Started in 1992 by the Dark Tangent, DEF CON is the world’s longest running and largest underground hacking conference. Hackers, corporate IT professionals, and three letter government agencies all converge on Las Vegas every summer to absorb cutting edge hacking research from the most brilliant minds in the world and test their skills in contests of hacking might at DEF CON.
Many of the attendees at DEF CON include computer security professionals, journalists, lawyers, federal government employees, crackers, cyber-criminals, security researchers, and hackers with a general interest in computer code, computer architecture, phone phreaking, hardware modification, and anything else that can be “hacked”. DEF CON consists of several tracks of speakers about computer- and hacking-related subjects, as well as social events and contests in everything from creating the longest Wi-Fi connection and cracking computer systems to who can most effectively cool a beer in the Nevada heat.
Other contests include lockpicking, robotics-related contests (discontinued), art, slogan, coffee wars (not currently running), scavenger hunt and Capture the Flag. Capture the Flag (CTF) is perhaps the best known of these contests. It is a hacking competition where teams of hackers attempt to attack and defend computers and networks. CTF has been emulated at other hacking conferences as well as in academic and military contexts. DEF CON 20 (2012) will be held July 26-29 at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
