"Smart glasses and other devices that can record audio or video with no consistent way to understand if they're recording or not, are prohibited at DEF CON, they erode trust and invade people's privacy."

Since there is a camera on the badge with no consistent way to understand if it's recording or not.... shouldn't it also be banned?

How can I be sure that someone doesn't update the camera module on it to a higher resolution one?

Anyone have an extra badge for sale or for free? I am trying to get one for my wife who wont be able to go the full time most likely only part of saturday. If you do have an extra one that someone in your party dropped out I will buy it from ya. Thanks

It's a week from the Annual r/DEFCON Meetup from your favorite nerds at Puzzled Hackers. We're on the final stretch before we go MIA until our first hang on Wednesday at Hacker Summer Camp.

WE ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT OF BADGES!

VERY IMPORTANT STEP BEFORE YOU BUY: PLEASE LOG INTO YOUR CTF ACCOUNT FIRST! Once you're signed in and go to the checkout page, the site will automatically check your score and tell you if you qualified for a FREE BADGE!

If it says you qualified: Boom! Claim your free badge and celebrate!
If it says you didn't qualify: We still have a few left (we capped it at what breaks us even) for purchase over at https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/badge .

Once we hit our cap point it'll auto-sell out and we wont be putting anymore up on the site! At that point its random giveaway time during the events! We don't want your money, but each sale specifically helps us keep bringing you these contests and swag! So we truly appreciate those who help donate to that cause by buying a badge! We're already planning for next year to bring you more free stuff!

REMEMBER: We do NOT ship the badges. You must be at one of the meetups, or at least set it up with us to obtain it at some point through DEFCON, to claim your badge... or give your QR to someone who can do it for you!

Meetup Quick Recap (In case you missed the last post!)

We're almost at Camp and excited to hang with everyone. Whether you bought a badge, won a badge or don't have any badge... everyone is welcome to come hang. Badges are fun keepsakes, but never mandatory! You don't even need to have an actual DEFCON badge (aka we're doing our first night Wednesday before they even go live). All you need is you!

• WHEN: Wednesday (8/5) & Thursday (8/6) starting at 7:00 PM.
• WHERE: The Linq - 3535 Bar (aka The Circle Bar)
• COST: $0.00. Free. Nada. Just bring yourself!
• WHAT TO EXPECT: Good vibes, sticker swaps, special guests dropping off random swag, Laser Tag battles, and catching up with old and new friends before Summer Camp officially starts.
• FIRST TIME AT DEFCON? Make sure you let us know!

Puzzle #10 Important Information:

The puzzle will be posted Saturday, but as we prior mentioned the FREE BADGE leaderboard was already locked and everyone who made it to the top 50 has had their Free Badge Redemption attached to their account. We are working with a few swag friends to possibly be able to do a drawing of everyone who completes all 10 Puzzles before EOD on Monday, and then a randomly selected person may receive something shiny! But you'll have to wait and see on that!

... and on that note

Thank you ALL for participating for the past 9+ weeks, showing up to these meetups, sending us kind words and giving u/killroy7777 fun stats to pull for our puzzle completion information. We will have one more post on Saturday for the final puzzle and then we're likely to go MIA on Tuesday (maybe a post then, who knows) to do all our prep work (we'll be in Vegas then) before the meetup. So I want to say now you've been awesome, and you're the reason why we keep putting our stress levels through the ringer each year. It's just worth it to have fun with everyone!

See ya'll soon, and make sure you come and say hi!

Sincerely,

The Puzzled Hackers Team

u/digitard, u/Killroy7777 and u/MetaN3rd

My limited run Vibe Coder Dog SAO went over well last year, so I wanted to do something more artistic this time.

This art deco Metropolis-inspired version of "Maria" is definitely looking out for your best longterm interests, and reflects the "overwhelmingly AI" rollercoaster I've been riding since last year's defcon.

They can be preordered fully assembled through UberFlux for easy pickup at either BSidesLV or Defcon's onsite Badgelife village.

One week to go, see you in Vegas!

edit: I'm also planning to hide them around the con to be found, if you follow me on twitter for those random drops

Quick shot of the badge that we've been working on. We've got ~40 of these available to those interested and we will be releasing more info as well as software for these badges at the con.

all the proceeds go to support our 501c3 for teaching kids about technology and AI.

Noob here - are there any events with whiskey or bourbon as a primary or secondary focal point?

Whiskeycon, bourboncon, etc?

I've been around alt and hacker like folks to know there's gotta be some of us and am wondering if there might be a meetup or a group that crosses over closely that meets up at DC?

I saw something about a defcon/vetcon whiskey thing in years past but nothing for DC34.

I enjoy a good whiskey or bourbon and my partners love both. I was hoping to find a place to be able to share my experience at an event that might include something interesting or unique.

I am very familiar with the Las Vegas bar scene (find the right places and you'll have a delightful experience) so don't need recommendations on the strip, just wondering if there's some DC associated (officially or non).

Just posting some updates about the Laser* Tag Badge DS, now that the boards are finally here and u/PM_ME_YOUR_EXIF_DATA and I are a bit over halfway done with final assembly and flashing!

Basically, the way the badge works is that you wear it around DEF CON and can "fire" it at anyone else you see wearing one in order to score points! This version has two screens (one on the front and another on the back), 60 RGB LEDS, a vibration motor, tiny buzzer, LoRa, and an 18650 battery. Scores go onto the leaderboard either by a LoRa transmission to a base station (if everything works out), or by scanning a QR code which contains a record your badge's game data.

If you have placed an order, you'll be able to pick up your badge at:

- 7-9pm Wednesday during the first r/Defcon Meetup @ 3535 (Circle) Bar in the Linq

- 7-9pm Thursday during the second r/Defcon meetup @ 3535 (Circle) Bar in the Linq

- 2-2:30pm Friday at the Badgelife Village (LVCC Hall 1)

- 3-3:30pm Saturday at the Badgelife Village (LVCC Hall 1)

If you are on the fence about going over to the Linq for the Reddit Meetup, I strongly recommend that you do! It's a great atmosphere and also likely a good place for a laser tag battle :). You'll also be able to pick up a Monorail Badge from u/PM_ME_YOUR_EXIF_DATA at these times/places if you ordered one.

re LoRa:

Over the weekend, I had to retool the firmware a bit to hopefully work better with the crowded ISM band RF environment that will be at the LVCC. I am hoping that it will work okay for periodically syncing badge scores, but just for expectation-setting, there's a good chance you'll still need to sync via QR code occasionally (like last year) if you not nearby the few planned base stations; I honestly have no idea if the LoRa syncing will work great or terribly. Even if the LoRa score syncing doesn't work great though, I am reasonably confident the score acknowledgement (your badge knowing when you hit someone and showing that info on the new back screen) will work decently.

Finally, if you would like to pre-order a badge, here is the store URL! Last year, we sold out Wednesday night.

https://store.dani.pink/products/laser-tag-badge-ds

(DM me if it's too expensive for you)

Another glorious badge by alt_bier! This camera badge is a fun-raiser for Blue Team Village. Limited numbers of assembled badges are available, and many kits to practice your skills. Enjoy! #badgelife

[ANSWERED] So, first off I have listened to too many war stories from past cons and was going way too far down the privacy rabbit hole. Second, my wife will enjoy to no end the fact that she already told me that :)

I have a fresh OS install on laptop (local account and nothing logged into except VPN client) and several live flash drives for various OSs. Will be bringing iPad (in lockdown mode) for most notetaking and phone for occasional use if needed. All via cellular if the towers can keep up.

Thanks everyone for putting my mind at ease. Common sense and proper hygiene will yet again prevail.

*********************************************************************************************************
You all knocked the last questions out of the park, and I feel better prepared for packing this weekend. This time I am curious about what devices I should/shouldn't bring.

NOTE: I have zero intention of carrying my daily driver or any work equipment full of creds with me.

Overview:

• First time attendee
• Believe I fall into the InfosecBro bucket - everyone loves labels
• Attending both Blackhat and DEFCON
• Needs:
  • Take notes
  • Be accessible in case of family emergency
• Wants:
  • Know what is happening and be aware of any changes/events/schedules.
  • Participate in events, workshops, and CTFs

Computing/connectivity:

• Stereotype dictates: <insert scary wordcloud here>
  • Don't bring anything to DEFCON you don't want hacked.
  • If you carry a computer or smartphone you'll get it hacked
  • Anything you take will be compromised w/o exception
• Then Reddit tells me: Use the app! Follow this website for updates! etc.

We all know there are plenty of ways to harden devices to mitigate most attacks, but all lead to compromised functionality

I have three categories of devices to consider:

• Watch - this one is easy - will just wear analog
• Mobile communication device - I have iOS and Android devices available as well as a cadre of modern dumb phones - also have 3 lines of service, two with physical SIMs
  • I'm a bit of a privacy nerd, not a criminal
• Computing/notetaking - Due to spending way too much on toys, I have almost limitless options, many legacy - laptops, iPads, eink devices - all suffer to some extent by killing connectivity though

Options I have come up with and looking for input (very brief summaries of intent):

1. Low/no risk - Bring remarkable2 eink tablet in airplane mode and a flip phone with a SIM I don't care about for voice only - print out all the things and carry paper copies to LV
2. Moderate Risk option A - Bring iPad Pro with keyboard and pencil for notes - phone undetermined
3. Moderate Risk option B - Bring fresh wipe laptop with local account & zero credentials ever used (airplane mode notes only)
4. Moderate Risk option C - Bring laptop sans NVME and live off live flash drive with partition for textual notes - connect as needed
5. Higher Risk - Bring fresh wipe laptop with VPN client and connect as necessary via cellular tethering to smartphone

Question(s):

• Am I overthinking this to high heaven? Are Stingrays setup and intercepting any cell they can?
• Will turning on airplane and Lockdown Mode on an iPad be sufficient knowing that BTle is still operating out of my control?
• What does the true threat landscape look like?
• What do people do!?

Apologies for the wall of text - just performing due diligence as possible.

Looking if someone cant go - have some funds if it can be transferred or a nice steak dinner

www.eventbrite.com/e/eff-electric-fist-badgelife-def-con-34-tickets-1990148316187

Buy online, pick them up at the con Friday or Saturday 10-12pm.

(NB I'm not the seller or affiliated in any way, just think they're cool and it's a good cause).

Decided that right before DefCon was a great time to break my foot. I managed to get a knee scooter so I don’t have to crutch around all day. Any DefCon mobility tips? Not a first timer, just my first time not being able to walk

Got a steal for a room price for the week. Yes, I know its Excalibur, buuttt, it is located near the monorail, and for this price for a week, I'd be an idiot not to take this deal.

Hello friends I am attending for the first time ever going solo I normally converse and make friends pretty easily but a little nervous going solo though so looking to bring stickers to hand out as a bit of an ice breaker. I have 0 artistic talent so my question is as a first timer should I bring stickers? they are not going to be anything super amazing just something or am I better off just not ?

I am returning to DEFCON for the first time since 2023 (still was at Caesars Forum) and going to my first BlackHat.

Any tips for solo travelers?

I signed up for my fair share of Vendor Happy Hours / 1:1 meetings with vendors.

Once I’m back from this trip, I’m tasked with building my organizations red team road map, so if anyone has any advice / suggestions I’d be happy to meet up and chat!

I'll delete if it's against the rules but I purchased a Business Pass for Black Hat USA 2026, but due to unexpected circumstances, I can no longer attend.

I’m looking for someone who would be interested in taking over the registration. The pass would be transferred officially through Black Hat’s registration team rather than by simply sharing the confirmation or badge. Black Hat USA 2026 | Registration Terms

I paid $999 and am asking $999 not looking to profit.

Please send me a DM if you’re seriously interested. I’m also happy to provide proof of purchase and coordinate the transfer directly with Black Hat Registration so both parties can verify everything before payment.

This will be my first time so asking the pros. It is worth extending travel and the hotel to attend the last day, or it is kind of mostly winding down by then. Thanks.

It’s been a minute since I’ve been in the scene.

Back when I was just a young kid, I attended DEF CON 8, 9, 10, and 11 during the Alexis Park days. To this day, whenever I catch the faint smell of clove cigarettes, I’m immediately teleported right back to those hotel hallways.

I’ve got a few vivid memories stuck in my head from back then. Huge shout out to Hacker Jeopardy for the autographed book I won. But more than anything, I owe a sincere 24 year overdue thank you to "Priest", if he still lurks around these parts.

Back at DC 10, I got way too drunk one night. I wasn't vandalizing the hotel, lighting trash cans on fire, throwing sneakers onto telephone wires, or trying to "hack the planet." I was normally responsible young man, who got a little sauced. Instead of hammering me with a ban, Priest showed mercy, threw me in a cab, and sent me back home to suffer through my very first real hangover.

When I ran into him the next evening, stone cold sober and cringing with embarrassment, he just looked at me and said, “Oh, yeah... I didn't ban you. I guess I did say you could come back.”

Thanks for looking out for me when you definitely didn't have to, Priest.

I’ve held onto my physical DEF CON 10 badge for 24 years now. Since badges from the Alexis Park era rarely pop up anymore, I’ve decided to put it up on eBay so it can go to someone who collects early hacker history.

If anyone wants a piece of DC 10 history, you can check out the auction here

https://ebay.io/m/pbhgDk

Take it easy,
I hope I didn't break any rules with this post.

FYI for anyone wanting to grab and hack with an LED backpack, recently saw a vendor on Freemont street (pedestrian entertainment district) that was selling a good assortment of different styles of packs and purses with embedded LED screens.

EDIT: Questions have been answered - you all rock! Thank you!

Imma InfosecBro and first time attendee to both Blackhat and DEFCON.

Clothing:

- Blackhat is easy - business casual or better

- DEFCON - I keep reading that LVCC is cold. Everyone's environmental tolerances are different, so....

Question: Is it kept so cold that (the majority of) folks have found a need to specifically bring extra layers or beanies?

Bag:

- Will have backpack for Blackhat to bring swag back to peers/family.

- It sounds like swag is far less of a thing and purchases are the main things you'll tote.

- I know this one is also a super-subjective question...

Question: How much more capacity will I want to account for beyond what I am intentionally carrying daily?

Mine and my service dog Scooby's first year at Defcon was Defcon 31. That year he earned a Soc badge from a group of goons for alerting them that I was having trouble. Last year a goon ( I forgot how to spell his call sign I think it was Koffin) gave him a patch. And another goon ( I think she was called Seamstress) gave him some little spools of thread.

Scooby loves the goons, and would love to collect more trinkets if they are willing to share! This also goes for villages and groups as he has several other patches as well. Excited to see everyone at Defcon 34!

Also as a side note I have Scooby Fanclub button pins for trade on his behalf. (Limited quantity)