DEF CON 20 Speaker Page is Live! First round posted!

Posted 5.16.12

The first round of Speakers is now live on the DEF CON 20 Speaker Page for your perusal! Enough said, now go and check 'em out!

Welcome & Making the DEF CON 20 Badge + Special Presentation by Jason Scott
The Dark Tangent, LosT, and Jason Scott

DEF CON 101

Movie Night With The Dark Tangent: "Code2600" + Q&A With the Director
Jeremy Zerechak

Movie Night With The Dark Tangent: "Reboot" + Q&A With the Filmmakers and Actors
Joe Kawasaki, Sidney Sherman, and Actors To Be Announced

Movie Night With The Dark Tangent: "21" + Q&A With "MIT Mike" Aponte
"MIT Mike" Aponte

Owning Bad Guys {And Mafia} With Javascript Botnets
Chema Alonso and Manu "The Sur"

<ghz or bust: defcon
atlas

Overwriting the Exception Handling Cache PointerDwarf Oriented Programming
Rodrigo Rubira Branco, James Oakley, and Sergey Bratus

Tenacious Diggity: Skinny Dippin in a Sea of Bing
Francis Brown and Rob Ragan

Exploit Archaeology: Raiders of the Lost Payphones
Josh Brashars

Panel: Meet the Feds
Panelists To Be Announced

Life Inside a Skinner Box: Confronting our Future of Automated Law Enforcement
Greg Conti, Lisa Shay, and Woody Hartzog

DEF CON Awards

Hacking Humanity: Human Augmentation and You
Christian "quaddi" Dameff, Jeff "r3plicant" Tully

Sploitego - Maltego's (Local) Partner in Crime
Nadeem Douba

Post Metasploitation: Improving Accuracy and Efficiency in Post Exploitation Using the Metasploit Framework
Egypt

Post-Exploitation Nirvana: Launching OpenDLP Agents over Meterpreter Sessions
Andrew Gavin, Michael Baucom, and Charles Smith

More Projects of Prototype This!
Joe Grand and Zoz

Crypto and the Cops: the Law of Key Disclosure and Forced Decryption
Marcia Hofmann

Black Ops
Dan Kaminsky

Owning One to Rule Them All
Dave Kennedy and Dave DeSimone

Detecting Reflective Injection
Andrew King

An Inside Look Into Defense Industrial Base (DIB) Technical Security Controls: How Private Industry Protects Our Country's Secrets
James Kirk

TBA
Moxie Marlinspike

Skype VoIP Software Vulnerabilities: Advanced 0Day Exploitation
Benjamin Kunz Mejri

Defcon Comedy Jam V, V for Vendetta
David Mortman, Rich Mogull, Chris Hoff, Dave Maynor, Larry Pesce, and James Arlen

Cortana: Rise of the Automated Red Team
Raphael Mudge

Panel: The Making of DEF CON 20

Hacker + Airplanes = No Good Can Come Of This
RenderMan

MegaUpload: Guilty or Not Guilty?
Jim Rennie and Jennifer Granick

Spy vs. Spy: Spying on Mobile Device Spyware
Michael Robinson and Chris Taylor

Bruce Schneier Answers Your Questions
Bruce Schneier

Can You Track Me Now? Government And Corporate Surveillance Of Mobile Geo-Location Data
Christopher Soghoian, Ben Wizner, Catherine Crump, and Ashkan Soltani

Can Twitter Really Help Expose Psychopath Killer Traits?
Chris "TheSuggmeister" Sumner

Twenty Years Back, Twenty Years Ahead: The Arc of DEF CON Past and Future
Richard Thieme

Safes and Containers: Insecurity Design Excellence
Marc Weber Tobias, Matt Fiddler, and Tobias Bluzmanis

TBA
Paul Vixie

Elite Force At DEF CON 20!

Posted 5.8.12

We have another major addition to the Saturday night DEF-CON White Ball music line-up alongside The Crystal Method! DEF-CON is excited to bring renowned breaks+tech-funk act Elite Force to resonate your ears and chest cavity. Recently most well known for his RE:VAMPED series re-working such artists as Aphex Twin, Propellerheads, Meat Katie, Datsik, and many many others, Elite Force has been an established hacker friendly act for years. In fact, you may have heard of him through one of his earlier projects: Lunatic Calm (with the hit song "Leave You Far Behind," featured on movie soundtracks like The Jackal, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, and The Matrix).

Official Website: http://www.eliteforcemusic.com/
Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/elite-force

Videos:
1) Elite Force - Society Suicides: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nceAGqfdykQ
2) Elite Force - Captain America: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWkJ7nYE0cU
3) Elite Force - Law of Life: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWnjVRobf0w
4) Elite Force - Mainframe Wrekka: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3d6MMp9Gjk
5) Lunatic Calm - Leave You Far Behind: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maP6q3D4Hf0

DEF CON Extended Room Block at Rio is almost SOLD OUT!

Posted 5.2.12

Peak nights Friday and Saturday are almost gone. You can still save money and be at Rio by booking the nights available at our discounted rate and then paying the Rio rate for any nights that are no longer available in our Block.

When Friday and Saturday are sold out in our block the Rio rate of 7/27 at $299 and 7/28 at $329 will show up on your reservation.

These rates are subject to change based on availability.

Or we have rooms at Bally's

Starting on May 4th we will have overflow rooms at Bally's. There is a shuttle between Bally's and Rio That runs all day and into the evening.

Rates at Bally's are as follows:
Wednesday 7/25 $70.00
Thursday 7/26 $70.00
Friday 7/27 $150.00
Saturday 7/28 $150.00
Sunday 7/29 $70.00

To book at Bally's, use this link: http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations?propCode=BLV&groupCode=SBDEF2
Or call 1-800-358-8777 and reference group code SBDEF2

More Rooms at the Rio!

Posted 4.30.12

Limited additional room block open at Rio for DEF CON attendees. Save $100.00 per night for the weekend nights!

Wednesday night $138.00
Thursday night $158.00
Friday & Saturday nights $178.00

Act now before they are gone!

If you made your reservation during the time our block was filling up and you paid a higher rate for one or more nights the Rio has already adjusted your rate to the new current/lower rate!

Press Registration for DEF CON 20!

Posted 4.26.12

Journalists! Want to register as press for DEF CON 20? Check out the new Press Registration page for the rules and how you can apply for a press badge at DEF CON!

Contests, Events, and the Black Badge!

Posted 4.20.12

Want to get the latest on DEF CON 20 Contests, Events and Parties? Keep our eyes on the DC20: [Official / Unofficial] [Parties / Social Gatherings / Events / Contests] Forum on the DEF CON Forums. There is also a Contest & Event Update section at the top of the DEF CON 20 Home page for quick links to each of the individual sub-forums, and Black Badge events so far are marked with a bullet (•).

What is the Black Badge you ask? For those of you who don't know, the Black Badge is the highest award DEF CON gives to contest winners of certain events. CTF winners 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. Here are the ones chosen so far, and a few others are under consideration:

Capture the Flag
Capture the Packet
Crash & Compile
Hacker Jeopardy
Mystery Challenge

Also, If you are planning on running a contest or event this year, the Contest & Event RFI has been extended a few days and will close on May 5. Get those submissions in!

Reminders and new Pre-con Calendar

Posted 4.11.12

As DEF CON 20 planning revs in to high gear, we thought it might be useful to have a central location for important pre-con dates and deadlines. Enter the Pre-con Calendar, a new page for keeping track of just such dates! Have a look, and if you have a contest or event, with deadlines before con, that could use an entry on the calendar, send it to neil {at} defcon }dot{ org. Check back there frequently for new dates!

Here are some of the upcoming dates you may want to remember:

• April 15 - Vendor Application Opens
• April 30 - Call for Music Closes
• May 1 - Contest & Event RFI Closes
• May 28 - Call for Papers Closes
• June 1-3 - CTF Quals
• June 8 - Printed Program Materials Due

DEF CON 20 Site is Live!

Posted 4.4.12

If you're looking for a central location for all the latest info on this year's DEF CON, you're in luck! The DEF CON 20 site is now live at https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-20/dc-20-index.html!

DEF CON 20 CTF Updates!

Posted 4.4.12

News from the CTF front! The announcement of the DEF CON 20 CTF Quals was recently announced, and will take place June 1-3, 2012. You can find the details at ddtek.biz! We have another recent qualifying team to announce, team LeetChicken has won the Codegate 2012 YUT Challenge, which automatically qualifies them for DEF CON 20 CTF! Congratulations to them!

You can find all kinds of CTF info on the DEF CON 20 CTF Page, and tons of CTF links an write ups in the CTF Archive!

200 for 20

Posted 3.31.12

We'd like to announce that the price for DEF CON 20 will be $200 USD. What will we do with our ill-gotten gains, you may ask? We're going to make the 20th anniversary of DEF CON one to remember. More special swag, great live music, help for the contests to grow, 20 teams for CTF, special speakers, and numerous other secret stuffs. Believe us when we say it'll be the most epic DEF CON ever!

Want to get involved in making DEF CON 20 even more k-rad? Participate on the forums https://forum.defcon.org/

The Crystal Method At DEF CON 20!

Posted 3.30.12

As part of our 20th anniversary celebration, DEF CON is ecstatic to announce the headlining act for our Saturday evening White Ball: The Crystal Method! These guys are pioneers in the electronic music scene, with soundtrack appearances on movies like Spawn, Blade, The Replacement Killers, and many others.

Here are some samples to tide you over:

Drown in the Now feat. Matisyahu

Comin Back

Sine Language feat. LMFAO

DEF CON in the News

Posted 3.29.12

Check out this article in Vanity Fair, World War 3.0, which discusses the factions vying for control of the internet. Mentions of DEF CON, DT and other from the scene are numerous!

Which Past Shirts Should We Reprint?

Posted 3.28.12

We're thinking of doing a limited run of a few past shirts for sale at DEF CON, but which ones should we do? You can help us decide by checking out the gallery of past shirts on our Facebook page, and then voting for your favorite in our survey also on Facebook, or at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/defconshirts

Reboot Sneak Preview at DEF CON 20!

Posted 3.22.12

We are very excited to announce an Exclusive Sneak Preview screening of the film Reboot at DEF CON 20! Here is a peek at the premise from an article on the film:

"Set within a dystopian world that is a collision between technology and humanity, "Reboot" touches upon many of the current social and political concerns that arise from becoming more and more intertwined with the virtual.

In contemporary Los Angeles, a young female hacker (Stat) awakens from unconsciousness to find an iPhone glued to her hand and a mysterious countdown ticking away on the display. Suffering from head trauma, and with little recollection of who she is or what is happening, Stat races against time to figure out what the code means, and what unknown event the pending zero-hour will bring."

We are also excited that the filmmakers and lead cast members will be on hand at DEF CON for a Q&A session along with the screening! We'll have more info as this solidifies.

If you are looking for a fun gaming challenge, Reboot has a cool alternate reality game in which you can participate as well! Find more info at http://www.rebootfilm.com/scoreboard.

Watch the Trailer!

Special Music Events at DEF CON 20!

Posted 3.19.12

Exciting news that is first in a series of many! DEF CON is officially announcing some big musical guests this year, the first of whom is breakcore/glitch/hip-hop all-star Mochipet! You'll be able to catch him at the DEF CON 20 official opening Thursday night pool party!

Here are a few examples of Mochipet in action:

Whomp-a-saurus Sex

Mochipet Godzilla New Year Video by Savage Henry

A Milli Girls - Mochipet (pseudo-NSFW)

CODE 2600 Showing at DEF CON 20!

Posted 3.15.12

DEF CON is happy to announce Code 2600 will be showing at DEF CON 20! We will be the first hacker con to have the film shown and we are pretty excited about it. The filmmaker will be present and doing a Q & A after the screening! Like the CODE 2600 Facebook page or check out code2600.com for more info!

About the film:

CODE 2600 documents the rise of the Information Technology Age as told through the events and people who helped build and manipulate it. The film explores the impact this new connectivity has on our ability to remain human while maintaining our personal privacy and security. As we struggle to comprehend the wide-spanning socio-technical fallout caused by data collection and social networks, our modern culture is trapped in an undercurrent of cyber-attacks, identity theft and privacy invasion. Both enlightening and disturbing, CODE 2600 is a provocative wake-up call for a society caught in the grips of a global technology takeover.

The Cast:

Bruce Schneier,
Chief Security Technology Officer, BT

Jeff Moss,
Founder Def Con and Black Hat

Marcus Ranum,
Chief Security Officer, Tenable Security

Jennifer Granick,
Civil Liberties Director, EFF

Dr. Bob Lash,
Original Member of the Homebrew Computer Club

Eric Michaud,
Founder, Pumping Station One

Gideon Lenkey,
Security, CEO RA Security Systems

Lorrie Cranor,
Cylab, Carnegie Mellon University

Phil Lapsley,
Phone Phreaking Expert, Author

Robert Vamosi,
Computer Security Journalist, Author

Wallace Wang,
Author, "Steal This Computer Book"

DEF CON 20 Contest & Events!

Posted 3.13.12

We wanted to take a minute and point out some of the buzz around contests and events that are brewing on the DEF CON Forums and elsewhere. As you know, LosT @ Con Mystery Challenge will be returning for DEF CON 20, it looks like LosT may or may not already be seeding clues on Twitter (@1o57). The Unofficial DEF CON Shoot is looking pretty active in the planning stages. Other contests and events that have active forums are:

10,000¢ Hacker Pyramid
Capture the Flag
Project 2
Scavenger Hunt
Schemaverse
DEF CON 101
Goon Band
Hardware Hacking Village
Skytalks
Wireless Village
HackBus
Toxic BBQ

So head over to the Forums and see what's up! You can also keep up with all the updates as they occur on the DEF CON Twitter, The DEF CON RSS Feed, and the DEF CON Facebook Page

DC20 Call for Music Announced!

Posted 3.6.12

The DEF CON 20 Call for Music is now live and the sign up form is operational! You can check it out on the DEF CON Forums at https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=12734

New Speaker's Corner!

Posted 2.27.12

We have a brand spanking new Speaker's Corner for you, where Nikita gives her speaker liaison insight into what makes your CFP submission stand out! A must read for the aspiring or seasoned DEF CON submitter!

DEF CON 20 Contest & Event RFI

Posted 2.21.12

The DEF CON 20 Contest & Event Request for Information is live! If you already run or want to run a contest or event at DEF CON 20, it's where to find all of the info you need to get your contest or event on the map! Check it out at: https://www.defcon.org/html/defcon-20/dc-20-contest-rfi.html.

Book a Room at the Rio for DEF CON 20!

Posted 2.15.12

You can now book a room at the Rio for DEF CON 20 at our group rate! Do this one of two ways: Go to http://www.totalrewards.com/hotel-reservations?propCode=RLV&groupCode=SRDEF12, or call the hotel directly at 888-746-6955 and reference group code SRDEF12.

The nightly rates are split up as follows:
7/22 through 7/26 is $104
7/27 and 7/28 is $118
Then 7/29 through 7/31 is again $104

Get on it soon! Space is limited!

The DEF CON 20 Call for Papers is Open!

Posted 2.14.12

It's time again, friends, for the DEF CON Call for Papers to Open! Read the CFP announcement and fill out the CFP form to have the chance to present your ninja research at DEF CON's 20th Anniversary!

DC20 CTF Announcement!

Posted 2.5.12

Exciting news regarding the Capture the Flag Competition at DEF CON 20! Check out the announcement here.

New Speaker's Corner!

Posted 1.20.12

Paul Renda discusses the elements of what could make a successful doomsday worm in this new Speaker's Corner entitled "A Prima On An Internet Doomsday Worm."

Welcome New DEF CON Groups!

Posted 1.19.12

A new batch of DEF CON Groups has entered the fold! Welcome! If you would like to find a DEF CON Group in your area, check out the DEF CON Groups Listing, and if there isn't one, maybe you should start one!

Domestic
DC435 - Logan, UT
DC804 - Richmond, VA
DC916 - Sacramento, CA

International
DC0141 - Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
DC0230 - Ichalkaranji, India
DC11001000 Bogota, Colombia
DC110089 New Delhi, India
DC136118 - Kurukshetra, Haryana, India
DC141001 - Ludhiana, Punjab, India
DC4701 - Rockhampton, Australia
DC893 - Tokyo, Japan
DC91141 - Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
DC91895 - Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India

Merry Christmas from DEF CON!

Posted 12.25.11

It seems Santa has been in our servers, (I don't know how he does it, he must be 1337) and has left you a special gift! The Speaker & Slides video, as well as the the Audio from DEF CON 19 is now live and awaiting your downloading pleasure. You can find them on the DEF CON 19 Archive page, or on the following RSS Feeds:

https://www.defcon.org/podcast/defcon-19-video.rss
https://www.defcon.org/podcast/defcon-19-audio.rss

As 2011 winds down, we're working hard behind the scenes for a spectacular 20th anniversary of DEF CON in 2012! So keep your eyes on the DEF CON Facebook, Twitter, RSS Feed, or defcon.org for all the info as it happens! Enjoy!

Welcome New DEF CON Groups!

Posted 12.9.11

We'd like to welcome the following new groups to the DCG fold!

Domestic
DC317 - Indianapolis, IN
DC614 - Columbus, OH
DC765 - Lafayette, IN
DC909 - Pomona, CA

International
DC00497151 - Stuttgart, Germany
DC00977 - Lalitpur, India
DC02139 - Kiev, Ukraine
DC110006 - Delhi, India
DC15033 - Casale Monferrato, Italy
DC560001 - Bengaluru, India
DC636 - Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico
DC700077 - Kolkata, Westbengal, India
DC880 - Dhaka, Bangladesh
DC91022 - Mumbai, India
DC91361 - Guwahati, India

You can find out more about DEF CON Groups on the DCG FAQ, or follow DCG happenings on Facebook!

Christmas Deal on DEF CON 19 DVD Sets From TSOK!

Posted 12.6.11

If you're looking for the perfect Hacker gift, you can purchase the full DVD sets from DEF CON 19 from The Source of Knowledge at discounted prices up through Christmas Eve!

Hacker Jeopardy, Hacker Pyramid and Closing Ceremonies Video!

Posted 11.4.11

Even though Halloween has come and gone, we have some tasty video treats for your viewing pleasure! Check out the videos from 10,000¢ Hacker Pyramid, Hacker Jeopardy, and the DEF CON 19 Closing Ceremonies, and you can enjoy or re-live some of the fun we had at DEF CON 19!

10,000¢ Hacker Pyramid and Hacker Jeopardy - Friday Night
10,000¢ Hacker Pyramid and Hacker Jeopardy - Saturday Night
DEF CON 19 Closing Ceremonies

DEF CON 19 Video is Live!

Posted 10.26.11

At long last, we would like to present the DEF CON 19 video presentations (slides w/ audio of the talk) for your viewing enjoyment! You can access them on the DEF CON 19 Archive page, or on the RSS Feed at https://www.defcon.org/podcast/defcon-19-slides.rss!

Welcome New DEF CON Groups!

Posted 10.10.11

A big welcome to the most recent additions to DEF CON Groups!

Domestic
402 - Omaha, NE
410 - Baltimore, MD
509.1 - Spokane, WA
702 - Las Vegas, NV
801 - Salt Lake City, UT
805 - Thousand Oaks, CA

International
003348 - Presidencia Roque Sáenz Peña, Chaco, Argentina
0101 - Bogata, Columbia
0131 - Casale Monferrato, Italy
0497 - Kerala, India
303002 - Jaipur, India
6221 - Jakarta, Indonesia
9180 - Bangalore, Karnataka, India
91824 - Mangalore, Karnataka, India
941 - Colombo, Sri Lanka
9663 - Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

To find the DEF CON Group in your area check out the DCG Listing Page. If there isn't one, you can start one! Check out the DCG Point of Contact FAQ for details.