Friendly DEF CON 29 CTF reminder - this weekend the mighty Order of the Overflow is hosting the Qualifier event! It’s not often that the path to glory comes into such sharp focus - be ready to meet your destiny. Godspeed to all of the teams who will be battling it out for 48 straight beginning UTC 00:00 May 1st. The information you need is at oooverflow.io and @oooverflow, the courage you need has been inside you all along.
DEF CON 29 is closer than it has ever been. Just let yourself feel it.
Sunday 5/2, at 12pm PDT we're having an online memorial for Dan Kaminsky on the DEF CON Discord server. Come share your favorite stories and join us in celebrating a hacker whose life elevated the whole community.
We've had some questions about our warrant canary, and we wanted to let everyone know that it was just an accidental reversion to the previous version during a site wide update. We're putting some measures in place to avoid this kind of confusion in the future, but rest assured, all is well, and no action has been taken against us!
I am announcing this now because the longer we wait and gather data the harder it will be for everyone to make plans, so we are announcing our intentions to kick things off.
DEF CON 29 will be a hybrid conference, partially in-person, and partially online. DEF CON will not be a “normal” con, but more like DEF CON “Different.” The situation we face this year is unique and will require us to do things differently, simplify our plans, and in a fast-moving environment be flexible to change.
If you didn’t get to participate in the DEF CON China Party, we have your back. We’ve got a full archive of the presentations and music for you to browse through at your convenience. We can’t provide you the experience of seeing The Dark Tangent’s avatar zooming across the virtual skyline with his jetboots, but the rest of the experience is on tap for you. Enjoy, and pass it on.
It’s official. DEF CON season has arrived. DEF CON 29 will be happening this August in one form or another and that means it’s time to announce the theme!
The theme for DEF CON 29 is (imagine a drum roll here) ‘You Can’t Stop the Signal’.
The signal can be a few things. It’s the powerful force that draws DEF CON together as a community, across miles, across years, even in global lockdown. It can be the magnet that draws us to the people trying to solve the same puzzles we are, who want to learn how everything works as much as we do. And it’s how we instinctively know that the technology we live with can be better, and we are the ones to figure out how.
We’ve put together a style guide that lays out a bunch of our inspirations for this year, from visual aesthetic to music, to movies and books. We hope it inspires you in whatever you’re creating for DC29, and we hope it gives you the same powerful sense of community and possibility that we feel.
The style guide also governs the Art Contest, so if you're artistically inclined we hope you'll find a nugget or two in there to inspire your entries. We look forward to seeing what you come up with and we thank you for being the kind of amazing, unstoppable community that keeps us coming back.
Musicians! Friendly reminder that our DEF CON 29 Call for Music and Soundtrack is open until June 1. If you want to get your sweet sweet choons in front of the DC29 crowd, get up on it!l
We’re proud to announce another live online event! We’re working with our partners at Baidu and hosting a full one-day DEF CON China Party. Join us on March 20 in a specially built XRspace VR environment for a full day of our famous style of fun with music, speakers, contests and an interview with legendary hacker Steve Wozniak.
We’ll be announcing more details as the day approaches, so keep an eye on the party page for updates. We hope you’ll be able to join us, even if you don’t have a VR setup. See you there!
This week’s DEF CON Movie Night flick is Ridley Scott’s ‘Matchstick Men’. Great performances, beautiful cinematography and more than a little social engineering action.
Join us in the DEF CON Discord 8pm PST Saturday (discord.gg/defcon) in the movie-night-text channel!
DEF CON 29 approaches. It looms. Darn near impends. Be still, and you can hear it – the DEF CON Call for Everything ringing though the air.
The CfE is when DEF CON throws open the doors and invites everyone’s best proposals in for a visit. Speaking proposals, ideas for vilages, prospective demo labs, contests, trainings, music, art - literally everything. You write up all the delightful things you want to share with the community, and we find a way to bring the best of them to life at DEF CON.
The Call for Everything page lists all the ways you can participate in the creation of the next DEF CON, along with the relevant details and deadlines, including some new questions intended to get your thoughts on whether this year’s con should be in-person, online or some of both.
So visit the CfE page, read the guidelines, and get your best ideas together. Let’s DO this thing!
This week's DEF CON Movie Night will be a YouTube simultaneous screening of a movie partially shot at DEF CON 23! It's the inimitable Werner Herzog's 'Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World'. Herzog is the legendary documentary filmmaker of Grizzly Man' and 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams' and a literal half century of straight up mad moviemaking genius. He's also got a part in 'The Mandalorian', in case legendary documentaries aren't your jam.
Herzog's team came to DEF CON 23 looking for some footage of the frontiers of digital connection - this was the year of the Wired magazine Jeep hack where Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek shut down Andy Greenberg's Jeep from across the country. I personally may have wished more DEF CON footage survived the edit, it's a really interesting and unsettling look at the emerging world of constant, instantaneous interconnectivity.
Join us Saturday at 8pm PST in the DEF CON discord (discord.gg/defcon) in the #movie-night-text channel!
The global pandemic of 2020 changed a lot of plans, and DEF CON was no exception. We couldn’t safely hold either of our planned in-person events, so we regretfully cancelled DEF CON 28 in Las Vegas and DEF CON China 2 in Beijing.
Fortunately, we’re a hacker community. We adapt. We reimagine. We find a way.
We created DEF CON Safe Mode, and held our first online conference. With that experience under our belt, we threw our first online New Year’s Eve party to ring in 2021.
Now we’re proud to announce another live online event, this time in VR! Along with our DEF CON China partners at Baidu we’ll be hosting a full one-day DEF CON party experience with contests, music and speakers, all in Virtual Reality.
We’ll be announcing the dates and details soon, so watch this space. We’ll also make sure you can check it out even without VR gear. Let’s make 2021 a year of increased friendship and connection for the global hacker community - no matter what conditions may come. We are hackers, and we find a way.
Very cool video about the kind of crazy effort people put in to the #defcon Badge Hacking contest. Spoofing the badge is always a mighty challenge - but this team went above and beyond.
#urinalcake #badgelife thanks to @alexchaveriat for making the video!
Let's all take a break from doomscrolling social media and treat ourselves to 90 or so minutes of the delightful effervescence of Audrey Hepburn, Cary Grant and Paris in the "lightly comedic mystery thriller" Charade. It's a beautifully shot film, with sparkling chemistry between the leads and a great score by Henry Mancini. You will be charmed.
Just a little note to thank everyone who came out to our New Year’s Eve Party! It was fun to hang out with so many of you, and very satisfying to ring in the New Year with our community.
These are difficult times for many of us, and maintaining our connections is an important part of staying healthy. Please feel free to visit forum.defcon.org for conversation, links to DEF CON Groups around the world and information about our upcoming events. We want you to stay safe, stay healthy and stay in touch.
This week’s NYE edition of DEF CON’s Movie Night is being hosted by the Cult of the Dead Cow! The OG hacker supergroup will be in the movie night channel sharing a curated list of videos, telling tales and answering your questions.
If you know the Cult of the Dead Cow, you don’t need us to tell you how cool this is. If you don’t, just know they’ve been holding down the elite hacker strike force space since before you hacked your Teddy Ruxpin, and this is the perfect time to fill in that crucial gap in your grasp of hacker lore.
Follow us on defcon.org and @defcon for times and video listings, and visit cultdeadcow.com to see what the cult is up to now.
DEF CON wants to be the soundtrack to your New Year’s Eve! Our party is packed with live DJ sets from all kinds of artists, both new and familiar. To get you familiar with the musical lineup in advance, we’ve got a list of the performers on the NYE Party Page!
Sample, evaluate and plan accordingly. Let's shake off 2020 together with some beat therapy.
We’ve set up a sparkly new DEF CON store at shop.defcon.org to meet all of your various swag needs. We hope that it will be a smoother experience for everyone, with more options, more responsiveness and some room to grow. We’d love for you to check it out, and to check back for new items and replenished stock of your old favorites. Thank you as always for your support of DEF CON.
Hard as it may be to believe, the Snowden revelations are over 7 years old. The news cycle has accelerated so much in the intervening years that it seems like a relic from a different age, a slower timeline where a big story could make headlines for weeks instead of getting buried by four equally unsettling headlines before dinnertime.
Wherever you stand on the ethics of the disclosure, this glimpse at the scope of the US domestic surveillance apparatus has had enormous impact on the way the public views its privacy. In the last few weeks, Snowden's name has been in the news again as he accepts a permanent residency in Russia and his name is floated for a Presidential pardon. This seems like a good time to watch the documentary Citizenfour. Let's examine this artifact together and figure out if it hits different in 2020. I suspect strongly that it will.
The Most Dangerous Game' was made in 1932, but you can still hear its echoes in modern cinema. It's a surprisingly tense pre-code thriller about bored rich creeps who hunt humans for sport, and it walked so 'Predator' could run. Good fun, and a subtext that finds its way into movies a lot more often than you think. Watch this space for some more discussion of the film and join us in the DEF CON Discord Server Saturday Night at 8pm PST (discord.gg/defcon/) in movie-night-text and movie-night-voice.
This week, we are going to continue the simul-tubing experiment with 'IT! The Terror from Beyond Space" - a solid sci-fi thriller from 1958 that's one of the main inspirations for 'Alien'.
In case it isn't readable, that movie poster promises $50,000 to anyone who can prove the creature from the movie is NOT on Mars. You gotta respect a film that stands behind its premise.
Please join us November 28, 8PM PST in the DEF CON Discord (discord.gg/defcon/) in movie-night-text.
Next week's movie will be the classic 80s hacker film 'War Games'.
"But how? Don't the terms and conditions at discord forbid sharing copyrighted content?"
Fair question.
If we showed the movie in discord, we could run into issues. However, 'War Games' is showing for free on YouTube, praised be the internets.
So the plan is to make it a double header. For the first hour, we'll show a talk from DEF CON 16 where The Dark Tangent interviews David Scott Lewis, engineer, consultant and the model for the David Lightman character in War Games. It's a fascinating interview that will give you a lot of insight into the main feature. If you want to watch it early, it's available at https://youtu.be/hHDJpYBVgz0.
Then, when the interview is over, we'll all synchronize watches and start up 'War Games' on YouTube. We'll still hang out and talk in movie-night-text like every week.
Hopefully, stuff like this expands the pool of available content to be Movie Nighted, and if it works we'll do it again from time to time.
Hope you'll join us at 8pm PST, November 21 in discord.gg/defcon/ in movie-night-text and movie-night-voice, and help us kick things up a notch.
This week's movie night will feature the 2014 hacker movie 'Algorithm', and we'll be joined by the writer/director Jon Schiefer! Bring your questions and join us on Saturday at 8pm Pacific Time in the DEF CON Discord (https://discord.gg/defcon/) in channels movie-night-voice and movie-night-text.
In honor of the five new states that legalized marijuana in this week's US elections, DEF CON Movie Night is showing the original 'Reefer Madness'. First released in1936, this anti-marijuana propaganda piece began as a church-funded film called 'Tell Your Children'. Designed to scare kids away from 'jazz cigarettes', the plot revolves wide-eyed teens lurching from innocence to utter depravity after a brief dalliance with what was likely some very weak-sauce Depression-era weed. Unintentional hilarity follows.
The filmmakers overplay their hand to such an extent that the film probably encouraged more stoners than it inhibited, and it became a cult favorite of pot enthusiasts and connoisseurs of badfilm in the 70s and inspired a remake in the 2000s.
We'll also be showing the (very) short film created in 1942 by the US government to encourage the growing of hemp. 'Hemp for Victory' was produced and for many years disavowed by the Department of Agriculture, and while it's not as riotously funny as 'Reefer Madness' it is not without charm. It's also pretty informative about the business side of a pretty remarkable family of plants.
Join us for some laughs and a pinch of agriculture propaganda at 8pm Pacific on Saturday Nov 7 in the DEF CON Discord (https://discord.gg/defcon/) in movie-night-text and movie-night-voice. Download iCal
Waiting on election results? Pass the time by getting yourself up to speed on the many facets of election security! We've got a bunch of resources you can peruse. Take what you need, share where it's needed, follow @VotingVillageDC on Twitter and if you can, get involved in the fight for secure elections.
Save the Date:
DEF CON’s first New Year’s Eve Party
December 31, 2020 through January 1, 2021(Download iCal)
Let’s ring in the New Year together! We’re putting together a free online party for the global DEF CON Community. Join us on our Discord server (https://discord.gg/defcon/) for some low-key DC-style amusements like Hacker Jeopardy, Drunk Hacker History, live music, movies - you know how we do. No talks, no lines, plenty of hacker fellowship and shenanigans.
We’ll provide the tunes, the games and contests, even some ‘celebrity’ bartenders. You just bring your dancing shoes and the refreshments of your choice.
#Halloween2020 falls on a #defconmovienight - so we’re showing George Romero's groundbreaking (and public domain!) zombie thriller ‘Night of the Living Dead’!
If Halloween is on hold where you are, join us at 8pm PDT (GMT-7) 10/31 in discord.gg/defcon in movie-night-text and movie-night-voice!
#defconmovienight this Saturday will be an old school hacker doc double feature: #freedomdowntime and #unauthorizedaccess. Join us October 17 at 8pm PDT (GMT-7) in discord.gg/defcon in movie-night-text
https://forum.defcon.org/node/235346
This week’s #defconmovienight selection is ‘Algiers’ nominated for 4 Oscars and American debut film of #hedylamarr - screen legend and patent holder for an early frequency-hopping ‘secret communication device’.
Join us Saturday at 8pm PDT (GMT-7) in discord.gg/defcon in movie-night-text and movie-night-voice
DEF CON movie night returns 10/3 with another public domain jewel—1950 meta-noir ‘D.O.A’. Decades ahead of its time, DOA subverts the hardened gumshoe genre by forcing the protagonist to solve his own poisoning before he dies. It’s truly one of the greats—don't sleep on this one.
Join us at 8pm PDT (GMT-7) in discord.gg/defcon in movie-night-text and movie-night-voice. BYO Good-n-Plenty.
The DEF CON Safe mode mega torrent races to its #finalform - DEF CON Groups presentations, art, social media reactions.. get your hands on everything on https://media.defcon.org!
Friendly #defconsafemode reminder - we recorded the Q and A sessions for a bunch of the #defcon talks, so even if you've watched the talks on YouTube you might wanna check on this playlist of speaker/attendee interaction.
The DEF CON Safe Mode Glitch Hoodie is back in stock. Keep your look hacker fresh and be the envy of all who behold you. Available while supplies last in the DEF CON eBay Store.
The DEF CON Safe Mode enormo-torrent is live! Make sure your internets are hydrated and limber - there’s over 400 videos in there. Villages, contests, PCAPs and tons of music. Indulge your inner info-glutton, and make sure to #passitalong.
The first round of press links from DEF CON Safe Mode is live on defcon.org. We'll update as we find more links. If you find something interesting we missed, let us know at info@defcon.org.
Now that #DEFCONSafeMode is in the books, we’ve got a thread for feedback on #defconforums. Share your stories, make suggestions, pass along your thoughts on our first virtual event. We are beyond grateful that so many of you took the leap of faith with us, and we want to hear from you.
Luminous humans of #DEFCON, #SafeMode is now in the books. The time to celebrate the many Contest Winners is at hand. We also celebrate everyone who competed - just the tiniest bit less, to keep everybody motivated. Congratulations to those who found glory. Encouragement and gratitude to those who didn’t this time. The real victory is the friends we made along the way, who were inside our hearts all along.
We want to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone who entered the DEF CON Safe Mode Art Contest. We’re always amazed at the level of talent in this community.
This year’s runner up is a stylish meditation on the profusion of connectivities that characterize modern life by Rita Tu.
Much like Highlanders, however, in the end there can be only one. This year’s highlander is @hannahdiazart. The entry has both wide-eyed discovery (very on theme) and boxes full of random electronics (super relatable). Also a robot dinosaur. It communicates something about the hacker spirit that is both warm and life-affirming.
Congratulations to Hannah and Rita and thanks again to everyone who participated.
To get the party started, we’re releasing a bunch of the content early. Over on the media server, we’ve got all of the main stage talks and materials, the soundtrack, demo labs, art, CTF, music - take what you like. Completists out there, we see you. There’s a very thicc torrent file as well. Take some time to watch the talks you’ve been waiting for at your leisure, so you’re ready for the live Q&A sessions starting Thursday. This will be the first DEF CON where you won’t have to pick between main stage talks and the rest of the show, so take advantage. If you had plans, we apologize.
DEF CON Safe Mode is almost here! We hope you’re as excited as we are. For everyone looking to support DEF CON in this unusually difficult time, we have a new option for you to consider - Human PLUS.
Safe Mode is free to all Humans, but you can upgrade to Human Plus for $20 USD on the DEF CON Discord for a few upgraded privileges. You get stuff like the ability to post pics and links, change your nick, access to Plus only chill out rooms and the good feeling that you’ve helped keep DEF CON alive until we meet again in Vegas. The information is all spelled out on https://defcon.org/dc-safemode-plus.html.
Your support makes DEF CON possible, and we appreciate all the encouragement and enthusiasm you’ve brought to this first-time online event. Thanks for sticking with us - we can’t wait until we get to do it again in person. DEF CON hearts you.
More DEF CON Safe Mode News - The Villages Page is LIVE! Check out the 30 (!) villages that are taking part and start planning your Con. Links are provided to the appropriate DEF CON forum nodes for each village and the various info you’ll need to participate. We’re almost there, people. #getpsyched!
The ever-popular DEF CON Demo Labs are returning for #defconsafemode! Support open-source hotness and the work of your fellow hackers and maybe even get some inspiration for your own projects. The full list of offerings is live on the DEF CON Demo Labs Page!
It’s #defconsafemode alert time again! The main track talk schedule and speaker page for #defcon28 is now #live! Permission to get psyched is #granted. More announcements on the way!
Here at the DEF CON Research Institute, we’ve been working hard to unlock the perfect blend of mind-expanding content and sweaty dancefloor abandon that makes the perfect Con experience. You’ll be happy to know that we’re applying that research to the #defconsafemode experiment.
Friday and Saturday night, we’ll be providing tasty beats from the likes of Miss Jackalope, Skittish and Bus and Ninjula. Head over to the Safe Mode Entertainment Page for the complete lineup.
The DEF CON Safe Mode badge is here! This year’s model is created by the inimitable LostboY, veteran DEF CON badge and Mystery Challenge creator. While the physical format may be unfamiliar to the youngest among you, seasoned players will recognize it as a ‘cassette tape’ - an analog recording format consisting of a ribbon of magnetic tape and a plastic housing to keep your dirty fingers away from said tape. More on the DEF CON Safe Mode Badge Page
DEF CON Safe Mode is almost here! If you’re just getting around to checking out the offerings, here’s a little roundup of the stuff you need to know.
Visit the Forums: The planning for the many events of DEF CON Safe Mode is all happening on the DEF CON Forums. Whether you want to register for an event, offer to help out with a village, or just get a start on planning your DC weekend, you can find the relevant thread in the DC28 planning forum.
#Badgelife is still in effect: The DEF CON community creates a lot of really amazing badges, many of which are available for sale and/or trade. You can catch up with the community badges on the DEF CON Forums #badgeleife thread. You can also follow the hashtag #badgelife on Twitter and Instagram.
Of course, DEF CON has a badge this year, too. We’ll be announcing it quite soon. It’s the creation of returning puzzle master LosT (@1o57), so you’ll want to set aside some time to unock its mysteries.
Swag: If you’re wondering how to get your hands on DEF CON Safe Mode swag this year, we’ve got you covered over on the DEF CON eBay store!
So dive in! Get yourself set up on Discord and Twitch, fire up the DEF CON stream on soma fm for some musical inspiration and get your mind right. DEF CON 28 will be upon us before you know it.
We’ve got some brand new #DEFCONSafeMode items available at the DEF CON eBay store - a very cool pin, new flag, and a new tee and hoody with our beloved Jack in #glitchmode. Tighten up your Zoom game with a fresh new look!
Reminder to all the hacker scribes out there - the DEF CON Safe Mode Short Story Contest closes July 1! Don't let procrastination rob you of your chance at glory and fabulous prizes!
We’re keeping a calendar over on the DEF CON Forums with all the deadlines for content. As a bunch of these deadlines are imminent, it’s worth throwing a bookmark down on it. While you’re there you can also get involved in all sorts of planning discussions - your help and feedback are a big part of making this happen. Don’t miss the opportunity to help shape DEF CON Safe Mode.
Black Lives Matter
Posted 6.15.20
To DEF CON, Black lives matter. Justice matters. Accountability matters.
Acts performed by those with a badge are performed by the consent of all of us - because the authority of the badge ultimately does not belong to its bearer. The authority of the badge is on loan from us, the people.
There are real inequities in the way the law is applied to Black people in America. These inequities, rooted in the very foundations of the country, are stubborn things. They persist, and we are all accountable for them. With that accountability comes an obligation to make things right, to see justice done wherever it’s been denied, and work for a better tomorrow.
We have donated $5,000 to The Bail Project and $5,000 to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in hopes that our little company can show some solidarity with the movement and help build that better world we all want.
As far as I’m concerned, none of this is political, or even controversial. I’m not interested in debating anyone’s humanity, or anyone’s right to equal treatment under the law. Good faith discussions about the best way to do the right thing, however, are always welcome. Moments where real change is possible are rare. Let’s not waste this one.
We postponed the DEF CON China 2 event, hoping we'd be able to pick another date in 2020. Sadly, even now in mid-June we have too many unresolved concerns to go forward. We're cancelling DEF CON China 2, but we're hopeful we can return to Beijing in 2021. You can read DT's blog post about it in the DEF CON forums.
Swag alert! The DEF CON store has a ton of new #DEFCONisCanceled goodies for your delectation. The much requested mask is here, along with hats, pins and stickers. Thanks to everyone for your support while we construct #defconsafemode - stay tuned for even more new swag items in the coming days! Stay safe, and stay in touch.
DEF CON Safe Mode is growing fast - check out these links to some of the Villages that are signing up to take part! New CFPs are opening up by the day. But don't stop there - jump into the forums and join the discussion. Your feedback is a crucial part of creating a great Con, so join us as we build this thing out. Exciting, ain't it?
From Crypto and Privacy Village (@CryptoVillage): We're back! Our Call for Participation is officially open! For details on the Crypto & Privacy Village: Glitched CFP - check out our site! https://twitter.com/CryptoVillage/status/1263184313861865473
From the Voting Village: Reminder: @defcon Voting Machine Hacking Village @VotingVillageDC speaker track CFP is OPEN!
Call for Papers deadline June 12, 2020, at 5:00 PM PT
More information : https://forum.defcon.org/node/232527#post232527
The DEF CON eBay store is back online! Thanks for bearing with us while we got everything sorted out. DEF CON Safe Mode merchandise (and all other DC merch, for that matter) will be available only on the DEF CON eBay store.
Stay tuned for new #defconiscanceled items, stay safe, and stay in touch with us on the DEF CON FORUMS!
Over on the #defconforums we're building a whole new section for #defcongroups with mini forums for each #DCG! Share pictures, meeting info, project ideas, collaborate with other groups - make it yours.
Congratulations to A*O*E, the winners of the DEF CON Safe Mode CTF Qualifiers, and our heartfelt thanks to the amazing team at Order of the Overflow for hosting a great event.
This year's @defcon Quals are over, but you don't have to stop yet! The scoreboard has been made static and the challenges are still available! Everyone can see challenge info, interact with the challenges (they'll stay up for a few days) and check the flags they can retrieve!/
The moment has arrived - the DEF CON CTF Quals are happening TODAY! Winner gets a seat at the DEF CON Safe Mode CTF event and a shot at everlasting glory. We wish the best of luck to all the contestants. Stay up to date with all the CTF updates by following our brilliant hosts, Order of the Overflow.
We’re gratified by the response from the hacker community and we’re working to create more options for commemorating #defconsafemode. Keep checking our site for updates. Thanks for your patience.
The ‘DEF CON is canceled’ meme has crossed over into real life, courtesy of COVID-19. In early March we had hopes that things would be stable by August. That is no longer realistic. Currently there’s no way to gather everyone together and keep them safe, so The Dark Tangent has decided to cancel the in-person event.
We wish there was better news, but we hackers are a resilient bunch. Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay in touch so we can all be together virtually this August 6-9 and again for DEF CON 29 in person.
Press Registration for DEF CON 28 is OPEN. We’ve posted the relevant information on the press registration page, so head over and get familiar if you want to reserve a spot. If you’ve got a question that’s not answered there, hit us up at press@defcon.org and we’ll get you sorted out. As ever, we have a limited number of press badges, so it’s a good idea not to wait too long. We look forward to hearing from you!
From today until Memorial Day, you can view the full HBO documentary Kill Chain for free on HBO's YouTube Channel! The topic of this doc is election security and features our very own DEF CON Voting Village! Check it out!
Also, we want to partner with a few artists from the DEF CON community for some themed art for DC28. If #discovery and DEF CON inspire you, get at us at pictures@defcon.org
Books. We love ‘em. And right now, we have a major reading opportunity happening for all of us, at the same time. What better way to make use of this moment than to read something together?
Enter the #defconbookclub! Starting In April, we’re inviting you to join us - we’ll all read a book together and discuss it in its own Forum thread. Nikita has set up all the relevant info here: https://forum.defcon.org/node/231147
The first task is picking the book, and we’re asking for nominations. Let’s keep it Non-technical, thematically connected to ‘Discovery’ and reasonably easy to locate. Suggestions can go in the info thread.
We’re excited about this. Let’s make the most of this downtime together.
Calling all teachers of the hacking arts! We’re looking to turn the Monday after DEF CON 28 into a full day of trainings! We’re calling for all-day (8 hours with breaks) sessions on meaty technical topics.
If you want to keep an eye on this new project as it develops, check in with the trainings thread on the DEF CON Forums. This is new territory for us - help us make it happen!
Attention hackers! OOO has made the difficult decision to postpone DEF CON CTF Quals to give teams a chance to take care of essentials and family during this phase of the pandemic. The new date will be the weekend of May 16th! Still online.
The DEF CON calendar on the DEF CON Forums is pretty handy. It can be even more handy if you participate - add your Def Con Group’s meeting info, comment on your favorite village’s deadlines. It’s an interactive way to keep up w/the defconiverse.
We’re bringing back the Art Contest for DEF CON with a few fun twists. If you want in, sharpen up your crayons - the deadline is June 15, 2020, and it will be upon us faster than you think.
Submissions should be mailed to pictures@defcon.org.
The DEF CON 28 CFP is LIVE! The time has come to whip that idea into submission-ready shape - you have until May 1 and we can offer a lot more help if you don’t wait til the last minute. Let's light this candle!
The time has come, everyone! The DEF CON 28 Call for EVERYTHING is LIVE! We're throwing open the door on a ton of different opportunities to participate in the CON.
If you're looking to get involved, this is your moment to shine. We're looking for new contests and events, Workshops, Villages, Parties, Demo Labs and even Musical Performers. Every DEF CON, hundreds of amazing hackers contact us with ideas to take DC to the next level. You can be one of those amazing humans - just look through the cornucopia of options on the CFE page, read the rules, and get in where you fit in!
There's no better way to get involved than rolling up your sleeves and making something to share. If your idea looks like a good fit, we'll get you the resources to realize your vision.
Discover what you have to share. Discover what it feels like when you share it. Let's make this DEF CON unforgettable.
Call for Music:
The DEF CON 28 preparations are in full swing, and it’s time to put out the call for music! We have a lot of spaces to fill with groovy sounds, and we want your help. DJs, shredders, yodelers - if you have what it takes to move the DEF CON crowd, read the rules, fill out the application and show us what you’ve got.
Call for Soundtrack Entries:
DEF CON has a soundtrack. Not just the one playing in your head as you navigate the venue in search of more things to hack, either. DEF CON has a real-deal soundtrack full of hot tracks donated by super-cool artists like Information Society, BT, MC Frontalot - and maybe YOU.
You know you want to have a track of yours handed out to the DEF CON 28 attendees. Fill out the form and apply - immortality awaits.
Important Announcement regarding DEF CON China 2.0
Posted 1.27.20
In light of global precautions being announced to combat the coronavirus outbreak, we’ve decided to postpone DEF CON China 2.0. We regret inconveniencing any of you. Know that we are committed to holding the event once it’s safe to do so.
If you want a refund on purchased tickets, please submit a refund request to your ticket broker. If you'd rather that we hold your reservation for our new dates, you don't have to do anything and we'll keep your tickets on file.
The situation is still developing. We’re working to find alternative dates for DEF CON China 2.0. Keep in touch with us on social media and defcon.org. We’ll share our plans as soon as we’re able.
Our hearts go out to our many friends in the affected regions. We encourage everyone to stay safe, and we look forward to reuniting when this is behind us.
Get your Open Source Project out there with DEF CON Demo Labs!
In Demo Labs we give you some time and space to share your open source project with the DEF CON audience. It's a great way to get feedback on your work, find collaborators and get your idea into the hands of the right audience. You can find out the details here:
Villages are a signature part of the DEF CON experience. All-day, hands-on hacker spaces where you can learn something new, level up your skills and interact with friendly experts and fellow enthusiasts. We're always looking for new village ideas - if you've got one for #defconchina2, we want to hear from you! The best way to get involved in the DEF CON experience is to roll up your sleeves and start sharing what you know. Read about the Village requirements here:
Scavenger Hunt. Wireless CTF. HackFortress. Do you have a fun contest idea that can measure up to some of DEF CON's legendary contests? We want to hear about it. If the idea is promising, we'll pitch in to help you make it happen at DEF CON China 2. Let's do it, people. This is how the legends are made.
The concept is simple, but for us it drives everything.
Learning how something works, how it doesn't, or how you can make it do something amazing and off-label for the very first time.
Meeting people who know what you're talking about, or people who know that one thing you're trying to learn.
The skill you never expected to develop, the contest a near-stranger talked you into, the group of friends you didn't know you'd meet.
All the best and most exciting parts of DEF CON are the moments of discovery. So that's our theme.
To translate that feeling into the physical space of DEF CON 2020, we offer these bits of inspiration.
The color palette is derived from internet publications of the early 1990s. It was the breakthrough moment of The Web. As people raced to define the new frontier, magazines like Mondo2000 and Wired tried to convey the excitement with loud colors and edgy layouts.
The style we took from 90s 'zine culture - an amazing, boundlessly creative and wildly unprofessional DIY movement that, just like the internet, invited everyone to stop consuming culture and start creating and sharing it. Ideas over production value, attitude over polish, getting your ideas out over getting them perfect.
We hope you'll take that anarchic DIY spirit with you when you're working on whatever you're bringing to DEF CON. We can't wait to discover what you create.
DEF CON China 2.0 tickets are on sale now! We're returning to 751 D Park in Beijing April 17-19. We will be bringing our famous mix of world-class speakers, hands on learning and exciting contests and entertainment. We'd love to see you there!
Tickets are priced as follows:
Student Rate (with valid undergraduate or lower student ID) $US82 / ¥488 Early Bird Rate (purchased by 29 February) $US115 / ¥688 Regular Rate (1 March Through April 15) $US180 / ¥1088
There are several ways to get your tickets:
Cash at the door - DEF CON accepts local currency at the venue - the price is ¥1088 (regular rate).
For everyone who wants to purchase tickets prior to the event, we can offer several payment options through 4Hou's billing portal.
Pay Pal - guests with a PayPal account can use it to make a payment in US dollars:
Invoices - business entities wishing to pay via invoice or seeking a bulk ticket discount can contact 4hou directly by calling the Helpline at +8610-64780062 or email shankala@4hou.com.
Another reminder: DEF CON China 2.0 has an open CFP! We’re looking for presenters with exciting ideas to share in Beijing April 17-19 2020. If that’s you, get cracking! The sooner we hear from you the better your chances. Check out the submission information on the DEF CON website and get at us. Act now - CFP Reviewers are standing by!
More videos from the DEF CON 27 Villages - Red Team and Blue Team Villages this time! Keep the Force in balance by watching all of them! As always, enjoy and share widely.
More DEF CON China 2 news - the Call For Papers is officially open! If you’ve got something amazing to present in Beijing this April, we’re ready to hear from you. You’ve got until February 3, 2020 to get your proposal in to us, but sooner is better.
If you’ve got a presentation that’s worthy but needs some attention to make it across the finish line, our amazing CFP Review Board can help. Time permitting, of course. Drop it on us five minutes before the deadline and this kind of personal attention becomes ... unlikely, so don’t let procrastination hijack your opportunity.
For speakers coming from outside of China, we provide hotel accommodations and we can offer up to $US900 toward airfare. You can learn all the details your heart desires at the DEF CON China 2.0 CFP Page. We look forward to seeing what you’re working on.
DEF CON 27 Village talks keep coming - This time it's 19 talks from the Packet Hacking Village (@wallofsheep) for all of the packet ninjas out there. Enjoy, and spread the word!
The presentations from DEF CON 27's many Villages are coming online! First out of the chute is Wireless Village. We've got 15 talks, ranging from a deep dive into WiFi 6 to reverse engineering a wireless model railroad. If wireless is your jam, get into a cozy spot and treat yourself. As always, share with those you think could benefit. More villages on the way.
Some more good news for your weekend - DEF CON CHINA 2 has official dates! We'll be back in Beijing's 751 D Park Art District April 16-19, 2020! We'll be bringing new talks and more hands-on Village experiences, and we hope we'll see you there. This will be our third event in China, and we've got big plans to make it the best yet.
If you're interested in participating at DC China 2, make sure to keep an eye on our website and social media. We'll be announcing the Calls for Content soon and we can't wait to see what you've got to share.
As part of our ongoing Hackucation As A Service (HaaS) initiative, we're rolling out hundreds of hours of compelling content from DEF CON 27 on our YouTube channel. Today's installment - all the presentations from the DEF CON 27 main tracks. The Village videos will follow over the next week or so. Enjoy responsibly* and please pass on the info to all those you think might benefit. Sharing is caring.
Many thanks to all of the presenters who shared their knowledge with us at DEF CON 27, and all of the attendees who power DEF CON's efforts to hackucate the world. We can't wait to join you again at DEF CON 28.
*Binging best practices include choosing a comfortable spot with access to power and bandwidth, frequent stretching and crucially, hydration. Headphones are optional but recommended in cases where you might be observed by fellow commuters or supervisors.
It is that time of year again—we finally recovered from DEF CON (yes it takes months), and we analyzed all the data, crunched all the numbers, and produced yet another report for your reading enjoyment. Read on...
Voting Village organizer Harri Hursti and Rachel Tobac’s viral video from the DEF CON Voting Village both made it into John Oliver’s discussion of Election Security!
The live music from DEF CON 27 is up on the DEF CON Media Server! AAC, FLAC, Opus - name your flavor. Your ears deserve a little love this weekend - fire up your internet guzzlers and treat 'em right!
The DEF CON Forums upgrades continue - we’ve got version 2.1.1 of the Android and iOS forum apps live in their respective stores - ready to meet all of your posting needs.
This is the third year we've hosted the Voting Village, and this year we were able to give attendees access to over 100 machines, all of which are currently certified for use in at least one US jurisdiction. The units tested included direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines, electronic poll books, Ballot Marking Devices (BMDs), Optical scanners and Hybrid systems.
The hackers at DEF CON once again compromised every single machine over the 2.5 day event, many of them with trivial attacks that require no sophistication or special knowledge on the part of the attacker. In too many cases physical ports remain unprotected, passwords remain unset or left in default configurations and security features of the underlying commercial hardware are left unused or even disabled.
In addition to showing the security weaknesses found in the wide variety of election tech on display, the Voting Village team's report shares its strong recommendations for improving election security, most notably the urgent need for paper ballots and rigorous post-election audits.
For any of those recommendations to become real, voters need to get informed and get the attention of their elected representatives about these issues.
The DEF CON 27 Voting Village Report is going to be released tomorrow! Congresspeople Rep. Jackie Speier and Senator Ron Wyden will be on hand for the discussion of all the new things we learned about election security this summer.
The event will be held in Washington DC at the US Capitol Visitor Center - Congressional Auditorium and Atrium at 2pm on September 26.
Of course, we'll be sharing the report when it's available as well, so stay tuned.
“The hackers, security researchers, government organizations, and private airlines involved in the aviation-hacking exhibition of the world’s largest hacking confab, held here in August, all say the chances of your next commercial flight getting hacked are extremely small. But the scenario is also the inspiration for DEF CON’s “Aviation Village”: They want to keep it that way.”
Some more early release video from DEF CON 27 to brighten your day - please enjoy the Cult of the Dead Cow panel. If you are familiar with cDc, you know why this is so cool. If you are unfamiliar, it's time to get familiar.
Soak in some True School vibes, learn some lore and pass it on.
#swagalert! If you’ve been wanting to get your hands on the DEF CON China 1.0 badge and lanyard, we have good news! We have a limited number of them available at our eBay store. Don’t delay - offer good while supplies last.
To kick off your weekend, here's another DEF CON 27 early release video! It's a quick one - Brent Stone shows you a live demo of reverse engineering a bunch of passenger vehicle CAN networks in under 10 minutes.
The DEF CON press archive page is updated, for anyone who wants to get a sampling of how our little desert party was covered in the media this year. We’ll update as new stuff comes in.
Let's ease into the weekend with another early release talk from DEF CON 27. This one is a deep dive into those elevator emergency phones and what kind of phreaking opportunities they provide, courtesy of WillC.
The DEF CON 27 contest winners page is now online for your examination! Congratulations to everyone who got in the ring and competed, and double congrats to everyone who managed to emerge victorious.
Another DEF CON 27 early release video! Please enjoy Patrick Wardle's talk on 'Harnessing Weapons of Mac Destruction' - a fascinating walk through the process of subverting and weaponizing existing Mac malware and highlighting both the challenges and benefits of such an approach.
DEF CON 27 is in the books, but it’s never too early to start planning for DEF CON 28! Well, maybe last week would have been too early. This week, however, is perfect.
The hotel registration link for DEF CON 28 at the Caesars Forum August 6-9, 2020 is open for business. If you want to make sure you get in on that sweet, sweet DEF CON room block action, we’re ready for you.
