The ONE!

One Schedule to Rule them All!

Welcome to the "One Schedule to Rule them All!". Thank you for your interest by using this. This is an attempt to make things easier for you, the DEF CON attendee, to figure out the when/what/where during the chaos of DEF CON 29.

It started out simple. I had a Kindle and wanted an ebook of the schedule so I didn't have to wear out the paper pamphlet by pulling it out after every talk to figure out where to go next. Back then there was only the main DEF CON tracks, not really any Villages, and production of the ebooks were easy. Over time the Village system developed with a resulting multiplication in complexity, both for attendees and for my production. The offerings no longer include epub and mobi formats and instead now include html, csv, PDF, ical, public Google calendar, and mysql dump format files. Hopefully you'll find something of use.

The intent is still to be a resource to answer the question at the end of an hour of "What's next?"

• Off-site events
• Blatent vender pitch events
• Nonspecific timed events. Unfortunately this means the contests aren't on the regular schedule.
• DEF CON events are emphasized, so BSides Las Vegas and BlackHat tend to not show up

Be sure to check out the Links section at the bottom of this. Most all of the events listed here were derived from these links and a Infoboot data feed. There is much more going on at DEF CON than what is listed here.

• Bring comfortable shoes, you'll be doing a lot more walking than you expect
• Bring a water bottle to keep hydrated
• Beware of going out doors, there's nothing like LV sun and heat
• Everything in Las Vegas is a longer walk than you think
• Relax, don't try to see everything, you'll never be able to!
• Have FUN!

And finally, this is only as good as the ideas and information used to generate it. I welcome your constructive suggestions and comments. Please send them to qumqats@outel.org

Have a good time at DEF CON 29!

Index of DEF CON 29 Activities

Maps and detailed Village Info

AVV - Adversary Village

The "Adversary Village" is a community torqued combat readiness platform purely focused on Adversary simulation, emulation tactics, Simulation CTFs, Supply chain security attack tactics, Adversary Tactics and urban survival skills.

This is different from any of what has been covered in the existing villages because our focus is on simulation of the actions of a threat actor or an adversary and this being simulated here.

As this domain matures, we anticipate active participation from enterprises as such simulations would help immensely towards internal capacity building from having a "live fire" training opportunity. An increasing number of researchers too are focusing on building tools and techniques for simulation of various adversarial actions against an organization or Supply chain, instead of actual real-world exploitation.The goal of the Adversary Village would be to build an open Security community for the researchers and organizations, who are putting together new means and methodologies towards the simulation/emulation of adversary tactics.

ASV - Aerospace Village

The Aerospace Village at DEF CON will encompass all aspects of the aerospace sector ranging from airports, air traffic management, aircraft and space.

The aviation and space industries, security researchers, and the public share a common goal: safe, reliable, and trustworthy aviation and space operations. For too long, negative perceptions and fractured trust on all sides have held back collaboration between the aviation, space, and security researcher communities that has advanced safety, reliability, and security of other industries. As the traditional domains of aviation safety and cybersecurity increasingly overlap, more effective collaboration between stakeholders ensures we will be safer, sooner, together.

Through the Aerospace Village, the security research community invites industry leaders, researchers and academia interested in aviation and space security, safety, and resilience to attend, understand, collaborate together to achieve our common goals. Empathy and understanding build common ground, while acts and words likely to increase division between these two communities undermine these efforts. The Aerospace Village welcomes those who seek to improve aviation and space security, safety, and resilience through positive, productive collaboration among all ecosystem stakeholders.

Our Goal
The Aerospace Village is a volunteer team of hackers, pilots, and policy advisors who come from the public and private sectors. We believe the flying public deserves safe, reliable, and trustworthy air travel which is highly dependent on secure aviation and space operations.

Our Mission
Create, sustain, and grow an inclusive community focused on aerospace cybersecurity;

Inspire the next generation of aerospace cybersecurity leaders; Promote and develop aerospace cybersecurity expertise and knowledge.

The Aviation Village will do this by:
- Building connections, trust, and understanding among all Village participants. - Developing aerospace security skills among DEF CON attendees through workshops and hands-on activities. - Promoting constructive dialog through talks and interaction.?

AIV - AI Village

Artificial Learning techniques are becoming more prevalent in core security technologies like malware detection and network traffic analysis. Its use has opened up new vectors for attacks against non-traditional targets, such as deep learning based image recognition systems used in self driving cars. There are unique challenges in defending and attacking these machine learning systems that the security community needs to be made aware of. This AI Village will introduce DEF CON attendees to these systems and the state of the art in defending and attacking them. We will provide a setting to educate DEF CON at large through workshops and a platform for researchers in this area to share the latest research.

Our main focus is on expanding the hands-on activities that attendees can participate in. This year, attendees will create a realistic face using StyleGAN, learn how to generate text, and attack a discriminatory resume screening program. We'll also have talks via CFP, and workshops: both introductory ML for beginners and intermediate/advanced on Facial Recognition/Adversarial ML. We are planning three contests inside the village: one as a standard CTF, another on evading a malware classifier (Ember), and a final realtime panel of Deepfaked DarkTangent's answering personal questions and giving opinions on life, the universe, and everything!

APV - AppSec Village

The first two AppSec Villages were a resounding success. We learned that whether in person or online, our AppSec community is fantastic. We are pumped to be back bigger and better.

Come immerse yourself in everything the world of application security has to offer. Whether you are a red, blue, or purple teamer, come learn from the best of the best to exploit software vulnerabilities and secure software. Software is everywhere, and Application Security vulnerabilities are lurking around every corner, making the software attack surface attractive for abuse. If you are just an AppSec n00b or launch deserialization attacks for fun and profit, you will find something to tickle your interest at the AppSec Village.

Software runs the world. Everything from IoT, medical devices, the power grid, smart cars, voting apps - all of it has software behind it. Such a variety of topics will be reflected in our cadre of guest speakers representing all backgrounds and walks of life.

AppSec Village welcomes all travelers to choose from talks by expert community members, an all AppSec-focused CTF, contests that challenge your mind and your skillz, and more. Bring your thirst for knowledge and passion for breaking things, and your visit to AppSec Village will be a thrill!

Like in the previous villages (but better this time), we will focus our efforts on hands-on activities and practical learning activities. We are planning workshops, interactive demos, step-by-step guided walkthroughs, CTF for AppSec beginners, and a �reversed CTF� for level builders.

BCV - Blockchain Village

Blockchain Village is a 'Not for Profit' event organized as a part of Information Security conferences like DEF CON. Primary focus of Blockchain village is to promote, research, development & knowledge sharing around security of blockchain technology and applications of blockchain in the field of information security.

The village organizes hands-on workshops, contests, discussions and talks by & for the community members. The event, its members and supporters form across the world love to share the best research & latest content with our awesome community.

This year at Blockchain Village we bring back Capture-The-Coin contest running in parallel with more hands on workshops (Mathematical and Practical) along with cutting edge Talks-n-Tools, noteworthy Demos-n-Discussions, all focused on security of Blockchains and Distributed Applications.

Join us at DEF CON 29 as we celebrate the power + potential of Distributed applications, enabled by Blockchain technology.

BICV - Blacks in Cybersecurity

The Blacks In Cybersecurity (BIC) Village seeks to bring culturally diverse perspectives to the holistic Cybersecurity community; by way of a series of talks and a capture the flag event.

In providing these activities, we believe that we can normalize the discussion of deficiency and prejudices in Cybersecurity literacy, education and development that ultimately impact the progress and development of the field.

Our village programming is also designed to highlight Black experiences, innovations in the field, Black culture and Black history which is designed to encourage more diverse hobbyists and professionals to engage and contribute to this conference and the greater Cybersecurity and Hacker/Maker communities.

BHV - Bio Hacking Village

Growing from seeds of demand, the Biohacking Village emerged at DEF CON to deliver action-oriented reinvention of the safety and security of health care. THE BIOHACKING VILLAGE, a 501(c)3 organization, is uniquely poised to inform global conversations in health care cybersecurity research. Representing voices who see �code� as genetics, �subroutines� as organic processes, and �programs� as life itself the BHV has grown to become an expansive and inclusive, hands-on playground for the entire biomedical ecosystem - patients, clinicians, hackers, manufacturers, regulators, hospital administrators, and others seeking healthier futures through meaningful technology. This nimble community delivers hands-on, strident learning labs to influence in health care, industry, and manufacturing.

We bring the biomedical ecosystem to DEF CON in four ways:

Device Lab
A high-collaboration, hands-on learning environment builds trust and trustworthiness across multidisciplinary voices in healthcare, connecting security researchers, manufacturers, hospitals, and regulators in an experiential learning laboratory that encourages cross-pollination and real-world skills development. Device Lab research benefits patients and manufacturers by providing valuable, high-fidelity feedback on established, new, and developing devices.

Speaker Lab
Connection starts with shared experiences. Speakers at BHV have walked the walk - from their adventures in garage science to the emerging threats they uncover to next generation solutions and next level care. Full Stack Biotechnologists, security researchers, regulators, clinicians, citizen scientists, patients, and engineers enlighten and inspire BHV attendees through creative and collaborative discussions around emerging technologies and threats, novel work in biologics, security architectures, and the opportunities inside the interdisciplinary nature of healthcare.

Catalyst Lab
The world�s largest, meatiest problems cross through the BHV and the Catalyst Lab works to convene thought leaders, hacktivists, and manufacturers working in the biomedical industry to investigate the solutions of best fit and provide a series of tabletops for training, hands-on workshops, and solutions design that covers the entirety of the biomedical device and security ecosystem.

Capture The Flag
Hackers work to defend a hospital under siege, racing against the clock. The immersive, �learn by doing� environment challenges hackers to use their skills to anticipate, defend, and recover, as their adversary escalates their attacks throughout the game.

BTV - Blue Team Village

We're still standing for our fourth DEF CON! Coming through the looking glass to showcase the defensive side of hacking, Blue Team Village is where you can find out all the multifarious facets of what it means to be a defender. You'll be able to teach and learn about the various ways to keep people safe - and how to subvert attacker expectations to turn their methods back on them.

You'll also be able to find community and mentor-ship within the defensive hacking paradigm, allowing you to find your path within this specialization to learning new skills and refining your old ones.

If you're looking for a community of like-minded hackers with a tendency towards forensics, threat hunting, and other blue-aligned topics, come celebrate the art of defensive hacking with us!

CHV - Car Hacking Village

Learn, hack, play. The Car Hacking Village is an open, collaborative space to hack actual vehicles that you don't have to worry about breaking! Don't have tools? We'll loan you some. Never connected to a car? We'll show you how. Don't know where the controllers are? We'll show you how to take it apart.

Hybrid event this year: We'll be in-person in Las Vegas and Virtual. Check out CarHackingVillage or @CarHackVillage for up-to-date information.

Want to learn more about automotive hacking and cyber security? Check out our talks.

Want to hack mobility scooters? Yes! We'll do that to.

Also, check out the CHV CTF.

CAHV - Career Hacking Village

This isn�t just getting the next job, it is building, shifting, and presenting skills and capabilities to keep reaching the next level of where you want to go.

In 2020, studies showed that in the hacking community over 45% did not know how to find a job. Post pandemic with unemployment rising, this number has increased to 55%. These studies also show that many hackers do not know the next step in their career. From other studies, hackers have stated that they don�t know the top ways to find a job and worse, how to plan the next step in their career. While we talk about the talent shortages, we are not equipping our community with the knowledge, skills, and expertise to sustain their career search and development.

Career Hacking village provides opportunities to build out your career plan and get through the next steps. We have workshops on plan development, resume refinement, identifying mentors, and practice interviews. We will complement this with one-on-one meetings with recruiters for resume review and career mentors for frank conversations about career search and development. New this year will be adding in Mock Interviews to finetune the virtual interviewing process.

The CAHV brings the opportunity to work with the one aspect of tech careers that won�t run in the cloud - getting past recruiters and building a career that lets people match their passions with opportunities. No two paths are exactly the same.

From presentations that focus on key aspects of career search and career development to discussions with community career advisors these activities will help community members re-examine their overall career goals and tactics.

CLV - Cloud Village

With the industry shifting towards cloud infrastructure at a rapid speed, the presence of an open platform to discuss and showcase cloud research becomes a necessity.

Cloud village is an open platform for researchers interested in the area of cloud security. We plan to organize talks, tool demos, CTF and workshops around Cloud Security and advancements. We will open Call for Papers/Workshops/Tools as soon as we get an approval from DEF CON.

Our CTF will be a jeopardy style 2.5 days contest where participants will have to solve challenges around Cloud infrastructure, security, recon, etc. These challenges will cover different cloud platforms including AWS, GCP, Azure, Digital Ocean, etc. We will also reward our top 3 teams with awards.

CCV - Cryptocurrency Village

Cryptocurrency is a digital form of peer-to-peer money that is exchanged on decentralized networks independent of any central authority and is cryptographically secured. Networks operate under a set of programmatic rules, which maintains the immutability of a public ledger and ensures against double-spending. Although Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are the most well-known cryptocurrencies, other projects like Monero seek to address scalability, privacy, and censorship resistance in innovative ways.

The Cryptocurrency Village brings together leading experts in the area to explore substantive issues regarding the current state of blockchain technologies, regulatory landscape, and the general cryptocurrency ecosystem. The village hosts keynote talks, panels, workshops, networking events, and parties.

CPV - Crypto Privacy Village

At the Crypto & Privacy Village (CPV) you can learn how to secure your own systems while also picking up some tips and tricks on how to break classical and modern encryption. The CPV features workshops and talks on a wide range of cryptography and privacy topics from experts. We'll also have an intro to crypto talk for beginners, crypto-related games, the infamous CPV puzzle, a key-signing party, privacy-related art installations, and other great events.

The forum for the Gold Bug Crypto Privacy Contest is located here: https://forum.defcon.org/node/236491

The CPV discusses the interesting intersection of privacy and technology as well as building privacy enhancing technologies. We are able to dig into the nitty gritty details of cryptography and give high level crypo intros for those who might feel intimidated by it. We also discuss and hack on major topics and issues: facial recognition technology, license plate readers, privacy enhancing clothing, crypto backdoor laws.

DDV - Data Duplication Village

It's true, the Data Duplication Village is back for DC 29! We have all the bits and bytes available from infocon.org packed up into nice, neat packages. If you're looking for something to fill up all your unused storage, may I recommend a nice hash table or two with a side of all of the DefCon talks? This is a "free-to-you" service where we're providing you direct access to terabytes of useful data to help build those skills.

HOW IT WORKS
DEF CON will provide a core set of drive duplicators as well as data content options. We accept 6, 8, and 10TB drives on a first come, first served basis and duplicate 'till we can no longer see straight. Bring in your blank SATA3 drives - check them in early - to get the data you want. Come back in about 24 hours to pick up your data-packed drive. Space allowing, we'll accept drives all the way through until Saturday morning - but remember, it's FIFO! It will be a first come, first served to duplicate 'till we drop. Bring labeled 6TB SATA blank drives, and submit them in the queue for the data you want. Come back in 14-24 hours to pick up your data-packed drive. Space allowing, the last drop-offs will be no later than Saturday afternoon and the last drives will run overnight with the final pickup time at 11:30am.

WHAT IS AVAILABLE - Three drives:
6TB drive 1-3: Updated archive of infocon.org plus other "direct from DT" content, built on last years collection and always adding more for your data consuming appetite. 6TB drive 2-3: freerainbowtables.com GSM A51 and MD5 hash tables (Tables 1-2) with about 404 gigs free 6TB drive 3-3: more rainbowtables, lanman, mysqlsha1, ntlm, and some word lists (Tables 2-2) with about 136 gigs free

The DC 29 content will be posted at dcddv.org once finalized

WHAT YOU NEED

• 6TB SATA3 512e format 7200rpm drive - one for each source you want

If you want a full copy of everything you will need three drives. You can bring back last year's drive(s) to be wiped / updated (you should remove any 2018 stickers).

WHEN TO BE THERE
Data Duplication Village Hours:

• Thursday, August 5 16:00 - 19:00 (drop off only)
• Friday, August 6 10:00 - 17:00
• Saturday, August 7 10:00 - 17:00
• Sunday, August 8 10:00 - 11:00 (last chance pickup only)
• Space permitting, last drop off is Saturday at 3:00pm.
• Last chance pickup is Sunday from 10:00 to 11:00.

We're working on a method to post completed ticket ranges to https://dcddv.org and https://twitter.com/DDV_DC

SIDE NOTES
Be aware that we cleared all the Vegas area stores of every single 6TB drive last year we did this so plan ahead and get them now! Duplicating a 6TB (About 5.46 usable) drive at an average of 120 Megabytes a second comes out to just under 14 hours per drive. With all about 16 duplicators going, we can duplicate about 95 drives concurrently. We're expect to push about 11GB per second out to the drives for 72 hours straight. We did 335 drives for DC24 and we're hoping to do even more at DC25! We are expecting more total duplicator capacity than last year!

THAT'S ALL?
But wait - there's more! At DC27, we made our our stretch goal a reality to provide a pick-and-pull datastore in the DDV. We expect to do it bigger and better this year!

HTSV - Hack the Sea Village

Hack The Sea Village 3.0, Deep Dive, will be an opportunity for DEF CON attendees to explore the world of underwater robotics, seasteading communities, and hacking with maritime industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT) through hands-on CTFs, show-and-tells with gear and tools, talks, and hackathon style contests.

With this year's focus on undersea technology, especially robotics and UUV/ROVs we will provide attendees an opportunity to explore the "last frontier" on Earth.

HRV - Ham Radio Village

Ham radio isn�t just what your grandpa does in the shed out back. Radios are an important piece of technology we use everyday, and amateur (�ham�) radio has been at the forefront of its development since day one -- we are some of the original hardware hackers! DIY, exploration, and sharing has always been a vital part of our community and the goal of Ham Radio Village is to nurture this growth into the next generation with all of the amazing people at DEF CON.

Our village will have demos, talks, presentations, contests, and of course, license exams!

So come visit Ham Radio Village to learn more about the hobby, including how antennas work (and how to build your own), how to actually use that software defined radio sitting on the shelf, how to trackdown a rogue transmitter with a handheld radio, and how you can legally transmit 1,500 Watts into the airwaves after taking a simple multiple-choice test!

One of the unique things about ham radio is that it goes deep into the theory and science of radio. This knowledge unlocks a whole new level of understanding about why and how radios work and radio waves propagate. With just about everything containing some sort of radio these days, this information can help us better research, attack, and defend all things that emit RF. For example: Just about anyone can build an antenna with simple hardware; having an understanding of the fundamentals allows you to troubleshoot and tune the performance of that antenna to pick up the exact signals you want while filtering out the rest.

HHV - Hardware Hacking and Soldering Skills Village

Every day our lives become more connected to consumer hardware. Every day the approved uses of that hardware are reduced, while the real capabilities expand.

Come discover hardware hacking tricks and tips regain some of that capacity, and make your own use for things! We have interactive demos to help you learn new skills. We have challenges to compete against fellow attendees. We have some tools to help with your fever dream modifications. Come share what you know and learn something new.

We are two villages in one. We run a large number of tables for soldering when in person, and to allow people to understand that hardware is more than soldering we run the Hardware Hacking Village as embedded / reversing / hardware things other than soldering.

ICSV - IndustrialControlSystems Village

Mission.
ICS Village is a non-profit organization with the purpose of providing education and awareness of Industrial Control System security. � Connecting public, industry, media, policymakers, and others directly with ICS systems and experts. � Providing educational tools and materials to increase understanding among media, policymakers, and the general population. � Providing access to ICS for security researchers to learn and test. � Hands on instruction for industry to defend ICS systems.

Why.
High profile Industrial Controls Systems security issues have grabbed headlines and sparked changes throughout the global supply chain. The ICS Village allows defenders of any experience level to understand these systems and how to better prepare and respond to the changing threat landscape.

Exhibits.
Interactive simulated ICS environments, such as Hack the Plan(e)t and Howdy Neighbor, provide safe yet realistic examples to preserve safe, secure, and reliable operations. We bring real components such as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), Human Machine Interfaces (HMI), Remote Telemetry Units (RTU), actuators, to simulate a realistic environment throughout different industrial sectors. Visitors can connect their laptops to assess these ICS devices with common security scanners, network sniffers to sniff the industrial traffic, and more!

The Village provides workshops, talks, and training classes.

IOTV - InternetOfThings Village

IoT Village advocates for advancing security in the Internet of Things (IoT) industry through bringing researchers and industry together. IoT Village hosts talks by expert security researchers, interactive hacking labs, live bug hunting in the latest IoT tech, and competitive IoT hacking contests. Over the years IoT Village has served as a platform to showcase and uncover hundreds of new vulnerabilities, giving attendees the opportunity to learn about the most innovative techniques to both hack and secure IoT. IoT Village is organized by security consulting and research firm, Independent Security Evaluators (ISE), and the non-profit organization, Village Idiot Labs (VIL).

The IoT RED ALERT Contest forum is located here: https://forum.defcon.org/node/236432

Check out the official IoT Village Store for all your IoT Village swag!

Watch IoT Village In Action to get an idea of our content and our attendees.

LBV - Lock Bypass Village

The Lock Bypass Village explores the world of hardware bypasses and techniques generally outside of the realm of cyber security and lockpicking. Come learn some of these bypasses, how to fix them, and have the opportunity to try them out for yourself.

We�ll be covering the basics, like the under-the-door-tool and latch slipping attacks, as well as an in depth look at more complicated bypasses. Learn about elevator hacking, attacking alarm systems at the sensor and communication line, and cut-away and display models of common hardware to show how it works on the inside.

Looking for a challenge? Show us you can use lock bypass to escape from a pair of standard handcuffs in under 30 seconds and receive a prize!

The lock bypass village is almost 100% hands on and is one of the only villages that has content about physical security. We strive to develop new content on a yearly basis to retain the interest of new and existing participants. This year we will be rebuilding all of our door displays to improve the production value, we will also have new displays that capture elevator security, double doors (with a deadbolt), forceable entry, some content on Access controls/Wiegand/RFID cloning, and other subjects.

LPV - Lock Pick Village

Want to tinker with locks and tools the likes of which you've only seen in movies featuring secret agents, daring heists, or covert entry teams?

Then come on by the Lockpick Village, run by The Open Organization Of Lockpickers, where you will have the opportunity to learn hands-on how the fundamental hardware of physical security operates and how it can be compromised.

The Lockpick Village is a physical security demonstration and participation area. Visitors can learn about the vulnerabilities of various locking devices, techniques used to exploit these vulnerabilities, and practice on locks of various levels of difficultly to try it themselves.

Experts will be on hand to demonstrate and plenty of trial locks, pick tools, and other devices will be available for you to handle. By exploring the faults and flaws in many popular lock designs, you can not only learn about the fun hobby of sport-picking, but also gain a much stronger knowledge about the best methods and practices for protecting your own property.

PHV - Packet Hacking Village

The Packet Hacking Village is where you�ll find network shenanigans and a whole lot more. There�s exciting events, live music, competitions with awesome prizes, and tons of giveaways. PHV welcomes all DEF CON attendees and there is something for every level of security enthusiast from beginners to those seeking a black badge. Wall of Sheep gives attendees a friendly reminder to practice safe computing through strong end-to-end encryption. PHV Speakers, Workshops, and Walkthrough Workshops delivers high quality content for all skill levels. Packet Detective and Packet Inspector offers hands-on exercises to help anyone develop or improve their Packet-Fu. WoSDJCo has some of the hottest DJs at con spinning live for your enjoyment. Finally... Capture The Packet, the ultimate cyber defense competition that has been honored by DEF CON as a black badge event for seven of the eight years of it�s run.

PWV - Password Village

Have you ever been curious about password cracking, but were too embarrassed to admit you don't know anything about it? Have you seen the news about major password data breaches, but failed to see what all the fuss is about? Have you always wanted to implement password auditing at your organization, but you didn't know where to begin? Or do you feel like password cracking could not ever possibly relate to your job function? Does the prospect of discovering a unique intersection between human psychology, mathematics, information security, and high-performance computing arouse you? If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, or if you just really fucking love password cracking, then the first-ever Password Village at DEF CON is right for you!

The Password Village provides training, discussion, and hands-on access to hardware and techniques utilized in modern password cracking, with an emphasis on how password cracking relates to your job function and the real world . No laptop? No problem! Feel free to use one of our terminals to access a pre-configured GPU environment to run password attacks against simulated real-world passwords. Village staff and expert volunteers will be standing by to assist you with on-the-spot training and introductions to Hashcat, as well as other FOSS cracking applications.

Already a password cracking aficionado? Feel free to give a lightning talk, show off your skills, help a n00b learn the basics, or engage in riveting conversation with other password crackers. Regardless of whether you're just a little hash-curious, a veteran cracker still relying on rainbow tables, a novice desiring to learn more, or an expert eager to share, we guarantee there will be something for everyone at the Password Village!

PYV - Payment Village

Payment technologies are an integral part of our lives, yet few of us know much about them. Have you ever wanted to learn how payments work? Do you know how criminals bypass security mechanisms on Point of Sales terminals, ATM�s and digital wallets? Come to the Payment Village and learn about the history of payments. We�ll teach you how hackers gain access to banking endpoints, bypass fraud detection mechanisms, and ultimately, grab the money!

We're covering top notch topics of payment security, which is the intersection of RE, hardware, appsec domains related to money flows. This year we will be glad to provide more hands-on and tasks for participants, and we already have a few requests for talks and interest for our Village.

RCV - Recon Village

Recon Village is an Open Space with Talks, Live Demos, Workshops, Discussions, CTFs, etc. with a common focus on Reconnaissance. The core objective of this village is to spread awareness about the importance of reconnaissance, open-source intelligence (OSINT), and demonstrating how even small information about a target can cause catastrophic damage to individuals and organizations.

Recon Village appeared at DEF CON 25, 26, 27, 28 as well as DEF CON China Beta and 1.0 and we received an overwhelming response from speakers, CTF/HackAThon participants, and attendees.

We strive to make Recon Village even better this time and are expecting more active participation from the attendees. It will be really great if we can get at least the same size space (or bigger) as we got in DEFCON 27.

We will be opening 'Call For Papers and Workshops' on 22nd March 2021.

We will have our Jeopardy Style OSINT CTF Contest throughout the Village timings. Based on the feedback from last year, we plan to make the CTF more challenging this year. The challenges will be around harvesting information about target organizations, their employee's social media profiles, their public svn/gits, password breach dumps, darknet, paste(s), etc. followed by active exploitation, bug hunting, investigation, and pentest scenarios of virtual targets. All the target organizations, employees, servers, etc. will be created by our team and hence will not attract any legal issues.

Similar to the last year, there will be Awesome rewards for CTF winners, along with free t-shirts, stickers, village coins, and other schwag which attendees can grab and show off.

Guess what! our Badge will also be more interesting this time and as usual, it will be free. P.S. We will not be selling our badges.

RFV - RF Village

After 14 years of evolution, from the WiFi Village, to the Wireless Village, RF Hackers Sanctuary presents: The Radio Frequency Village at DEF CON.

The Radio Frequency Village is an environment where people come to learn about the security of radio frequency (RF) transmissions, which includes wireless technology, applications of software defined radio (SDR), Bluetooth (BT), Zigbee, WiFi, Z-wave, RFID, IR and other protocols within the usable RF spectrum. As a security community we have grown beyond WiFi, and even beyond Bluetooth and Zigbee.

The RF Village includes talks on all manner of radio frequency command and control as well as communication systems. While everyone knows about the WiFi and Bluetooth attack surfaces, most of us rely on many additional technologies every day.

RF Hackers Sanctuary is supported by a group of experts in the area of information security as it relates to RF technologies. RF Hackers Sanctuary�s common purpose is to provide an environment in which participants may explore these technologies with a focus on improving their skills through offense and defense. These learning environments are provided in the form of guest speakers, panels, and Radio Frequency Capture the Flag games, to promote learning on cutting edge topics as it relates to radio communications. We promise to still provide free WiFi. https://rfhackers.com/the-crew

Speaker and contest schedule can be found on our website: https://rfhackers.com/calendar

Co-located with the RF Village is the RF Capture the Flag. Come for the talks, stay for the practice and the competition.

RGV - Rogues Village

Rogues Village is a place to explore alternative approaches and uses for security concepts, tools, and techniques by looking to non-traditional areas of knowledge. Incorporating expertise from the worlds of magic, sleight of hand, con games, and advantage play, this village has a special emphasis on the overlap between Social Engineering, Physical Security, and Playful Mischief.

Because we specialize in non-traditional approaches, Rogues Village can be an excellent entry point for people with a less established background in the security space. By introducing and engaging with existing topics in innovative, relatable, and frequently hands-on ways, they can become easier for people to approach and pick up for the first time.

Additionally, we are one of the few villages with a view that explicitly extends beyond the security space, meaning our perspective will necessarily include influences, ideas, and inspirations that are unique to Rogues Village.

SLV - Security Leaders Village

Security Leaders Village

Many of us who started out learning how technology worked through the security community now have leadership roles. There are many of us who don't wear the title of suit well, however we're in these positions. There are also quite a few of us who aspire to these roles and responsibilities, and don't know where to go. The goals of this village are to provide better support to security leaders who did not take the traditional career path, and to assist those currently on their path to achieve more.

We have not paid attention to how the hacker community has developed a significant amount of leaders. They are responsible for the safety and security of much of our critical infrastructure, including finance, healthcare, energy, and transportation. This village recognizes and realizes that, and gives these leaders the tools they need to further succeed. It's also there to develop a new generation.

SEV - Social Engineering Village

Virtual SEV will be the one stop shop for all your SE needs during DEF CON. We will have a Social Engineering Capture for the Flag for Teens, we are planning another SECTF4Kids and we are working on a brand new competition for virtual SEV for all the rest of us. We plan on having a few speeches and Q&A sessions all about social engineering. Come and hang out with us, virtually of course.

VMV - Voting Machine Village

Looking forward to #DEFCON29 Aug. 5-8, 2021! Voting Village explores voting machines, systems, and databases and works to promote a more secure democracy.

SOC - Social Activities: Parties/Meetups

MUS - Music

Music Link All the Things:

https://www.twitch.tv/defcon_music
https://www.twitch.tv/defcon_chill
http://www.defconmusic.org/

WS - DEF CON Workshops

DL - DEF CON DemoLabs

DC - DEF CON Talks

CON - Contests

QCV - Queercon

MISC - Misc

Speaker List

Talk List

DEF CON News

DEF CON 29 Press roundup!

Posted 8.8.21

We're on the last day of DEF CON 29, both in the virtual and physical worlds. There's so much going on it's easy to miss a few things. Here's a brief listing of some of the press coverage of our events this year.

AND!XOR’s DEF CON 29 Electronic Badge Is An Assembly Puzzle
Hackaday

Hands On: DEF CON 29 Badge Embraces The New Normal
Hackaday

Black Hat USA 2021 and DEF CON 29: What to expect from the security events
Tech Republic

Privacy Without Monopoly: DEFCON 29
EFF

We Have Questions for DEF CON's Puzzling Keynote Speaker, DHS Secretary Mayorkas
EFF

Hands-On: Whiskey Pirates DC29 Hardware Badge Blings With RISC-V
Hackaday

#DEFCON: Hacking RFID Attendance Systems with a Time Turner
infosecurity

#DEFCON: Why Social Media Security is Election Security
infosecurity

#DEFCON: A Bad eBook Can Take Over Your Kindle (or Worse)
infosecurity

#DEFCON: Ransomware Moves from Nuisance to Scourge
infosecurity

Black Hat USA 2021 & DefCon 29: Hybride IT-Security-Konferenzen starten in Kürze
Heise.de

The Cybersecurity 202: The year’s biggest cybersecurity conferences are back, but limited
The Washington Post

DEF CON 29 Badge Update (The Firmware Kind)!

Posted 8.5.21

In case you didn't know, you can head over to defcon.org/signal for a link to updated badge firmware and instructions! We hope you enjoy DEF CON 29, In-person, or from wherever you may be!

DEF CON 29 In-person Pre-Registration is Closed!

Posted 8.4.21

The DEF CON 29 pre-reg at shop.defcon.org is now closed. You can still get a badge with cash payment onsite while they last, and you can purchase the Human+ Discord role directly on our Discord ( discord.gg/defcon ) or at plus.defcon.org Thanks to everyone for supporting DEF CON this year, whether you’re attending virtually or here with us in Las Vegas. DEF CON ❤️ U. Tomorrow it begins!

Get the DEF CON 29 Soundtrack!

Posted 8.4.21

Get a head start on DEF CON 29 with this year’s Original Soundtrack! It’s waiting for you on the DEF CON media server right now. Like, right now. You have your assignment.

media.defcon.org/DEF CON 29/

Hackers with Disabilities Guide for DEF CON 29!

Updated 8.2.21

Thanks to @A_P_Delchi and Hackers with Disabilities for creating this helpful accessibility guide to DC29 . Don’t hesitate to reach out if we can help maximize your DEF CON, either through goons or via social media.

DEF CON 29, Now With More Free Black Hat!

Updated 7.30.21

Arriving early in Vegas? Check out Black Hat’s Arsenal and Business Hall for free!

This year, we’ve partnered with our friends at Black Hat to offer a free Black Hat Business Pass to all Def Con In-Person Badge holders. The pass would normally cost $250, but if you fill out their form here, you can get in for free. You’ll just need to show your DEF CON confirmation receipt when you pick up you Black Hat Business Hall pass over at Mandalay Bay.

Black Hat Business Hall hours:
Wednesday, August 4, 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Thursday, August 5, 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Here’s the full URL for registering: https://blackhat.informatech.com/2021/index/registrations/DEFCON

DEF CON 29 Badges in the Wild!!

Updated 7.23.21

#Badgesighting! #DEFCON29 human badges for Virtual have started to arrive! Join the forums badge hacking thread to compare notes, pictures, and discover puzzles: forum.defcon.org/node/238291 #badgelife

DEF CON 29 Short Story Contest Winners!

Updated 7.23.21

Congratulations to the winners of the DEF CON 29 Short Story Contest!

In FIRST place we have "Networks" by Gwisinkoht!
In SECOND place is "Repository Upload" by Alfred Rowdy!
People's Choice award goes to "FAICT" by Serum!

for the full post: forum.defcon.org/node/238015 #DEFCON

DEF CON 29 In-person Pre-Reg Closes July 29th! Onsite Cash Sales limited!

Updated 7.20.21

Notice for #defcon29 in-person attendees: Online registration closes July 29. That's your last chance to buy a guaranteed badge. After that it's cash at the door, but please know that we’ve only got about 1,000 spaces for cash customers.

To be certain you get in, registering online by the 29th is your best bet. We don’t want to turn anyone away but we will once we reach capacity. Please consider pre-reg at http://shop.defcon.org if you don't want to YOLO it at the door.

Masks and proof of vaccination remain 100% required.

DEF CON 29 Virtual Badges Sold Out! Human Plus coming soon for Discord

Updated 7.16.21

We’ve sold out of badges for online-only attendees. The Human Plus role on the DEF CON Discord ( discord.gg/defcon ) will be available to purchase soon on the server itself. In the meantime, remember to log in to the Discord to get familiar with the layout and say hi to everyone in the #LineCon channel!

The Policy Dept. is Back for DEF CON 29!

Posted 7.3.21

DEF CON is pleased to announce the return of the Policy Department for DEF CON 29. This means more content for attendees (both in-person and virtual) interested in buidling bridges between the worlds of hackers and policymakers. The Evening Lounge format is back, too! We’ll be posting all the Policy updates at The DEF CON 29 Policy Page , so if this is your thing, make sure to bookmark it and check back often.

Workshops Page is Live!

Posted 7.2.21

Workshops are back for DEF CON 29! We’ve got a wide variety of topics from a great roster of presenters, all of which you can peruse at your leisure on the Workshops page .

If you find a workshop that you want in on, you can sign up starting at 0900 PDT on Tuesday July 6. Seats generally fill quickly, so consider some pre-game finger stretches and warming up your mouse with some light gaming.

It’s July, people. We’re in the home stretch!

Time is Running Out to Vaccinate for DEF CON 29!

Posted 6.29.21

Friendly reminder - if you’re planning to get vaccinated in order to join us for DEF CON 29 in Vegas, there’s only about 5 weeks left until the con. You need about that long from the first shot for the full effect (depending on vendor, of course) so you should get things started.

Vote in the DEF CON 29 Artwork Contest!

Updated 6.28.21

Help us judge the entries to the DEF CON 29 Art contest! Your vote decides the community choice award - so don’t let the results be decided without your input! You can see the lineup in the DEF CON Forums at https://forum.defcon.org/node/237564 and you can vote for as many as your heart desires. Shout out to everyone who shared their work!

DEF CON 29 Virtual Badges Sold Out! But Wait...

Updated 6.21.21

DEF CON 29 update update:

Good news, everyone! We have re-opened badge sales for virtual attendees! The gods of the supply chain have smiled on our undertaking and blessed us with additional stock. Take advantage at shop.defcon.org !

DEF CON 29 update:

We've sold out of the virtual attendee badges for DEF CON 29. Thank you to all the remote attendees who supported us by ordering a badge. Online attendees can still support DEF CON by purchasing a Human+ code at shop.defcon.org .

DEF CON 29 Announcement from DT!

Posted 6.15.21

DEF CON 29 in-person update from The Dark Tangent:

In-person DC29 is a GO. Attendance numbers have been cautiously predicted, badge orders are in, conference space footprint is confirmed. Planning at full tilt. Read the whole thing on DT’s blog .

DEF CON 29 Speaker Page is Live!

Posted 6.11.21

The first batch of the DEF CON 29 Speaker lineup is live, people. It’s up there on the DC29 website, just waiting to inform your Con decision-making. Don’t let it shine there in vain. Click on over, have a look-see. Get informed, get inspired, and most importantly get amped. DEF CON 29 is just over the horizon now. Hope we’ll see all of you there.

DEF CON 29 Workshops Announced on the Forums!

Posted 6.8.21

DEF CON 29 Update! You can now read all about the the Workshops accepted for DEF CON 29 over on the forums. It's coming together, people.

NOW OPEN! Pre-register for DEF CON 29! UPDATED!

Updated 5.25.21

The moment has arrived! You can reserve your badge for DEF CON in Vegas or the DEF CON online-only event right now at shop.defcon.org . Your pre-purchase allows us to accurately predict attendance, and it guarantees you a physical badge and secures your space if the venue is forced to restrict capacity. We thank you for your support and flexibility – hard numbers are the only way we can responsibly make a physical DEF CON happen this year.

Cash at the door will still be honored for as long as spaces last, but there is a chance we’ll have to turn away cash customers if we reach capacity for our venues.

For everyone who can’t be with us in person, the Safe Mode option continues over on Discord and we expect to start mailing out badges in early July.

We’ve got an FAQ page for all of your questions , and you can always get in touch with us at info@defcon.org. Thank you again for the support - we can’t wait for August 5!

Update! Pricing Chart:

DEF CON 29 is our first hybrid con, and the first time we’ve had more than one price for badges. It’s caused a few questions. To answer them, we’ve created this handy price comparison chart .

If you bought your badge through Black Hat, you’ve purchased the $300 onsite option. If you haven’t signed up yet, badges are available at shop.defcon.org . To upgrade to Human+ status on the Discord, visit plus.defcon.org .

Thank you so much for supporting DEF CON in this crazy time – we can’t wait to be together again in August.

New DEF CON 29 Swag in our Shop!

Posted 5.6.21

We’ve got some sparkly new DEF CON 29 items in the shop.defcon.org store! Official Tees in both fitted and straight cut, hoodies and a sticker set. Support DEF CON and get your look right - it’s a win/win.

#cantstopthesignal

DEF CON 29 CTF Quals Results! Congrats PPP!

Posted 5.5.21

The DEF CON 29 quals are complete, the mighty PPP have won the day, and many other teams have qualified. Congratulations to the Plaid Parliament of Pwning and a hearty thank you to all the other teams who participated. Check out the results and challenges !

DEF CON 29 CTF Quals are this Weekend!

Posted 4.29.21

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.

DEF CON 29: The Plan So Far

Posted 4.15.21

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.

Read the rest of the Dark Tangent's DEF CON 29 Announcement

DEF CON 29 Theme and Artwork Contest!

Posted 3.28.21

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.

DEF CON 29 Call for Everything Spotlight—Call for Music and Soundtrack!

Posted 3.10.21

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

DEF CON 29 Call for Everything Spotlight—Call for Contests!

Posted 2.25.21

The DEF CON 29 Call for Everything Spotlight for today is on Call for Contests!

Wanna get your contest into DC29? It’s easy.

1. Have the most incredible idea
2. Submit via the link below
3. See dream realized. Be a legend.

Complete info and guidelines:
https://defcon.org/html/defcon-29/dc-29-cfce.html

DEF CON 29 Call for Everything!

Posted 2.5.21

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!

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© 1992-2021 DEF CON Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved | DEF CON Policies | DMCA Information

DEF CON 29 FAQ

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Masks and Vaccination will be required at DEF CON 29 this year, thanks to the complications of COVID-19.

While the virtual portion will largely be the same as DEF CON Safe Mode, in-person DEF CON 29 will be guided by safety and number of attendees.

Vaccination and wearing a mask while in the DEF CON space will be required. No exceptions. Persons who are not vaccinated, including unvaccinated children, will not be admitted.

Vaccinations will be validated by a 3rd party, independent company provided by DEF CON. You must provide an original, signed, vaccination card, with the final dose dated no later than July 22nd, 2021. Photocopies and digital pictures of vaccination cards will not be accepted for anyone, to include Goons and Humans, for entrance to DC29. Once the vaccination record has been verified, participants will receive a wrist band that must be worn at all times during DC29. Participants may then proceed to badge registration to process their barcodes and receive their DC29 Human badge.

Badges may be picked up for others, but the bearer will still need to pass through the vaccination validation and receive a wrist band before they enter the con.

Masks requirements include:

• Mask should be a solid, multi-layer piece of material without slits, exhalation valves, or punctures.
• A properly worn mask completely covers the nose and mouth and is well-fitted.
• May contain filter pockets or sleeves.
• Medical masks and N-95 respirators fulfill the requirements.

The following do not fulfill the mask requirements:

• Face shields or goggles (unless to supplement a proper and properly worn mask)
• Scarves, ski masks, balaclavas, or bandannas
• Shirt or sweater collars pulled up over the mouth and nose.
• Masks made from loosely woven or knitted fabrics that let light pass through
• Masks made from non porous or too dense materials (such as vinyl, plastic or leather)
• Masks that do not fit properly
  
  

The guidelines for in-person gatherings is constantly in flux and we will update our faq on policies and processes, when they will best reflect the most current guidelines that will be necessary during DEF CON.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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What is DEF CON doing, and how can I attend?

DEF CON 29 will be a hybrid event this year, we will give hackers a choice in how they wish to experience DEF CON. We will host both an in-person experience in Las Vegas and a virtual con on our official Discord just as we did for DEF CON safe mode in 2020.

Starting mid May we will sell badges online for the conference that we should ship the beginning of July.

For the virtual portion of DEF CON You will need a Discord account.
You can find detailed instructions on getting on the DEF CON Discord server here. There is a FAQ for Humans on Discord as well.

You can support DEF CON and upgrade your account by purchasing the Human Plus role that gives you more permissions than the free "Human" role. Join with the DEF CON Discord Server signup link: https://discord.gg/defcon

If you choose to attend via the DEF CON discord, you will have access to all the online content and pre-recorded talks. There will be contests, villages, DJs, and live chats with hackers all over the globe. You will need to get on the DEF CON Twitch too, for live streamed talk Q&A sessions, evening fireside talks and evening contests. Not to mention the live entertainment and select in-person only villages, events, and contests. Our annual tradition of awarding black badges "Uber" badges for CTF and other select contests, will continue, for in-person events only.

To see what happenings are currently planning to be in-person, hybrid, or virtual only please visit https://forum.defcon.org/node/236142

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Can I buy a DEF CON badge with Black Hat?

Yes, it will be an option when you check out at Black Hat.

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How much will DEF CON cost?

The price to attend DEF CON in-person will be $300 USD. You may not attend in-person without purchasing a badge. Attending virtual on our Discord will be free, and those with Human+ will have more permissions and access.

You can support DEF CON and upgrade your account by purchasing the Human Plus role.

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What if I don't want a Discord Account?

While we don't think you'll get the full experience, all of our content will be released via YouTube and put on the DEF CON Media Server. The Talks for DEF CON will be released during the con on the DEF CON YouTube and Twitch channels.

---

I have a black badge, do I need to pre-register?

No, just show up on site with your vax card and go to inhuman registration.

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Will the content be the same at the in-person event and the virtual event?

Not exactly, there will be unique elements to each, the official DEF CON talks content will be the same for both with the exception of impromptu Q&A or meet and greets. Villages and Contest content may differ, not all events will be held in a hybrid format. See https://forum.defcon.org/node/236142 for a list.

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What will capacity look like for the in-person event?

Capacity is currently capped at a maximum of 80% of a given space’s fire code standard capacity. Limits will be reviewed and revised at the direction of Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) and there will be dedicated support onsite to ensure our policies are being followed.

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Will DEF CON limit attendance?

YES. If we are near capacity we will limit pre-registration. In the best interest of attendee comfort and safety we would limit attendance to ensure that proper distancing is maintained and locally mandated capacity limits are adhered to. It is recommended that you secure a badge with us when we open the badge pre-registration process.

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What health measures/protocols is DEF CON taking to ensure a safe environment on-site?

DEF CON is working closely with Caesar's Entertainment hotels to provide a safe and healthy experience for all. All attendees and staff will need to be vaccinated and wearing a mask. We will comply with whatever safety measures are required of us.

Currently all of the hotel guidelines that we have gathered are located in the Hotel FAQ.

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How do I prove I was vaccinated?

Vaccinations will be validated by a 3rd party, independent company provided by DEF CON. You must provide an original, signed, vaccination card, dated no later than July 22nd, 2021. Photocopies and digital pictures of vaccination cards will not be accepted for anyone, to include Goons and Humans, for entrance to DC29. Once the vaccination record has been verified, participants will receive a wrist band that must be worn at all times during DC29. Participants may then proceed to badge registration to process their barcodes and receive their DC29 Human badge.

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What about lines, etc?

Line con, queuing for registration or talks, swag, etc, will have to be planned for in new ways , and the guidelines for gatherings will be in flux for a little while. Just expect "social distanced line con" for the in-person event.

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Will I be required to wear a mask? Will medical exceptions be allowed?

Masks will be required for all participants except while eating or drinking, or if presenting as a DEF CON main stage speaker. If you are unable to wear face coverings due to medical reasons, please consider attending virtually.

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How will DEF CON maintain social distancing?

Social distancing measures may include distanced seating in event rooms, traffic lanes in the hallways, larger rooms, more strategic areas for food and drinks, dedicated entry and exit points, and more. There will be dedicated support onsite to ensure our rules are being followed.

One of the big visible changes is that we have removed all in-person speaking tracks. Because we don't know how many people are planning to attend we couldn't design the floor plan. By releasing the talks online allows us to complete the floor plan and have attendees focus more on village and events.

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Will food be served and what will that look like?

Chill out lounges and other food service may look a little different than previous years in order to adhere to safety measures, but we intend to provide for purchase take away options in a pre-packaged format. No buffet sneezes to worry about.

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When & Where will DEF CON be?

August 5, 2021 - August 8, 2021 (Thursday to Sunday)
DEF CON will be located within the Paris and Bally's Hotel and Casinos in Las Vegas, Nevada USA.

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Can I book my hotel in Las Vegas now – and how should I do that?

Yes, hotel reservations are being accepted. In order to help us fill our room block with our contracted hotels please book under the DEF CON group room registration.

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What happens if DEF CON has to cancel the in-person event or is shut down - can I get a refund?

With the current outlook on vaccine estimations we think that hosting DEF CON in Las Vegas is going to happen, but we know a global pandemic is out of our control. In the event we have to cancel the in-person con we will switch your badge type to "virtual", refund you the difference in price (excluding postage) and mail you your badge, just like we are doing for everyone ordering a virtual-only badge.

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Where can I get more information about what's happening?

Check out the following DEF CON Sites & Social Media.
Forums
Groups
Discord
Twitter
Facebook
Reddit
DEF CON YouTube channel
DEF CON Twitch
DEF CON Music Twitch

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What's DEF CON's official theme for DEF CON 29?

Glad you asked, our official 2021 theme is "Can't stop the signal." For more information Check out out our DEF CON 29 Theme Guide.

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This all sounds great, so how can I contribute to DEF CON this year?

We've always said "DEF CON is what you make it.", and we belive that. If you've got a good idea or want to participate, check out the link for this year's call for everything.

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© 1992-2021 DEF CON Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved | DEF CON Policies | DMCA Information

DEF CON FAQ

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Frequently asked questions about DEF CON

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What is DEF CON?

DEF CON is one of the oldest continuously running hacker conventions around, and also one of the largest.

---

How did DEF CON start?

Originally started in 1993, it was a meant to be a party for member of "Platinum Net", a Fido protocol based hacking network out of Canada. As the main U.S. hub I was helping the Platinum Net organizer (I forget his name) plan a closing party for all the member BBS systems and their users. He was going to shut down the network when his dad took a new job and had to move away. We talking about where we might hold it, when all of a sudden he left early and disappeared. I was just planning a party for a network that was shut down, except for my U.S. nodes. I decided what the hell, I'll invite the members of all the other networks my BBS (A Dark Tangent System) system was a part of including Cyber Crime International (CCI), Hit Net, Tired of Protection (ToP), and like 8 others I can't remember. Why not invite everyone on #hack? Good idea!

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Where did the name come from?

The short answer is a combination of places. There as a SummerCon in the summer, a HoHoCon in the winter, a PumpCon during Halloween, etc. I didn't want any association with a time of year. If you are a Phreak, or just use your phone a lot you'll notes "DEF" is #3 on the phone. If you are into military lingo DEF CON is short for "Defense Condition." Now being a fan of the movie War Games I took note that the main character, David Lightman, lived in Seattle, as I do, and chose to nuke Las Vegas with W.O.P.R. when given the chance. Well I knew I was doing a con in Vegas, so it all just sort of worked out.

There are several resources that will give you an idea of what DEF CON is all about.

DEF CON Press: through the prism of the media
DEF CON Groups: Local groups that meet
DEF CON Media Server: DC 1 to the present, captured
Google: always a good research starting point
Just remember, DEF CON is what you make of it.

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When and where is DEF CON?

DEF CON is generally in the last week of July or first week of August in Las Vegas. DEF CON 29 will be held August 5th through August 8th. We are gauging interest on what degree of where. Many people arrive a day early, and many stay a day later.

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Isn't there a DEF CON FAQ already?

Yes, an unofficial one. It's quite humorous, sometimes informative, and DEF CON takes no responsibility for its content. It can be found at http://defcon.stotan.org/faq/

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What are the rules of DEF CON?

Physical violence is prohibited. Harassment of any kind is prohibited. We don't support illegal drug use. Minors should be accompanied by their parent(s) or guardian(s). Please refrain from doing anything that might jeopardize the conference or attendees such as lighting your hair on fire or throwing lit road flares in elevators. DEF CON Goons are there to answer your questions and keep everything moving. Hotel security is there to watch over their property. Each has a different mission, and it is wise to not anger the hotel people. Please be aware that if you engage in illegal activities there is a large contingency of feds that attend DEF CON. Talking about how you are going to bomb the RNC convention in front of an FBI agent is a Career Limiting Move!

You can view the DEF CON Code of Conduct at https://defcon.org/html/links/dc-code-of-conduct.html.

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Is DEF CON cancelled?

No, but DEF CON is planning to perform a risk assessment to help us decide, ideally by sometime in April, if we should hold a physical "last known good configuration" conference in Las Vegas for 2021. We would adhere to all health and safety guidelines, so the better we can understand them the more informed our assessment will be.

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What is there to do at DEF CON?

DEF CON is a unique experience for each con-goer. If you google around you'll find dozens of write-ups that will give you an idea of what people have experienced at DEF CON. Trust write-ups more than media articles about the con. Some people play capture the flag 24x7, while many people never touch a computer at DEF CON. Some people see every speech they can, while others miss all speeches. Other activities include contests, movie marathons, scavenger hunts, sleep deprivation, lock picking, warez trading, drunken parties, spot the fed contest, the official music events. Because DEF CON is what the attendees make of it, there are more events than even we are aware of. Half the fun is learning what happened at DEF CON after the fact!

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I'm not a hacker, should I go to DEF CON?

Many people have different definitions of what is a ‘hacker’. I would recommend looking at previous years speeches, and write-ups from past attendees - this should give you a good idea if DEF CON is for you. This hacker FAQ might give you some insight into the matter as well. If you do not have any technical interests, DEF CON is probably not for you. Sure there is a lot of socializing you can do, but technology and hacking is the core of the con.

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Do criminals go to DEF CON?

Yes. They also go to high school, college, work in your workplace, and the government. There are also lawyers, law enforcement agents, civil libertarians, cryptographers, and hackers in attendance. Ssshhh. Don't tell anyone.

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What are Goons?

They are the staff at DEF CON. They have many roles including safety, speaker coordination, vendor room coordination, network operations, et cetera... Please try to be helpful to them if they make requests of you. If any goon tells you to move, please do so immediately as there may be safety issues they are attempting to address.

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How can I help out or become a Goon?

The staff at DEF CON has grown organically. All positions have some degree of trust associated with them, so typically new goons are ‘inducted’ by friends of existing goons. There are many random points when goons need help and may ask people for help, generally for helping move stuff or other tasks that don't require high amounts of trust or unsupervised work. Just because you help out doesn't make you a goon. If you really want to be a goon, talk with one and see how much work they actually do (Hint: you may want to enjoy being at DEF CON, not working full-time at it). One year the network group got a new Goon when a networking engineer was needed, and he came to the rescue. The intent behind the goons is not to be elitist, but to have a network of trusted people who can help run the conference - please do not feel upset if you are not chosen to be a goon.

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How can I help or participate?

DEF CON is not a spectator sport! Before the con, during, and after there are chances for you to get involved. Before the con you can read about the contests and maybe sign up for one like Capture the Flag. There are artwork contests for shirts and posters. You can practice your lock pick skills, or just get your laptop all locked down and ready to do battle. Organize your .mp3s. Check out the DEF CON Forums to see what other people are up to. If you want to create your own event, you can do that as well - you will not get official space or sanctions, but virtually every official event at DEF CON started out as an unofficial event.

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I would love to see XYZ event, how do I make this happen?

Virtually all events at DEF CON were conceived by the attendees. The DEF CON forums are a great place for recruiting help for an event you want to put on, and making sure your efforts aren't being duplicated. If it doesn't require resources from DEF CON (space, namely) you generally don't have to ask anyone’s permission. Most events are unofficial until they've been going on for a couple of years. Please let us know if you have an idea for an event, we may help facilitate or promote it. Email [suggestions at DEF CON dot org] to keep us in the loop.

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How can I speak at DEF CON?

You can submit a response to our CFP (call for papers). All entries are read and evaluated by a selection committee. We would love to have your submission. The call for papers usually opens in January and closes mid-May.

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I'm press, how do I sign up, why can't I get in for free (I'm just doing my job)?

Please email press[at]defcon[d0t]org if you wish press credentials. Lots of people come to DEF CON and are doing their job; security professionals, federal agents, and the press. It wouldn't be fair to DEF CON attendees if we exempted one group from paying. If you are a major network and plan on doing a two minute piece showing all the people with blue hair, you probably shouldn't bother applying for a press pass - you won't get one. If you are a security writer or from a real publication please submit, and someone will respond with an answer.

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I want to sell stuff, how do I do this?

If you want a space in our vendor area, you need to apply. Because of limited space and our attempt to have a diversity of vendors, you may not be able to get a booth. It is wise to think of staffing issues - if you are one person do you want to spend your entire time behind a vendors booth?

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What are the different price rates?

Everyone pays the same: The government, the media, the ‘well known hackers’, the unknown script kiddies. The only discount is for Goons and speakers, who get to work without paying for the privilege.

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How much is admission DEF CON, and do you take credit cards?

The price for DEF CON 29 is TBA. For reference, DEF CON 27 (in person) cost $300 USD Cash for all four days. Do we take credit cards? Are you JOKING? No, we only accept cash - no checks, no money orders, no travelers checks. We don't want to be a target of any State or Federal fishing expeditions.

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Does my underage child need a badge?

Children under the age of 8 will not need to purchase a badge.

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Can I pre-register for DEF CON?

No. We used to do this a long time ago, but found that managing the registration list, and preventing one 'Dr. Evil' from impersonating another 'Dr. Ev1l' too much of a hassle. Seeing how we would only take cash in the first place, and things becomes time consuming and easy to abuse. Cash at the door works every time.

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Can I get a discount on DEF CON badges?

DEF CON charges one price regardless of your social status or affiliation. Please know that we depend on attendee income to pay the costs of the conference and don't have sponsors to help defray the expenses.

We sometimes get requests for discounts [students, veterans, children], unfortunately we don't want to try and validate if you are a current student, look at your ID to determine your age, decode military discharge papers, etc.

If you really want to attend DEF CON for free then do something for the con.

You could:
Submit a CFP and be an accepted speaker or workshop instructor.
Work on a contest, event, or village.
Qualify for CTF/Contests that include entry.
Find a team to become a Goon newbie.
Contribute to content, or perform some entertainment.

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I need a letter of invite for my visa application, how do I get that?

In most cases, DEF CON can send a signed letter of invite, usually within a few short business days once we have all the info. If you also require verification of housing, we can put you in touch with someone to help you get your hotel stay organized, let us know if you need that.

Along with your request, please email us the following to info(at)defcon(.)org

Name as is on passport:
Passport number:
Country of issue:
Date of issue:
Date of expiration:
Country of origin:

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DEF CON is too expensive, how can I afford it?

DEF CON is cheaper than many concerts, and certainly cheaper than many shows in Vegas. Many people have made an art and science out of coming to DEF CON very cheaply. Here are a couple of tips.

Travel: Buy airfare in advance, go Greyhound, Carpool, hitch-hike. (Note: this may be dangerous and/or illegal.)
Lodging: Share rooms - some people have up to 10 people they share a room with, find a hotel cheaper than the one that the conference is scheduled at, stay up for three days, etc. (note: this can be hazardous to your health.)
Food: Pack food for your trip, go off site to find food, eat in your hotel rooms, and look for cheap Vegas food at Casinos. (Look for deals and specials that are trying to get you in the door to gamble.)
Booze: You don't need to drink. Brew your own and bring it. (It's been done.)
Entrance: Admission can be saved, mow some lawns. Try to go to another 4 day event for cheaper than this that offers so much. We have increased the fees slowly over the years, but also the amount and quality of events have increased.

Inevitably people will try to do some math and pretend that DT gets rich each DEF CON - they seem to lack the ability to subtract.

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How many people typically attend DEF CON?

There have been roughly 25-28k attendees in the last few years of DEF CON. DEF CON 27 had a record showing with approximately 30,000.

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Is there a network at DEF CON?

Why yes, DEF CON is FULLY network-enabled. Now that we've perfected the art of a stable hacker con network, we're ascending to a higher level - we're providing you a network that you feel SAFE in using! Since DEF CON 18 we're WPA2 encrypted over-the-air, with a direct trunk out to the Internet. No peer-to-peer, no sniffing, just straight to the net (and internal servers). We'll provide login credentials at Registration. We know the LTE airwaves will be saturated so we're putting our own cred on the line to give you a net that even we would put our own mobile phones on.

If you're feeling frisky, we'll still have the traditional "open" network for you - bring your laptop (we'd recommend a clean OS, fully patched--you know the procedure) because we don't police what happens on that net. Share & enjoy!

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What is the age limit?

People have brought children to DEF CON - it is not recommended to do this unless you are going to constantly supervise them. It is generally an ‘adult’ atmosphere (language, booze, et cetera). If you've never been to DEF CON, you may want to refrain from bringing your children (unless they are demanding that you bring them). While there are no age limits, we have consistently cooperated with parents and/or private investigators who are looking for children that ‘ran away from home’ to go to DEF CON. You will have to be 21 to reserve a room.

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What is a DEF CON "Black Badge"?

The Black Badge is the highest award DEF CON gives to contest winners of certain events. 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.

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How can I get a hold of DT? I tried to mail him and haven't seen a response yet.

DT doesn't dislike you, isn't trying to hurt your feelings, and bears you no ill will. The fact is he gets an unmanageable load of mail continually. Mailing him again may elicit a response. Try mailing FAQ (at) DEFCON.ORG if you have a general question that isn't answered here or in the forums.

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Is it hot in Vegas?

Yes. Bring sunscreen (high SPF), do not fall asleep near the pool (lest you wake up to sunburn), and do not walk far in the sun unless you are experienced in dealing with extreme heat. The sun is dangerous in Las Vegas. Sleeping in lawn chairs is a sure way to wake up to severe burns in the morning when that bright yellow thing scorches your skin. Drink plenty of water and liquids - remember that alcohol will dehydrate you.

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What should I bring?

It depends on what you're going to do at DEF CON. This is discussed in quite some depth on the unofficial DC FAQ, as well as a thread in the DC Forums. You may want to bring fancy (or outrageously silly) clothes for the official Music events, on Friday and Saturday nights, where everyone shows off nifty attire.

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How much do rooms cost, and how do I reserve a room?

The DEF CON 29 group room registration is now live! We have room rates at seven hotels, until they run out of rooms in our block.

Follow this link: https://book.passkey.com/gt/217951677?gtid=91d4af3428476f6bf43ba59e7f698eac

Do not worry if the form doesn't immediately show the discounted rate. To verify that you're getting our price you can mouse over the dates you've selected or begin the checkout process.

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How much is internet access?

We are looking into this. Free (and possibly more dangerous) internet access is available in the convention area.

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Will the hotels broadcast the speeches on their cable system?

DEF CON TV has succcessfully streamed all tracks to all the hotels, and a couple of tracks out to the internet, for several years now. We don't expect this will change!

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Will we have DEF CON branded poker chips?

You will have to attend DEF CON to find out.

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Will conference attendees have entire floors of hotel rooms to themselves?

Probably not. The hotel is very cooperative in attempting to centralize the DEF CON attendees, for their convenience and ours, but there will be non-DEF CON attendees in hotel rooms next to us.

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This FAQ didn't answer my questions, or was unclear, how can I get further information?

Check out the DEF CON Forums to ask follow up questions.

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Return to Index

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© 1992-2021 DEF CON Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved | DEF CON Policies | DMCA Information

Links to DEF CON 29 related pages

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Links

DEF CON . org

Main DEFCON site
DEFCON 29 Home Page
DEFCON      FAQ
DEFCON 29 FAQ
DEFCON 29 Schedule and Speakers
DEF CON 29 Workshops page
DEF CON 29 Vendors page
DEF CON 29 Demolabs Forums page
DEF CON 29 Parties Forum page
DEF CON 29 Villages Forum page
DEF CON 29 Contests Forum page

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Thanks to the InfoBooth crew for providing access to their backend database. <claps> to their hard work!

Villages

Other Interesting Links

@defconparties - calandar
defconmusic - Schedule
DCTV - DEF CON TV
DEF CON 29 badge firmware
#badgelife spreadsheet of unofficial badges for DC29
DEF CON is Cancelled party challange

Other cons during #SummerHackerCamp

Blackhat	T @BlackHatEvents	FB Black Hat Events
BSides Las Vegas	T @BSidesLV
r00tz Asylum	T @r00tzasylum
Queercon	T @Queercon	FB @queercon
The Diana Initiative	T @Dianainitiative	FB @dianainitiative

Guides/Tips/FAQs

The Lost Policymaker's Guide to Hacker Summer Camp
Lonely Hackers Club - DEF CON n00b guide  -  reddit thread
Preparing for "Hacker Summer Camp"
General / previous years
DEF CON for N00bs
JK-47 - BSidesLV & DEFCON Conference Tips
Just another DEF CON guide
HACKER SUMMER CAMP 2018 GUIDE
On Attending DefCon

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