Decoder Ring (Glossary)
3-2-1 Rule – Rule for the minimum required daily activities during the span of the DEF CON conference: 3 hours of sleep, 2 meals, 1 shower. The 0 for “zero stickers applied to venue” is silent.
6-3-2 – It’s like 3-2-1, except more. Recommended by some hackers and nearly all conference organizers.
A&E – Arts & Entertainment, the DEF CON department in charge of overseeing arts, music, and all other forms of entertainment.
AEV – Aerospace Village
AIV – A. I. Village
AP – The Alexis Park hotel, where DEF CON was held in the early days.
ASV – AppSec Village
BH – See “BlackHat”, below.
BHV – Biohacking Village
BICV – Blacks In Cybersecurity Village
Black Badge – The Black Badge is the highest award DEF CON gives to contest winners of certain events. A Black Badge allows free entrance to DEF CON for life. There has never been a raffle to give away a black badge, and there never will be.
BlackHat – BlackHat is a conference unrelated to DEF CON, that happens in Las Vegas shortly before DEF CON. The Dark Tangent founded both DEF CON and BlackHat.
Blue Team – A blue team is a group of defenders who work to improve an organization’s security by identifying security threats and risks, analyzing the network environment, and responding to incidents when they occur.
BSides – Unrelated to DEF CON, SecurityBSides conferences are conferences or gatherings of individuals in a local area.
BSidesLV – BSides Las Vegas is an unrelated conference that happens in Las Vegas shortly before DEF CON.
BTV – Blue Team Village — a community built for and by defenders
C&E – The DEF CON department the oversees contests (and sometimes events).
Chatham House Rule – When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed. Wikipedia
CHV – Car Hacking Village
COC – Code of Conduct. All activities happening within the DEF CON conference boundary are required to strictly follow the DEF CON Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct is available in HackerTracker, in the printed program, and info.defcon.org.
Ham – “Ham” is a common term for amateur radio operator. See also Ham Radio Village.
HDA – “Hackers with Disabilities” — the DEF CON team that works to ensure that the DEF CON experience is the best it can be for the ADA/accessible community.
HHV – Hardware Hacking Village, which also operates Soldering Skills Village
HR – Human Registration
HRV – Ham Radio Village
Human – General attendees of the DEF CON conference.
ICSV – Industrial Control Systems Village — dedicated to securing ICS/SCADA systems.
Inhuman – All DEF CON goers who are not “human”. (Goons, village staff, speakers, contractors, etc.)
IOTV – Internet of Things Village — The IoT Village advocates for advancing security in the Internet of Things (IoT) industry by bringing researchers and industry together.
Linecon – Originally referred to the line for [human] badges to enter the con. Has since grown to encompass any line at DEF CON: any long line has the potential to turn into a con.
LPV – Lock Pick Village — a dedicated space at DEF CON that’s arranged around the topic of lock picking, lock bypass, and physical security topics.
Merch – The DEF CON Merch department sells DEF CON branded apparel and other merchandise. (The most popular items tend to sell-out relatively quickly, and there’s often a linecon for merch.)
NFO – The DEF CON department that provides information, assistance, and navigational guidance to DEF CON hackers. May also refer to an old-school text file commonly associated with hacker culture. “NFO” is pronounced “info”.
NFO Node – Formerly known as an “infobooth”, these are the locations where NFO goons can most often be found.
Pac-Man Rule – Letting someone (typically unknown to you) join you or your group’s conversation. Read more about it here.
PAYV – Payment Village
PHV – Packet Hacking Village
PM&E — The DEF CON department that oversees Parties, Meetups, and Events.
POL – Policy@DEFCON Village
PSV – Physical Security Village
Purple Team – Purple teaming is a security methodology that brings together offensive security professionals (red teams) and defensive security professionals (blue teams) to enhance cyber capabilities through continuous feedback and knowledge transfer.
QM – QuarterMaster, the DEF CON department that oversees supplies and physical logistics.
QV – Quantum Village
Red Team – A red team is a group of security professionals who act as hackers to test an organization’s defenses.
REG – Registration, the DEF CON department that oversees badge issuance.
REV – Recon Village
RFV – Radio Frequency Village
RTV – Red Team Village
Scav / scav hunt – The scavenger hunt — a long-running event at DEF CON.
SE – Social Engineering — a tactic that uses psychological manipulation to trick people into making security mistakes or giving away sensitive information.
SECV, SEV – SE Community Village is a village dedicated to the techniques and principles of Social Engineering
SOC – The SOC is the Department of Fun Enforcement. If you have a safety or security concern, please seek out a SOC Goon.
SPKR – The DEF CON department that ensures Speakers are prepared to be in the right place at the right time to give their talk.
SSV – Soldering Skills Village, which is a function of Hardware Hacking Village
SWAG – See Merch.
TDI – The Diana Initiative, an unrelated conference that happens in Las Vegas shortly before DEF CON.
TEV – Tamper Evident Village
TLV – Telecom Village
Uber Badge – See Black Badge
Vendor – An organization selling physical merchandise at DEF CON. All vendors are in the same physical space, and a list of vendors is available in HackerTracker. See also Exhibitor.
VILL – The DEF CON department that works to ensure Villages are as successful as possible.
Village – Villages are autonomous organizations, often non-profit, that gather at DEF CON for a shared hacking experience. Each village has a focus on some distinct aspect of hacking or cybersecurity. Villages create and execute on their own programming, which often includes hands-on activities (like workshops, or physical construction/deconstruction), talks, panel discussions, group conversations, or parties.
Vortex / the Vortex – When one is caught up in hallway conversations on the way from one DEF CON activity to another, it’s referred to as being caught up in the Vortex.
VV, VMV, VMHV – Voting Village
WISP – Women in Security and Privacy
XRV – XR Village
XZBT – The DEF CON department that oversees Exhibitors.