DEF CON

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For other uses, see Defcon (disambiguation).

A DEFCON 13 "human" badge

DEF CON (also written as DEFCON or Defcon) is the world's largest annual hacker convention, held every year in Las Vegas, Nevada. The first DEF CON took place in June 1993. Over 6,000 people attended DEF CON 15 in 2007, and over 8,500 people attended DEF CON 16 in 2008.

Many of the attendees at DEF CON include computer security professionals, journalists, lawyers, federal government employees, crackers, and hackers with a general interest in computer code and computer architecture. The event consists of several tracks of speakers about computer- and hacking-related subjects, as well as social events and contests in everything from creating the longest Wi-Fi connection and cracking computer systems to who can most effectively cool a beer in the Nevada heat. Other contests include lockpicking, robotic-related contests, art, slogan, coffee wars, and Capture the Flag. Capture the Flag (CTF) is perhaps the best known of these contests. It is a hacking competition where teams of hackers attempt to attack and defend computers and networks. CTF has been emulated at other hacking conferences as well as in academic and military contexts.

Conference founder, Jeff Moss, contends that the quality of submitted talks has diminished since DEF CON's inception.^[1]

Since DEF CON 11, fundraisers have been conducted for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The first fundraiser was a dunk tank and was an "official" event.

1 Noteworthy incidents
2 List of venues
3 References
4 External links

Noteworthy incidents

Federal law enforcement agents from the FBI, DoD, United States Postal Inspection Service and other agencies regularly attend DEF CON, and are not required to wear identification badges.^[2]

2001

On July 16, 2001, Russian programmer Dmitry Sklyarov was arrested at DEF CON for distributing software to decrypt Adobe's e-book format.

2007

In August 2007, Michelle Madigan, a reporter for Dateline NBC who attempted to secretly record hackers admitting to crimes at the con, was heckled for her use of covert audio and video recording equipment. The DEF CON participants felt she should be required to register as a reporter and wear a press badge at all times.^[3] A DEF CON source at NBC had tipped off organizers to Madigan's plans.^[4]

2008

MIT students Zack Anderson, RJ Ryan and Alessandro Chiesa were to present a session entitled "The Anatomy of a Subway Hack: Breaking Crypto RFIDS and Magstripes of Ticketing Systems". The presentation description included the phrase "Want free subway rides for life?" and promised to focus on the Boston T subway. However, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) sued the students and MIT in United States District Court in Massachusetts on August 8th, claiming that the students violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by delivering information to conference attendees that could be used to defraud the MBTA of transit fares. ^[5]^[6]

The court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the students from disclosing the material for a period of ten days, despite the fact the material has already been disseminated to DefCon attendees at the start of the show.

In this year's contest "Race to Zero", contestants will submit a version of given malware which must be undetectable by all of the antivirus engines in each round. The contest concept has already attracted much negative attention.^[7]^[8]

List of venues

The first DEF CON was held in June 1993 at the Sands Hotel & Casino.
DC2 1994 was held at the Sahara Hotel and Casino.
DC3 1995 was held at the Tropicana Resort & Casino.
DC4 1996 was held at the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino.
DC5 1997 was held at the Aladdin Hotel & Casino.
DC6 1998 was held at the Plaza Hotel & Casino.
DC7 1999 through DC13 2005 were held at the Alexis Park Resort.
DC14 through DC16 (2006 - 2008) were held at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.