pearl Concert Theater At Palms
Sun 08/05/07 Against All Authority, Reel Big Fish / Less Than Jake, Streetlight Manifesto House Of Blues
Mon 08/06/07 "Sounds Of The Underground": Amon Amarth, Chimaira, Every Time I Die, GWAR, Heavy Heavy Low Low, Job For A Cowboy, Necro, Shadows Fall , The Devil Wears Prada, The Number Twelve Looks Like You - House Of Blues
Sat 08/11/07 The Fixx The Club @ Cannery Casino

As for venues, the Hard rock sucks. House of Blues is one of the best in town. MGM Grand is ok, but the sound quality in the arena can be shitty in spots. The Pearl is the brand new venue in town, good luck getting tickets. The Station casinos are not bad venues, and I think those are free shows. The Cannery Casino I have never been to, so I can not say - and there is no review posted on www.yelp.com yet for me to reference.

HTH!

Scavenger Hunt! Advice from the Winners!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:41:32 -0700

Scavenger Hunt! Advice from the Winners!! Free advice courtesy of hackajar with Vegas 2.0
Here's a quick list of things you will need to be fully geared up, if competing. I kinda wish we had something like this three years ago!

1.) Money - we spent ~$500 each year, though some good social engineering could very well fix this
2.) Digital Camera - Judges won't know what you did, without proof!
3.) Video Camera - Sometimes a photo DOESN'T say a thousand words, but motion video does!
4.) Transportation - Sometimes you have to go on recon, we always paid extra to have a car in front of valet for those quick runs
5.) Room at Hotel - Need somewhere to build a 30ft straw or host a geek girl strip off, your best bet is in a local room
6.) Printer - Don't ask me how many points we never got for lack of a stupid printer!
7.) Beer - It's easy to bribe goons and judges with this stuff, if you can find it.
8.) Start Early - Some items and tasks we could only do on Friday, remember things close on Saturday and Sunday, so be wise!
9.) Memorize the phrase "It's for the Scavenger Hunt" - nuff said

I'm sure I'm missing something else in there, please add to my list!

-Vegas 2.0
Defcon 14 Scav Hunt Winners

DEFCON 15 CFP is now closed!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:27:23 -0700

DEFCON 15 CFP is now closed!

We are in the process of making our final selections and will start to fill in the online schedule soon! We will notify you of the status of your submission by July 1st.
If you have not heard from us by then please email talks[at]defcon[dot]org.
If you were not accepted don't be discouraged, we have recieved many many quality submissions this year but we can't accept them all. As you know we are in the process of expanding to accept more and more talks each year.

There is still plenty you can do to get involved, join the forums, read up on our contests, even just take some cool pictures!
pics.defcon.org is now live for use.The pics software is integrated with the defcon forums, so if you already have an account there you automatically have an account on https://pics.defcon.org/

Do your Photoshop skilz 0wnzor?!
DEFCON Art Contest is currently open! Submit your art by June 25, to be used online and to be included in the DEFCON 15 program. We are looking for a Web Banner, Key Card, T-Shirt, Wallpaper! If you win you could win free admission and cash to be used at the DEFCON Swag booth!
https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-15/dc-15-forms/DC15-Artwork-Contest-Guidelines.pdf

New "Be Prepared"- Lock Picking for Sport and Amusement

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:53:02 -0700

Lock Picking for Sport and Amusement

DEFCON is a great place to learn all sorts of new skills - the skill of lockpicking is no exception. This year's Con will again have a "Lockpicking Village" - a fantastic event with all kinds of presentations, practice locks, sample tools and general education. We want everyone who's interested to check it out, but we want you to be careful and safe as well.

Be sure to consult your state and local laws about possession of locksmith's tools. Staying in compliance with the applicable laws is, of course, your responsibility. When traveling, it's not a good idea to put tools of this nature in your carryon. While they're unlikely to cause any problems in checked baggage, those pointy little devils are very likely to be a problem in the security line.

It probably ought to go without saying, but if you're making an international trip to DefCon, the scrutiny is much higher and you owe it to yourself to be thoroughly familiar with the rules and err on the side of caution. You don't need that kind of hassle. There's plenty of lockpicking knowledge and fun to be had even without your k-rad tools, so don't put yourself in a position to miss your flight.

It's also an option to mail them to yourself in care of your hotel. Some hotels charge for this service, so be aware of the policies wherever you're staying.

If the world of locksport is brand new to you and you're looking to get a little knowledge before the Con, you can check out Marc Weber Tobias' contributions to techblog Engadget (called The Lockdown.) More info is also available from Locksport International (lsi.com) or The Open Organization of Lockpickers ( toool.us or toool.nl for Dutch speakers)

Link: https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-15/dc-15-beprepared.html

Hackers on A Plane!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:50:51 -0700

Hey Hey!
If you haven't seen it yet check out Hackers on a Plane!

2007 is a very special year for the global hacker community. Thanks to cooperation between the organizers of DefCon XV and the Chaos Communications Camp 2007, the two largest gatherings of hackers from around the world happen only a few days apart!

This is where "Hackers on a Plane" comes in: The Hacker Foundation has put together a complete travel package to help bring together hackers from around the world for ten days of fun, culture and community. We see it as the first step to building a truly global hacker community.

$1,337.00 (for those travelling roundtrip from the US & Canada)
Û1,337.00 (for those travelling roundtrip from Europe)
Gets you:

* Admission to DefCon in Las Vegas, NV, USA
* Flight from Las Vegas to Frankfurt
* Flight on the "Hackers on a Plane" charter flight from Frankfurt to Finow Airport
* Admission to all days of CCCamp2007
* Accommodation at Camp Anaconda (no need to bring a tent!)
* Return flight to select destinations in the USA (or flight to Las Vegas for DefCon for EU citizens.)

More info at Hackers on a Plane!
Link: http://hackersonaplane.info/info.html

LosT @ Con Mystery Box Challenge - Official Registration Open!

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:46:06 -0700

mysterychallenge.org
Official registration is open.
To Register Teams must send an email to:
Defcon15MysteryChallenge ]at[ mysterychallenge [dot] org

-Teams are limited to 5 official members
-You must receive a confirmation that your team is registered or you are NOT
-You must submit a team name and list team members
-Teams successful in completing the challenge last year are guaranteed a spot if registered by June 17.
-New teams are encouraged to enter, however only those serious about completing the challenge
-The challenge will take longer to complete this year

Questions? Post here. Comments? Post here. New teams trying to decide if you have what it takes to compete? Post here (I encourage those who competed last year to answer these types of questions...)

Link: https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=8509

NEW CONTEST! 0wn the box? Own the box!

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:43:41 -0700

From ownthebox.cipherpunx.org/:

Are you a defensive ninja? Are your services unbreakable, your builds airtight? Do your countermeasures have countermeasures for counter-countermeasures?

So prove it, bucko... Bet your box on it, on the most hostile network in the world.

Bring your laptop/server/desktop, hardened to the nines, running exactly two (2) visible services, to our specs, and we'll offer you up for the slaughter.

The first person to compromise you walks away with your gear. When you're 0wned, you're owned. It's that simple. The last box(en) standing, unowned, wins, and the winner(s) can take his/her precious back home, safe in the knowledge that if it survived at DC, it can survive anywhere.

For the other side of the fence, the reward is clear... Pick your target, 0wn the box, and own the box. A shopping spree for the elite.

Link: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=337
Contest Site: http://ownthebox.cipherpunx.org/

Be sure to check the forums often it looks like they have already started to collect an interesting list of hardware up for the slaughter! Mwahahaha!

Announcing The DefCon 15 Wireless Contest

Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:42:10 -0700

Announcing The DefCon 15 Wireless Contest
(queue Thus Spake Zathrustra)

Are you a freq-geek? Think your WiFiFu is hot? Get high from sniffing packets on the ether? Think you're a great lover? We can't help you with the last one, but get ready because here's your chance to prove the rest of those outlandish claims to the world.

Compete in the Wireless Contest, and we can validate you self esteem, at least in the geeky stuff.

The Wireless Contest, following the format for the past few years, will be a series of "Mini-Contests". You can compete in only a single mini-contest or all of them. We recommend that teams be formed to fill in different skill areas.

We are allowing a unlimited number of Teams -subject to resources- limited to 3 people each.

First Place winners of individual mini-contests events get prizes and with a top prize will be awarded for the best overall of the contests.

A common problem with the Wireless Contest in the last few years, is that some potential competitors felt that they didn't have the skills to even try. As a result, fewer competitors kept signing up. To elevate this, the Wireless contest this year is tied in heavily with the Wireless Village. If you want to compete in the contest, but feel you don't have a needed skill, you can come to the Wireless Village before a mini-contest and learn the needed skill at the one of the Wireless Village's world-famous Breakout Sessions. You walk in having no skills but a willingness to learn, learn a skill in an exciting breakout session taught by an expert, then go out and compete and the beat the pants at those loudmouth teams who said they'd pwn you.

Learn + Touch = DO!

link:
https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=309

CTF Qualifications Are Complete!

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 13:05:30 -0700

From invisigoth:
The qualification round for this years CTF is complete. More than 150 teams were actually submitting answers which means that participation for this year was more than double the previous high water mark (as far as we're aware). Results may be found at http://www.kenshoto.com/ as always.

This years challenges came in a wide range of technologies and difficulties. No single team actually solved them all... Additionally, this years level of international participation was staggering...

The MUD for this year will remain up for teams to ask questions and hopefully collaborate with each other about how they came to solutions for some of the harder challenges. Additionally, we will be putting most if not all of the challenges back online for a while so everybody can sharpen up... Stay tuned...

DEFCON 15 Network Team has two slots left!

Fri, 1 Jun 2007 17:57:39 -0700

From the site defconnetworking.org:

"DefCon presents a really unique opportunity. You know how hostile the environment is. Have you ever wondered what that traffic looks like? All you need do is ask. For years we've provided people the ability to plug in a capture/sniffer box and capture public con traffic to take back to your Evil Laboratory(tm) for analysis after con (you know, once you've sobered up & stuff). If you want in on the action, email us so we can RSVP a spot for you on our Table-of-Doom in the NOC."
TWO SLOTS LEFT!

To get an Idea check out last years network:
Here are the PPT slides from DC14 Closing Ceremonies with all the net stats: DC14network.ppt
http://www.defconnetworking.org/dc14network.ppt
Remember, if you're planning anything "special", have specific needs for your talk, for your demo, for your break-out session, let us know EARLY so we can plan for it.

About Defcon Networking:
We're the group of volunteers who run the network at DEFCON. It's our job to design, plan, architect, implement, and secure the show network. We arrange bandwidth, we handle wireless, we provide secure connections for show staff, speakers, and press. Finally, we provide an environment where DefCon Attendees can share and be creative.

DEFCON 15 Speakers Selected!

Fri, 1 Jun 2007 15:54:55 -0700

New speakers have been selected for DEFCON 15!
Check out their abstracts and bios online now. The Schedule is not yet finished and we still have room for a few more talks! So don't get discouraged, submit your rootfu now!
Speaker page: http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-15/dc-15-speakers.html
New Speakers selected:
Squidly1, aka Theresa Verity, Thinking Outside the Console (box)
Brendan O'Connor, Greater than 1:Defeating "strong" Authentication in Web Applications.
Kenneth Geers, Greetz from Room 101
Peter Berghammer (pf0t0n), A Journalist's Perspective on Security Research.
Schuyler Towne, Locksport: An Emerging Subculture

Many more are online, check back often, the DEFCON 15 Schedule will be online shortly!

DEFCON 15 CFP Closing soon

Fri, 1 Jun 2007 15:52:20 -0700

The DEFCON 15 CFP will be Closing June 15th!
Please submit your rootfu to talks@defcon.org. We have been making selections and we are pleased to have accepted some really great speakers.
There is still room to squeeze in a few more exceptional talks. Submit now, there will be no extensions possible!

Submit:
https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-15/dc-15-cfp.html
New for DEFCON 15:
The second year being at the Riviera has allowed us to make some changes to the format from last year.
We have more speaking rooms, and because of this I want to announce a call for workshops, demos, and mini trainings. We have additional small rooms that will enable highly focused demonstrations or workshops.
If you want to talk about building a passport cloner or a tutorial on developing Metasploit exploits this might be the format for you. You tell us how much time you need, and we try to accommodate you! If you have an IDEA please submit it, talks@defcon.org!

Amateur CTF Registration now OPEN!

Fri, 1 Jun 2007 15:50:57 -0700

Registration for this years aCTF is officially open!
Registration page:
http://www.dc949.org/aCTFIII/register.php

>From Contest Organizers:
"We're recommending that you group yourselves in teams of three, as the prizes will come in triplicate.
There will be prizes for win, place and show. We have some really good stuff in the works in terms of prizes, but I'm not going to mention them here since they're not bought and in our hands (and/or built)"
For a little more information about the setup this year.
http://www.dc949.org/aCTFIII/README.php

Announcing Official DC949 aCTF Artwork Contest!

Mon, 21 May 2007 16:30:02 -0700

Official DC949 aCTF Artwork Contest
The winners artwork will be made into an 8x4 foot vinyl sign.
Besides bragging rights, the winner will also receive yet to be determined prize.

Rules

1. The contest will remain open for a minimum of 1 week, and will remain open until a winner is chosen.
2. Submissions must be have a 2x1 or 1x2 ratio with a minimum resolution of 2000x1000 pixels.
3. Artwork must contain simplistic designs and colors. ie designs with definitive edges and no fading or merging colors.
4. Maximum number of colors that can be used is 4.
5. Artwork must contain "DC949" and "aCTF" in some legible form.

Submissions must contain a .PNG, .JPG, or .GIF of the artwork as well as in a vector format. (.PSD, .EPS, etc)

Please email submissions to cp-at-dc949-dot-org
Forums discussion is here:
https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=8456

Don't forget to use your talents to enter into the DEFCON 15 Artwok Contest too!

DEFCON 15 Artwork Contest Guidelines
http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-15/dc-15-forms/DC15-Artwork-Contest-Gu idelines.pdf
Submission deadline: All submissions must be received by June 25, 2007.
Submit all entries to: sleestak\at\defcon dot org
Categories:
Web Banner
Key Card
T-shirt
Wallpaper

Banner Art Prize:
- The first place winner will receive free admission to DEFCON 15 for one person (non-transferable to a future con),$50 credit that may be used at the official DEFCON SWAG Store and recognition in the con program and website.

T-Shirt Art Prize:
Free admission to DEFCON 15 for two persons, $130 credit that may be used at the official DEFCON SWAG Store and recognition in the con program and website.

Wallpaper Art Prize:
Free admission to the conference for one person, $50 credit that may be used at the official DEFCON SWAG Store

DEFCON 15 Network Team in Effect!

Wed, 16 May 2007 19:51:54 -0700

As DC 15 gets closer all goon teams are powering up!

Ever wonder what the network team is up to? Ever wanted to sniff the con traffic feed?

Check out the defconnetworking.org! Lockheed throws down some defcon history and gets us ready for more!

>From the site:
DC15 Network
15MAY07
DefCon presents a really unique opportunity. You know how hostile the environment is. Have you ever wondered what that traffic looks like? All you need do is ask. For years we've provided people the ability to plug in a capture/sniffer box and capture public con traffic to take back to your Evil Laboratory(tm) for analysis after con (you know, once you've sobered up & stuff). If you want in on the action, email us so we can RSVP a spot for you on our Table-of-Doom in the NOC.

11MAY07
Why yes, we are in the midst of planning for DC15. Now that we've "done the dance" with the hotel (who are awesome folks, btw!) we know what we can and can't do and should have virtually no surprizes this year. We're planning higher bandwidth, better monitoring, and also some new interactive-type stuff (I hesitate speaking of it for fear of jinxing it!). We're actually spending our funds boosting up our own infrastructure (beyond the Arbua kit we have) so we have more ports, better fibre connectivity, better trunking.

Remember, if you're planning anything "special", have specific needs for your talk, for your demo, for your break-out session, let us know EARLY so we can plan for it.

--Lock

Announcing Amateur CtF 3 by DCG 949!

Wed, 16 May 2007 19:13:46 -0700

From the official web site for the Amateur CtF:

aCTF 3
"King of the Hill"

Yes, it's official; we'll back again this year. The first year, nobody scored, the wifi network we set up had massive problems, but people seemed to have a little fun and see the potential. Last year, the network was stable, people scored, battled back and forth, and we were actually able to give out some prizes. There was some trouble with boxes staying up, but overall it was a huge success.

Last year we saw some things that surprised us. There was a case of two teams which both could take a flag, but neither could lock the other out. They both then proceeded to write scripts to play the game for them. Yeah, it then made the server inaccessible due to the massive amounts of requests, but still... hats off to both of you. We didn't expect automated hacking. We also learned that while Windows NT might have worked in our little test environment, it really can't hold up to the brutality of a Defcon contest. I'm happy to say that Windows NT will not be appearing in this year's contest.

We will be changing a few things around this year, but the basics will be the same as before. Find a flag, find a way to put your team name on it, and you'll score points for as long as you can keep your flag up there.

As usual, details on the contest will be limited, however we will say that we're branching out a bit more this year. Hacking isn't just about buffer overflows and running metasploit, it's really about one upping someone (or everyone) else. It's about figuring out how things work and taking them apart and putting them back together to do something different, customizing things to make them do things they were never intended to do, and just generally learning how to beat the system.

Announcing DefConBots Contest!

Mon, 14 May 2007 19:26:36 -0700

Kallahar has updated the software page for the DefConBots Contest.

"Improvements over last year include faster response times and software alignment of the camera to where the gun is actually shooting.

All the code is public domain, do whatever you want with it!"

What is the point of the contest you ask? Quite simple it is to ceate a computer controlled gun that can shoot down targets in a shooting gallery.

See http://defconbots.org/ for complete contest information.

NEW CONTEST! Guitar Hero II

Fri, 11 May 2007 16:48:56 -0700

Guitar Hero II Contest!!

A new contest at Defcon 15: Are you a Guitar Hero? Do your friends think you're l33t and can shred like a rock star? Then prove it!

Contest Site: http://www.panadero.org/gh_home.html
Forums discussion: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=335

Guitar Hero II - DEFCON STYLE!!!! Why Not!!!
Rules (cause they tell us we have to have them...)

* The contest will consist of 3 levels of play, Medium, Hard and Expert.
* The contest will be played on Guitar Hero II, on the Xbox 360.
* A initial pre qualification round will be held so that Experts aren't playing in the Medium level, etc...details of the prequals to come...
* All contestants should be at their assigned time to play 10 minutes before their time. There will be some leeway if you are a few minutes late, but don't expect to get your turn if you show up hungover an hour after your time.
* You may use your own guitar, as long as it has not been modified, and is for Xbox 360.
* Free play is a chance for people that have never played Guitar Hero to have a chance. It's not a chance for contestants to practice. This contest is for everyone, and we want to make sure that is the case. Free play will be limited to one song per person, depending on how many are waiting to play.
Scoring

* The 'prequals' will be designed to ensure that Experts are not playing in the Medium category, just to win. We want the game to be fair, and everyone to have fun. We would hate for the lesser/newer players to be upset and frustrated because it's dominated by those that have years of practice.
* The 'heats' are designed to weed out the newbs from the Guitar Heroes. Each player will play 2 songs, back to back, to come up with a cumulative high score.
* The four highest scores will move to the finals for each level.
* The finals will be tournament style, head to head, most points win and move to the final song.
* The final two players for each level will play against each other to become the first annual Defcon Guitar Hero champion!
* It is VERY important to pick the right songs to get into the finals. Some songs have more notes, for more Star Power and higher points, as some songs have less notes.
* All songs in the finals will be chosen by the event coordinators and will not be announced until the start of the finals. Final songs will not be songs included in Xbox Live downloadable content, so that no player has an advantage over others, GOOD LUCK!

Defcon STAR POWER!!!
Do you want an extra 1000 points added on to your song??? Do ya? Bring me a COLD unopened beer! I won't accept it if it's opened (no date rape drugs for the contest organizers!)

Any beer, except for Guinness, you get an extra 1000 points of Star Power! Keep in mind that 6-packs are appreciated, but it will still only get you 1000 points! I love beer, but it's not fair to bring a case of beer and get an extra 12000 points!

Toxic BBQ contests and events!!

Fri, 11 May 2007 16:43:06 -0700

Once again, the Toxic BBQ is looking for a slogan.

Something catchy, something creative. It will be used on the front of the Toxic BBQ T-Shirts.

Last year was ASTCells slogan
"If its dead we cook it"
"If its alive we cook it"
" ... a little longer."

Submit your ideas. https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?p=86581#post86581 Come on, It's not that hard.

Toxic BBQ IV Events and Contests:
Iron Chef I
Time: To Be Announced
Contact: Deviant Ollam

Event Desc: Contestants in teams of 3 or less will race to cook and present a dish made from an ingredient revealed to them at the start of the contest. After a timed preperation period, the dishes will be awarded points by a panel of judges who will judge for Presentation, Uniqueness, and Flavor!

For more info on the Toxic BBQ go here: http://www.toxicbbq.com/
Forums discussion: https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=308

Announcing CoffeeWars VIII: Pre-Con Ranting

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 10 May 2007 16:32:33 -0700

The Coffee Wars Crew is getting ready for their Call for Beans!

>From the website:

Wake up and smell the coffee war, people: DefCon 15 is just around the corner, and that means another edition of the world's best-known hacker coffee competition. Already, the frenzy has begun!

Now's the time when you have an All-Inclusive Divine Excuse to unashamedly mingle with your own kind without having to shroud your activities under the shadow of the Evil Corporate Coffee Empire! Yes, now we caffeine fiends can gather without shame!

WHAT? You want a shot of espresso?! We got your shot right here, pal. This event ain't no freebie. If you want a cup, you gotta pony up. Coffee, that is. Whole bean. We're judging it all. The best, the strongest, the most caffeinated. You name it. ...but regular store-bought or corporate coffee trash will only earn a trashing.

You think you got what it takes? Then we'll take what you got! Bring your best beans and put 'em up for judgment by our over-qualified, over-caffeinated, (and over-rated) Coffee Wars judges and contestant panel! We keep hearing that someone else's beans are the best. Now it's time to prove it bean-to-bean!

Forums discussion is here:
https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=284

Announcing LosT @ Con Mystery Box Challenge!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 10 May 2007 15:11:01 -0700

The idea is simple.. form a team, get a box, open box.

But is it that simple? The box is a mystery, with many puzzles involved in opening it. To get things going for this year Lost Boy has started to accept team sign ups, as well as release clues to hint at some of the puzzles involved.

Here is a picture on how NOT to open a mystery box:
https://pics.defcon.org/showphoto.php?photo=153

For a bit on the last challenge check CNet's coverage here:
http://news.com.com/2300-1029_3-6102806-5.html

Interested? Check out the thread on the challenge over on the forums.

Capture the Flag Contest Announced!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 4 May 2007 12:32:18 -0700

Capture the Flag at DEFCON continues it's long tradition with the announcement by Kenshoto of the CtF qualification round!

>From their announcement:

Kenshoto's army of code-gnomes has been working feverishly on the production of this years installment of WarGamez (CTF), more to come here yet tonight, but we'll be making the quals announcement *very* soon.

Check it:

Dr. Kenneth Shoto proudly announces that the qualifying round for the Defcon Capture the Flag contest is now pen for registration. The qualifying contest will start at 1 June 2007 @ 2200 EST and end 3 June 2007 @ 2200 EST.

Teams can be any size you'd like (more ninjas clearly == better) and each team will need to register before 1 June 2007 @ 2200 EST in order to get an account for the actual game. The top 7 teams qualify for a seat at the table at the proverbial 'big show' (the actual CtF competition) to be held at Defcon 15. Defcon takes place August 3-5th 2007 (https://www.defcon.org/) so make sure you clear all those WoW, D&D, and Eve-Online play dates off your calendar early.

That's right hackers and hackettes, get your debuggers warmed up and your shellcode tested, cuz it's that time of year again. What you say? You don't know what the hell we're talking about? Well, peep dis:

The core of the qualifying competition will be a quiz-like interface where each team may select a question and then must hack until they can answer it. Topics will vary widely, but of course include such fan-favorites as reversing martian binaries, landing shellcode and a double lutz simultaneously, and stealing information from strange places. We've also thrown in challenges like intar-webs hax0rification and mind-bendy trivia so the 5kr1p+ K1dd1e5 can play along (much love).

This year the game allows for maximum parallelization on questions. When the leading team selects a question, that question (and all the ones they already answered) becomes available to the trailing teams. In other words, there is no need to register multiple ghost accounts as they won't give any advantage (*ahem*skewl*cough)...

Don't have the stones to think you can win? Well, you should sign-up and play anyway. The winning team from last year actually got primed up for the game by competing in quals. They then kicked it up a notch by spending the next three months figuring out every detail of every challenge we put out there and explaining it all as if paid to do so (check it out http://nopsr.us/ctf2006prequal/). Besides, how else are you gonna sharpen those skillz and convert yourself from poser to p3wner?

So what are you waiting for? Jump onto your nops-sled and slide over to http://kenshoto.allyourboxarebelongto.us:1337/ to sign up for quals now...

-kenshoto

(ctf07 at kenshoto.com)

Announcing the Art Work Contest!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 18:29:06 -0700

DEFCON 15 Artwork Contest Guidelines DEFCONDEFCON

Submission deadline: All submissions must be received by June 25, 2007.
Submit all entries to: sleestak\at\defcon dot org
What we will do with your artwork: Art contests submissions will be added on-line to the DEFCON web site and may be included in the con program. By submitting artwork us, you are allowing DEFCON to publish and reproduce your artwork in electronic and print formats.

Categories:
Web Banner
Key Card
T-shirt
Wallpaper

Required Elements: Artwork should incorporate a version of the following text: DEFCON / DefCon / Def Con with the number 15 / 2007 / Fifteen / 0x0F / XV / etc.. you get the point. It ties DEF CON to the year of the con.

Artwork Preparation Specs:

All continuous tone artwork must be at least 600dpi
The following formats are accepted for artwork:
- .EPS with Vector preferred, all fonts converted to outline
- .Jpg
- .Gif
- .Psd - layers with all fonts converted to outline

***We strongly recommend Illustrator Vector artwork for any submissions for the T-shirt or Key Card categories since these will need to be reproduced in print.

Prizes:
1. Winners will be contacted individually and be announced on the website and recognized in the DEFCON 15 printed program.
2. There may be multiple winners per category.
3. DEFCON reserves the right to not select a winner for every category

Banner Art Prize:
- The first place winner will receive free admission to DEFCON 15 for one person (non-transferable to a future con),$50 credit that may be used at the official DEFCON SWAG Store and recognition in the con program and website.

T-Shirt Art Prize:
Free admission to DEFCON 15 for two persons, $130 credit that may be used at the official DEFCON SWAG Store and recognition in the con program and website.

Wallpaper Art Prize:
Free admission to the conference for one person, $50 credit that may be used at the official DEFCON SWAG Store

Announcing Brew Wars!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:10:06 -0700

Announcing Brew Wars for DC 15!

It's time to remind everyone of Brew Wars again. The very first Brew Wars will happen this year at Defcon 15.

The rules are simple. Just bring twenty four ounces of your home brew to Defcon. A judging panel of three people, including myself, will drink and rate each brew. The beer will be rated on a scale of 1-10. Each beer will be judged in it's catergory. The standard of each category of beer is last year's winner of the Great American Beer Festival in the style you have entered. A list of those winning beers can be found at the URL below.

http://www.beertown.org/events/gabf/...medalists.aspx

The judges will be blind tasting the beers. The only information given to the judges will be what style of beer it is.

Judges will not be allowed to enter their own brews.

Judges have already been selected. All judges are were at the GABF and sampled all winning brews. Extensive tasting notes were taken at the time.

I have sourced a glass carboy for the winner. This carboy will be etched will a logo commemorating the event. If your beer is good enough, you could soon be brewing your next batch in a unique carboy.

Dr. Faustus

Robot Wars Arena Updated!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:07:40 -0700

Arena Updated!

We've started building the new arena for this year's robot contest. The details about the arena and the build photos are here:

http://defconbots.org/defcon15/arena.php

So now that it's (almost) done, teams are invited to come practice on the actual arena if you want to get yourself to Orange County, CA :)

If anyone has questions or if you need more detailed photos, please let me know!
Kallahar

Contests starting up for DEFCON 15!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 14:13:35 -0700

DEFCON 15 Contests are starting to get organized!
Interested in running a contest or competing in one? Check out the current list of what's happening over on the forums.

Capture the Flag is back in full force, the Toxic BBQ is in effect, the Black and White Ball will happen as usual, and a whole host of new contests are getting ready. Some of them include:

- The Amateur CtF
- Beverage Cooling Contest
- Brew Wars!
- Coffee Wars
- DefconBots Robot Contest
- Hacker Jeopardy
- Lockpicking Contest
- LosT @ Con Mystery Challenge
- QueerCon
- Spot the Fed
-The Summit meeting and party
- Sushicon
- Wireless Village, Lockpick Village and RFID village!
- Sekret Challenge!

DEFCON 15 CFP Now Open!!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 11:57:19 -0700

DEFCON 15 Call For Papers is now officially Open and will close on June 15, 2007.
Don't know what DEFCON is? Go to https://www.defcon.org/ and clue up!

Papers and presentations are now being accepted for DEFCON 15, the conference your mother and ISC(2) warned you about. DEFCON will take place at the Riviera in Las Vegas, NV, USA, August 3-5, 2007.

Last year, we eliminated speaking tracks, and we received a diverse selection of submissions. From hacking your car, your brain, and CIA sculptures to hacking the vote, Bluetooth, and DNS hacks. We group presentations by subject and come up with topic areas of interest. It worked out so well in the past we are doing it again.

What are we looking for then, if we don't have tracks? Were looking for the presentation that you've never seen before and have always wanted to see. We are looking for the presentation that the attendees wouldn't ask for, but blows their minds when they see it. We want strange demos of Personal GPS jammers, RFID zappers, and HERF madness. Got a MITM attack against cell phones? We want to see it.

Subjects that we have traditionally covered in the past, and will continue to accept include: Trojan development, worms, malware, intelligent agents, protocol exploits, application security, web security, database hacking, privacy issues, criminal law, civil law, international law/treaties, prosecution perspectives, 802.11X, bluetooth, cellular telephony protocols, privacy, identity theft, identity creation, fraud, social implications of technology, media/film presentations, firmware hacking, hardware hacking, embedded systems hacking, smartcard technologies, credit card and financial instrument technologies, surveillance, counter-surveillance, UFO's, peer2peer technologies, reputation systems, copyright infringement and anti-copyright infringement enforcement technologies, critical infrastructure issues, physical security, social engineering, academic security research, PDA and cell phone security, EMP/HERF weaponry, TEMPEST technologies, corporate espionage, IDS evasion.

What a mouth full! Well you can't say we didn't give you some ideas. This list is not intended to limit possible topics, merely to give examples of topics that have interested us in the past, and is in fact the same list we used last year..

Check out https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-14/dc-14-speakers.html for past conference presentations to get a complete list of past topics that were accepted if you want to learn from the past.

We are looking for and give preference to: unique research, new tool releases, Ø day attacks (with responsible disclosure), highly technical material, social commentaries, and ground breaking material of any kind. Want to screen a new hacking documentary or release research? Consider DEFCON.

Speaking Formats:
Choose between 12 hundred seconds, 50 minutes, 110 minutes, or a break out format of a length you determine. We are continuing the Twelve Hundred Second Spotlight, which is a shorter presentation (about twenty minutes) that doesn't warrant a full 50 or 110 minute talk. The Twelve Hundred Second Spotlight is designed for those who don't have enough material for a full talk, but still have a valuable contribution to make. This is to ensure that great ideas that can be presented quickly don't fall through the cracks merely because they didn't justify a full length talk. Examples include research, announcements, group presentations, projects needing volunteers or testers, requests for comments, updates on previously given talks, quick demonstrations. You get the idea. Presenters will get a speaker badge which entitles them to free admittance to DEFCON, but we will be unable to pay an Honorarium.

Remember being attacked by flying meat? Do you remember thick accented Germans trying to convince you to attack critical infrastructure? Do you remember extravagant vapor ware releases by a stage filled with posses? We do, and sans projectiles of raw meat we want to encourage such shenanigans again this year. We are calling on all "hacker groups" (you know who you are, and the FBI has a nifty file with your name on it) to present at DEFCON, to discuss what you're up to, what your mission is, to discuss any upcoming or past projects, and to discuss parties/conferences you are throwing. We do humbly request that all gang warfare be relegated to electronic attacks, and not fall over into meat space.

New for DEFCON 15:
The second year being at the Riviera has allowed us to make some changes to the format from last year. We have more speaking rooms, and because of this I want to announce a call for workshops, demos, and mini trainings. We have additional small rooms that will enable highly focused demonstrations or workshops. If you want to talk about building a passport cloner or a tutorial on developing Metasploit exploits this might be the format for you. You tell us how much time you need, and we try to accommodate you!

To submit a speech Complete the Call for Papers Form at: https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-15/dc-15-cfp-form.html and send to talks at defcon dot org. You will receive a confirmation within 48 hours of submission.

We are going to continue last year's goal of increasing the quality of the talks by screening people and topics. I realize you guys are speaking for basically free, but some talks are better than others. Some people put in a bit more effort than others. I want to reward the people who do the work by making sure there is room for them.

This year we will have two rounds of speaker acceptance. In the first round we will fill about half of the schedule before the submission deadline, and the remaining half afterwards. This is to encourage people to submit as early as possible and allows attendees to plan on the topics that interest them. If you see the schedule on-line start to fill, do not worry if you have not heard from us yet, as we are still in the process of selection.

Barring a disaster of monstrous proportions, speaker selection will be completed no later July 1. The sooner you submit the better chance you have of the reviewers to give your presentation the full consideration it warrants. If you wait until the last minute to submit, you have less of a chance of being selected.

After a completed CFP form is received, speakers will be contacted if there are any questions about their presentations. If your talk is accepted you can continue to modify and evolve it up until the last minute, but don't deviate from your accepted presentation. We will mail you with information on deadlines for when we need your presentation, to be burnt on the CDROM, as well as information for the printed program.

Speakers get in to the show free, get paid (AFTER they give a good presentation!), get a coolio badge, and people like you more. Heck, most people find it is a great way to meet people or find other people interested in their topics. Speakers can opt to forgo their payment and instead receive three human badges that they can give to their friends, sell to strangers, or hold onto as timeless mementoes. Receiving badges instead of checks has been a popular option for those insisting on maintaining their anonymity.

Please visit:
https://www.defcon.org/ for previous conference archives, information, and speeches. Updated announcements will be posted to news groups, security mailing lists and this web site.
https://forum.defcon.org/ for a look at all the events and contests being planned for DEFCON 15. Join in on the action.
https://pics.defcon.org/ to upload all your past DEFCON pictures. We store the pictures so you don't have to worry about web space. If you have an account on the forums, you have an account here.
https://www.defcon.org/defconrss.xml for news and announcements surrounding DEFCON.

CFP forms and questions should get mailed to: talks/at/defcon.org

CSI: TCP/IP by Robin Mejia at wired.com

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 2 Jan 2007 16:44:50 -0800

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Why the Pentagon's toughest Internet crime fighter likes hanging out with blackhat hackers" is the sub title of the article.
DEFCON
It turns out to be a well written piece about Jim Christy's career and the birth of the DoD Cybercrime Center. It is set to a back drop of DEF CON 14, and has a couple funny bits, some interesting war stories plus a quote from me.

A snip from the article:
"Christy points out a pulsing vein in the guy's neck – suggesting it's a sign he is lying. The guy calls Christy an old man. He hints that maybe he might have some small connection to Mossad. As he finally sits down, Christy passes him a business card."

Don't Be a Slacker, DEFCON 15 WANTS YOU!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 18:49:03 -0800

Starting March 1st we will be opening the call for papers for DEFCON 15 - the annual gathering of subversive computer folks.

Earlier submissions are given higher priority, so prepare your best kung-foo, and send it our way. Remember, we are always looking for original and highly technical content, unusual subject matters, software releases, innovative hardware hacking, and generally mind-blowing content. Check out past convention archives to get an idea of what we are talking about.

Once the date is closer there will be more specifics.. I just wanted to give everyone a heads up!

DEFCON 14 Video now available!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 18:34:05 -0800

DEFCON has released the second batch of content from DC-14 encoded for download. This marks the third step of moving away from the real media server to a direct download model in an effort to spread far and wide the presentations from past DEFCON conventions.

The new media server will be going on-line in the next month, and because the old media server is out of drive space you will notice that all DC 7 content has been taken off line to make room.

Once the new media server is on-line all past content will be restored!

DEFCON 14 Audio now available!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 18:34:01 -0800

DEFCON has released the first batch of content from DC-14 encoded for download. This marks the third step of moving away from the real media server to a direct download model in an effort to spread far and wide the presentations from past DEFCON conventions.

Happy Holidays!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 17:30:46 -0800

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Defcon!

We would like to wish you the best this Holiday season. We hope you have plenty of family, food and fun to go around. If you get bored you can always gather the family around the warm glow of your flat screen to watch the ghosts of presentations past. There is no better gift than that. Unless of course your loved ones headed over to Jinx and got you some sweet Defcon gear!

We also wanted to remind you that pics.defcon.org is up and running, we are looking forward to seeing it grow with the new year. If you get together with your fellow hackers this holiday season, or mod that must have Christmas gift, feel free to upload your photos in the members and dc groups galleries.

That said, Eat plenty of other peoples food, stay up late with your new shiny toys and have fun with friends and family. See you next year!

DEFCON 14 Presentations On-Line!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 14:00:41 -0800

We've gotten in some updated presentations, and have updated www.defcon.org to make them all available. So if you want to see the slides to a preso you missed, check out the link below.
DEFCON
Next up we'll be posting the audio and video from DC-14 for download.. DEF CON's XMas present to the community, coming in December.

pics.defcon.org now live!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:23:24 -0800

pics.defcon.org is now live for use.
DEFCONDEFCON
What is it you ask? Think of it as a repository for all pictures related to DEF CON. It is a place you can upload your pictures and arrange them however you want. Others can comment on them, vote, or put them in their own favorites album.

The idea is that as people change providers there is no long term repository for DEF CON pictures except to the links www.defconpics.org points to. Because they don't mirror the content I wanted to create a free place for people to share their pictures that won't change or go down.

The pics software is integrated with the defcon forums, so if you already have an account there you automatically have an account on pics.defcon.org.

So get busy! Upload those pictures. both http and https connections work. Spread the word!

DEFCON 12 Audio now available!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 7 Jul 2006 20:08:11 -0700

DEFCON has released the first batch of content from DC-12 encoded for download. This marks the second step of moving away from the real media server to a direct download model in an effort to spread far and wide the presentations from past DEFCON conventions.

DEFCON 12 Video now available!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 7 Jul 2006 20:07:22 -0700

DEFCON has released the second batch of content from DC-12 encoded for download. This marks the second step of moving away from the real media server to a direct download model in an effort to spread far and wide the presentations from past DEFCON conventions.

DEFCON 13 Videos of the Music from the Black and White ball now on-line!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 7 Jul 2006 20:03:25 -0700

Here are the music videos of the music from the Black and White Ball at DEFCON 13.
DJs include Wintamute, Ms. Jackalope, Shatter, Kris Klink and Casey with the bands Catharisis and Regenerator in the house!

DEFCON 13 Music from the Black and White ball now on-line!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 7 Jul 2006 20:03:25 -0700

We took the audio .wav files and encoded them into .mp3 files.
DJs include Wintamute, Ms. Jackalope, Shatter, Kris Klink and Casey with the bands Catharisis and Regenerator in the house!

DEFCON 14 Speakers Selected!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 18:10:15 -0700

Hey everyone, I want to make some announcements surrounding DEFCON 14.
DEFCONDEFCONDEFCONDEFCON
It's about that time to briefly lay down the inf0z, so here it goes.

- Speakers have been selected, and are now listed on-line:
http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-14/dc-14-schedule.html

They include an assistant Secretary of Defense, an FBI agent, Scary Hackers, privacy fanatics, security studs, and a hardware hacking ninja.

- The con hotel is sold out, but overflow exists here:
http://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-14/dc-14-hotel.html

- Need a ride or got a room to spare? Check out the ride and room section of the DEF CON Forums
https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=26

- There are a lot of new contests, and some old ones that are no more (We'll miss you WiFi Shootout!) I'd mention them all, but it takes up too much space. To get a good grip on what is happening I'd suggest reading the contest area of the forums:
https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=102

- Black and White Ball is two nights this year, with some great bands and DJs including Regenerator, The Minibosses, DJ Jackalope, Catharsis and DJ Wintamute.

- DEF CON 13 Audio and Video is now on-line for DOWNLOAD. Yep, you saw that right. We are phasing out the real media server and going to download mode. The audio is in .mp3, and the video is in H.264 2-pass 192k .mp4, optimized for the iPod video screen size. Right now you gotta subscribe to the rss feed, but the web site will soon sport the direct links. We hope to have DC-12 on-line in the next week.
http://www.defcon.org/defconrss.xml

Notes:
This year we are at a new hotel, the Riviera. I did this because DEF CON was going to stagnate and die if it stayed at the Alexis Park any longer. The benefits of the new hotel are that the speaking rooms are larger, there is air conditioning, and we have room to grow. This year we get about 1/2 the space, and next year we should get 3/4 of the space. That extra room will allow us to offer break out classes, get togethers, and an additional track of speaking. Things we could only dream of before, but now are possible. It will take us all a year or two to learn what to do with all the space, but those are the kinds of problems I can live with. Did I mention the sky boxes?

General hang out site: http://forum.defcon.org/

Remember DEF CON is what you make of it, and we have been lucky over the years to have a great group of people supporting us. The line up this year looks great, and the rest is up to us.

Crypto utopia Sealand ravaged by fire by Andrew Orlowski

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 12:47:42 -0700

Andrew over at The Register writes about a fire that broke out on Sea Land wrecking the generator room. For those not familiar, there was a talk by Ryan Lacky of HavenCo, a company set up on Sea Land to provide privacy services. I believe it inspired some of the characters in Neil Stephenson's Cryptonomicon book (Go read it.. very good)

I've wondered what happened since the business imploded in 2003, but from the article it seems not much.

Fire has damaged a World War II gun emplacement seven miles off the English coast. Better known as "Sealand", the fort was acquired in the 1960s by Roy Bates, who declared it an independent principality."

"In a presentation to the 2003 DefCon convention, a former employee described how internal politics and a lack of investment backing had thwarted the experiment. Contracts were broken, the bandwidth never materialised, and the location was vulnerable to DOS attacks. At the time [6] of his 2003 presentation, HavenCo had no new customers, and had seen several of its existing customers leave."

DEFCON 12 Music from the Black and White ball now on-line!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 16:11:53 -0700

We took the audio .wav files and encoded them into .mp3 files. We are working on DC-13 music next!

Todd Moore, Treasure hunter contestant, spoke at DEFCON 12 on "Cracking Net2Phone"

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 18:17:52 -0700

Since Todd has been announced as a participant on NBC's new show "Treasure Hunters" we have had more than enough curious folks interested in his presentation. We will be watching him on the new show when it airs, in the meantime you can watch him now on his Defcon 12:"Cracking Net2Phone" Presentation.

Do you think using Internet Telephony is more secure than a regular phone? Think again! Internet Telephony is becoming more common and those that think it is safer from wiretaps than regular phone communications are wrong. This presentation will demonstrate how to decrypt Net2Phone's dialed phone numbers, and playback fully reconstructed audio conversations from network packet captures. Included will be a demonstration of NetWitness 5.0's VOIP playback capability.

Todd Moore is the product manager of NetWitness, a commercially available cyber-forensics tool. Moore's extensive knowledge of Internet technologies, network security, and software development helped make NetWitness well-known for providing powerful insight into network traffic.

Moore has over ten years of professional experience in the field of network security and has extensive experience developing commercial software applications. He has a bachelor in Computer Science from Old Dominion University and is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD). Moore started with CTX Corporation in 1996 securing global intranets and designing network security software to help audit and analyze network traffic. He joined Forensics Explorers, a Division of ManTech ISandT, as Director of Software Development in 1999 and later became the NetWitness Product Manager.

Moore teaches classes on designing quality software and has made numerous television appearances presenting the latest in technology trends. He has two patent pending inventions in the field of cyber-forensics. Moore resides in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Cybersecurity contests go national by Robert Lemos

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Fri, 9 Jun 2006 17:24:21 -0700

I saw this over on SecurityFocus written by Rob Lemos, a long time Info Sec reporter with a solid reputation.

It is a piece about how "Cybersecurity" events are going national. From Old old CTF games, to DEFCON, to the Cyber Defense Exercise (CDX) to the new CCDC it is all a progression of learning through different game challenges.

It makes a couple brief mentions of DEFCON, but does not explain who or what we are. That's OK. If people really want to know, they'll find us.. From the article:

"As the hackers came in, you could see (the students') reactions: They were frustrated when they saw the attackers breach their systems and excited when they stopped the attack," said John Carr, a mentor for the team fielded by Valley High School of West Des Moines and senior solutions consultant with Iowa-based technology consulting firm QCI."

DEFCON 13 Audio now available!

feedback@defcon.org (DEFCON Announcements) — Mon, 5 Jun 2006 18:49:42 -0700

DEFCON has released the first batch of content from DC-13 encoded for download. This marks the first step of moving away from the real media server to a direct download model in an effort to spread far and wide the presentations from past DEFCON conventions.
DEFCON
The second release is .mp3 audio files in a friendly CBR 64k format. As time goes on we will be re-encoding all previous conference content and releasing it! Next up DEFCON 13 DJ music and video..