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DEF CON (also written as DEFCON, Defcon or DC) is a
hacker convention A computer security conference is a convention for individuals involved in computer security. They generally serve as meeting places for system and network administrators, hackers, and computer security experts. Events Common activities at hacke ...
held annually in
Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
,
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...
. The first DEF CON took place in June 1993 and today many attendees at DEF CON include
computer security Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...
professionals,
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
s, lawyers, federal government employees, security researchers, students, and
hackers A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
with a general interest in
software Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. ...
,
computer architecture In computer engineering, computer architecture is a description of the structure of a computer system made from component parts. It can sometimes be a high-level description that ignores details of the implementation. At a more detailed level, the ...
, hardware modification, conference badges, and anything else that can be "hacked". The event consists of several tracks of speakers about computer- and hacking-related subjects, as well as cyber-security challenges and competitions (known as hacking
wargames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follow ...
). Contests held during the event are extremely varied, and can range from creating the longest
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wav ...
connection to finding the most effective way to cool a beer in the Nevada heat. Other contests, past and present, include
lockpicking Lock picking is the practice of unlocking a lock by manipulating the components of the lock device without the original key. Although lock-picking can be associated with criminal intent, it is an essential skill for the legitimate professi ...
, robotics-related contests, art, slogan, coffee wars,
scavenger hunt ''Scavenger Hunt'' is a 1979 American comedy film with a large ensemble cast which includes Richard Benjamin, James Coco, Scatman Crothers, Ruth Gordon, Cloris Leachman, Cleavon Little, Roddy McDowall, Robert Morley, Richard Mulligan, Tony R ...
and Capture the Flag.
Capture the Flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...
(CTF) is perhaps the best known of these contests and is a hacking competition where teams of hackers attempt to attack and defend computers and networks using software and network structures. CTF has been emulated at other hacking conferences as well as in academic and military contexts (as
red team A red team or team red are a group that plays the role of an enemy or competitor to provide security feedback from that perspective. Red teams are used in many fields, especially in cybersecurity, airport security, law enforcement, the military a ...
exercises). Federal law enforcement agents from the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
, DoD,
United States Postal Inspection Service The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), or the Postal Inspectors, is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. It supports and protects the U.S. Postal Service, its employees, infrastructure, and customers by enf ...
,
DHS The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-ter ...
(via CISA) and other agencies regularly attend DEF CON.


History

DEF CON was founded in 1993, by then 18-year-old
Jeff Moss Jeffrey Arnold "Jeff" Moss (June 19, 1942 – September 24, 1998) was an American composer, lyricist, playwright and television writer, best known for his award-winning work on the children's television series ''Sesame Street''. Early life ...
as a farewell party for his friend, a fellow hacker and member of "Platinum Net", a FidoNet protocol based hacking network from Canada. The party was planned for Las Vegas a few days before his friend was to leave the United States, because his father had accepted employment out of the country. However, his friend's father left early, taking his friend along, so Jeff was left alone with the entire party planned. Jeff decided to invite all his hacker friends to go to Las Vegas with him and have the party with them instead. Hacker friends from far and wide got together and laid the foundation for DEF CON, with roughly 100 people in attendance. The term DEF CON comes from the movie ''
WarGames ''WarGames'' is a 1983 American science fiction techno-thriller film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film, which stars Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, John Wood, and Ally Sheedy, follow ...
'', referencing the U.S. Armed Forces defense readiness condition (DEFCON). In the movie, Las Vegas was selected as a nuclear target, and since the event was being hosted in Las Vegas, it occurred to Jeff Moss to name the convention DEF CON. However, to a lesser extent, CON also stands for convention and DEF is taken from the letters on the number 3 on a
telephone keypad A telephone keypad is a keypad installed on a push-button telephone or similar telecommunication device for dialing a telephone number. It was standardized when the dual-tone multi-frequency signaling (DTMF) system was developed in the Bell Syst ...
, a reference to phreakers. Any variation of the spelling, other than "DEF CON", could be considered an infringement of the DEF CON brand. The official name of the conference includes a space in-between DEF and CON. Though intended to be a one-time event, Moss received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees, and decided to host the event for a second year at their urging. The event's attendance nearly doubled the second year, and has enjoyed continued success. In 2019, an estimated 30,000 people attended DEF CON 27. For DEF CON's 20th Anniversary, a film was commissioned entitled ''DEFCON: The Documentary''. The film follows the four days of the conference, events and people (attendees and staff), and covers history and philosophy behind DEF CON's success and unique experiences. In January 2018, the DEF CON China Beta event was announced. The conference was held May 11–13, 2018 in Beijing, and marked DEF CON's first conference outside the United States. The second annual DEF CON China was canceled due to concerns related to
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
. In 2020, due to safety concerns over
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
the DEF CON 28 in-person Las Vegas event was cancelled and replaced with DEF CON Safe Mode, a virtual event planned for the same August 6–9 dates as DC 28. In 2021, DEF CON 29 was held on August 5-8 in-person in Las Vegas and virtually (via Twitch and Discord). In-person attendees were required wear masks in conference areas and to show proof to COVID-19 vaccination. Attendees with verified vaccine records (verified by a 3rd party) were given a wristband which was required for entry into the conference areas.


Black Badge

The Black Badge is the highest award DEF CON gives to contest winners of certain events.
Capture the flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...
(CTF) winners sometimes earn these, as well as Hacker Jeopardy winners. The contests that are awarded Black Badges vary from year to year, and a Black Badge allows free entrance to DEF CON for life, potentially a value of thousands of dollars. In April 2017, a DEF CON Black Badge was featured in an exhibit in the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
's National Museum of American History entitled "Innovations in Defense: Artificial Intelligence and the Challenge of Cybersecurity". The badge belongs to ForAllSecure's Mayhem Cyber Reasoning System, the winner of the
DARPA The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Ad ...
2016 Cyber Grand Challenge at DEF CON 24 and the first non-human entity ever to earn a Black Badge.


Fundraising

Since DEF CON 11, fundraisers have been conducted for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The first fundraiser was a
dunk tank A dunk tank, also known as a dunking booth or dunking machine, is a common feature at Canadian and American fairs, fundraisers, and celebrations. It consists of a huge water tank with a volunteer sitting on a collapsible bench above. When the ...
and was an "official" event. The EFF now has an event named "The Summit" hosted by the Vegas 2.0 crew that is an open event and fundraiser. DEF CON 18 (2010) hosted a new fundraiser called MohawkCon.


Trivia


Badges

A notable part of DEF CON is the conference badge, which identifies attendees and ensures attendees can access conference events and activities. The DEF CON badge has historically been notable because of its changing nature, sometimes being an electronic badge (PCB), with LEDs, or sometimes being a non-electronic badge such as a vinyl record. Conference badges often contain challenges or callbacks to hacker or other technology history, such as the usage of the
Konami Code The Konami Code ( ja, コナミコマンド, ''Konami Komando'', "Konami command"), also commonly referred to as the Contra Code and sometimes the 30 Lives code, is a cheat code that appears in many Konami video games, as well as some non-Konam ...
in the DEF CON 24 badge, or the DEF CON 25 badge reverting to the look of the DEF CON 1 badge. DEFCON Badges do not (generally) identify attendees by name; however, the badges are used to differentiate attendees from others. One way of doing this has been to have different badges, a general conference attendee (HUMAN) badge, a Staff member (GOON), Vendor, Speaker, Press, and other badges. In addition, individuals and organizations have begun creating their own badges in what has become known as badgelife. These badges may be purchased in many cases, or earned at the conference by completing challenges or events. Some badges may give the holder access to after hours events at the conference. In 2018, the evolution of this came with what was termed "shitty addon's" or SAOs. These were miniature (usually) PCBs that connected to the official and other badges that may extend functionality or were just collected.


Workshops

Workshops are dedicated classes on various topics related to information security and related topics. Historical workshops have been held on topics such as Digital Forensics investigation, hacking IoT devices, playing with RFID, fuzzing and attacking smart devices.


Villages

Villages are dedicated spaces arranged around a specific topic. Villages may be considered mini conferences within the con, with many holding their own independent talks as well as hands-on activities such as CTFs, or labs. Some villages include Aerospace Village, Car Hacking Village, IoT Village, Recon, Biohacking, lockpicking,
ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communica ...
, and the well known Social Engineering and vote hacking villages. In 2018 the vote hacking village gained media attention due to concerns about US election systems security vulnerabilities.


Use of handles

Attendees at DEF CON and other Hacker conferences often utilize an alias or "handle" at conferences. This is in keeping with the hacker community's desire for anonymity. Some known handles include DEF CON founder Jeff Moss's handle of "Dark Tangent". A notable event at DEF CON is DEF CON 101 which starts off the con and may offer the opportunity for an individual to come up on stage and be assigned a handle by a number of members of the community.


Cons within DEF CON

DEF CON has its own cultural underground which results in individuals wanting to create their own meetups or "cons" within DEF CON. These may be actual formal meetups or may be informal. Well known cons are: * Queercon (meetup of LGBTQ community) * Linecon (any long line has the potential to turn into a con) * QuietCon (a meetup to hang out or talk quietly away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the con) * Skytalks


DEF CON Groups

DEF CON Groups are worldwide, local chapters of hackers, thinkers, makers and others. DEF CON Groups were started as a splinter off of the 2600 meetup groups because of concerns over politicization. Local DEF CON groups are formed and are posted online. DEF CON Groups are usually identified by the area code of the area where they are located in the US, and by other numbers when outside of the US. Examples include DC801 and DC201. DEF CON Groups may seek permission to make a logo that includes the official DEF CON logo with approval.


Relationship to other hacker cons

DEF CON is considered the "world's largest" hacker con. It is also considered one of the core conferences, with organizers and attendees using it as a model for other conferences.


Notable incidents

High-profile issues which have garnered significant media attention.


Entertainment references

* DEF CON was also portrayed in ''
The X-Files ''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
'' episode " Three of a Kind" featuring an appearance by
The Lone Gunmen The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who appeared in recurring roles on the American television series ''The X-Files'', and who starred in the short-lived spin-of ...
. DEF CON was portrayed as a United States government–sponsored convention instead of a civilian convention. * A semi-fictionalized account of DEF CON 2, "Cyber Christ Meets Lady Luck", written by
Winn Schwartau Winn Schwartau (born July 1, 1952) is computer security analyst who focuses on internet security, internet privacy, infowar, cyber-terrorism and related topics. Schwartau coined the term "Electronic Pearl Harbor" while testifying before Congres ...
, demonstrates some of the early DEF CON culture. *A trip to DEF CON for a hacker showdown figures into the plot of '' The Signal''. Director
William Eubank William Eubank (born November 15, 1982) is an American film director, screenwriter, and cinematographer. On his first feature film, ''Love'', released in 2011, in addition to directorial and director of photography duties, Eubank also served as ...
came to Las Vegas and screened the film at DEF CON Movie Night. * A fictionalized version of DEF CON called "EXOCON" is the setting for the climax of ''
Jason Bourne Jason Bourne () is the title character and the protagonist in a series of novels and subsequent film adaptations. The character was created by novelist Robert Ludlum. He first appeared in the novel '' The Bourne Identity'' (1980), which was ...
'', the fifth film of the ''Bourne'' film series. The primary antagonist of the film, a fictionalized
CIA director The director of the Central Intelligence Agency (D/CIA) is a statutory office () that functions as the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, which in turn is a part of the United States Intelligence Community. Beginning February 2017, the D ...
(played by
Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...
), is a keynote speaker at the event, mimicking DEF CON 20's controversial keynote speaker,
NSA director The director of the National Security Agency (DIRNSA) is the highest-ranking official of the National Security Agency, which is a defense agency within the U.S. Department of Defense. The director of the NSA also concurrently serves as the Chief ...
Keith B. Alexander Keith Brian Alexander (born December 2, 1951) is a retired four-star general of the United States Army, who served as director of the National Security Agency, chief of the Central Security Service, and commander of the United States Cyber Comma ...
. * In the ''
Mr. Robot ''Mr. Robot'' is an American drama thriller television series created by Sam Esmail for USA Network. It stars Rami Malek as Elliot Alderson, a cybersecurity engineer and hacker with social anxiety disorder, clinical depression and dissociati ...
'' Season 3 opener " eps3.0_power-saver-mode.h" Elliot and Darlene visit a qualifying tournament for the DEF CON Capture the Flag (CTF) contest. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice DEF CON's smiley-face-and-crossbones mascot Jack among the set decorations. * Documentarian
Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...
included DEF CON in his 2016 film ''
Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World ''Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World'' is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Werner Herzog. In it, Herzog ponders the existential impact of the Internet, robotics, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and more on h ...
'', a film described as a "playful yet chilling examination of our rapidly interconnecting online lives".


Venues, dates, and attendance

Each conference venue and date has been extracted from the DC archives for easy reference.


See also

*
Black Hat Briefings Black Hat Briefings (commonly referred to as Black Hat) is a computer security conference that provides security consulting, training, and briefings to hackers, corporations, and government agencies around the world. Black Hat brings together ...
*
Chaos Communication Congress The Chaos Communication Congress is an annual conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues related to security, cryptography, privacy and online ...
(C3) *
Electronic voting Electronic voting (also known as e-voting) is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or take care of casting and counting ballots. Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone ''electronic voting machines'' ( ...
*
Hack-Tic ''Hack-Tic'' was a Dutch hacker magazine published between 1989 and 1994. Throughout its existence, ''Hack-Tic'' had a cult following and upset the authorities beyond the Dutch borders. History In 1988, a small delegation from the Chaos Comput ...
, a quadrennial European convention *
Hackers on Planet Earth The Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference series is a hacker convention sponsored by the security hacker magazine ''2600: The Hacker Quarterly'' that until 2020 was typically held at Hotel Pennsylvania, in Manhattan, New York City. Occur ...
(HOPE) *
Security BSides Security BSides (commonly referred to as BSides) is a series of loosely affiliated information security conferences. It was co-founded by Mike Dahn, Jack Daniel, and Chris Nickerson in 2009. Due to an overwhelming number of presentation submissi ...
. A community supported conference with locations across the globe * Summercon. The first American hacker conference, organized by members of
Phrack ''Phrack'' is an e-zine written by and for hackers, first published November 17, 1985. Described by Fyodor as "the best, and by far the longest running hacker zine," the magazine is open for contributions by anyone who desires to publish remarkab ...
* ToorCon, a yearly hacker conference held in San Diego, California since 1999


References


Further reading

*
DefCon's Moss: Undercover Reporter Damages 'Neutral Zone'
" ''
Information Week ''InformationWeek'' is a digital magazine which conducts corresponding face-to-face events, virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California and was first published in 1985 by CMP Media, later called Informa. The p ...
''. August 6, 2007. * Mills, Elinor.
NSA director finally greets Defcon hackers
" '' CNET''. July 27, 2012. * Newman, Lily Hay
To Fix Voting Machines, Hackers Tear Them Apart
WIRED ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
August 1, 2017


External links

DEF CON * {{official website, https://www.defcon.org
Official FAQ

DEF CON Groups

DEF CON v3 Tor .onion addresses
Multimedia
DEF CON: The Documentary

DEF CON: The Documentary
on
IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

A first ever look inside the DEF CON NOC (2008)

The Story of DEF CON – video interview with Jeff Moss, a.k.a. Dark Tangent, the founder of DEF CON


Las Vegas Valley conventions and trade shows Annual events in Nevada Hacker conventions Recurring events established in 1993 1993 establishments in Nevada