DEF CON
Encyclopedia
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. The first DEF CON took place in June 1993.
Many of the attendees at DEF CON include computer security
Computer security
Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
professionals, journalists, lawyers, federal government employees, cracker
Black hat
A black hat is the villain or bad guy, especially in a western movie in which such a character would stereotypically wear a black hat in contrast to the hero's white hat, especially in black and white movies....
s, cyber-criminals, security researchers, and hackers
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
with a general interest in computer code
Source code
In computer science, source code is text written using the format and syntax of the programming language that it is being written in. Such a language is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source...
, computer architecture
Computer architecture
In computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
, phone phreaking
Phreaking
Phreaking is a slang term coined to describe the activity of a culture of people who study, experiment with, or explore telecommunication systems, such as equipment and systems connected to public telephone networks. As telephone networks have become computerized, phreaking has become closely...
, hardware modification, and anything else that can be "hacked". The event 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
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
connection and cracking computer systems to who can most effectively cool a beer in the Nevada heat. Other contests include lockpicking, robotics-related contests
Defcon Robot Contest
The Defcon Robot Contest is a robotics competition which is held at the annual Defcon computer security conference in Las Vegas.-Defcon 12 :...
(discontinued), art, slogan, coffee wars (not currently running), scavenger hunt
Scavenger hunt
A scavenger hunt is a game in which the organizers prepare a list defining specific items, using which the participants — individuals or teams — seek to gather all items on the list — usually without purchasing them — or perform tasks or take photographs of the items, as specified...
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.
Conference founder Jeff Moss
Jeff Moss (hacker)
Jeff Moss, also known as The Dark Tangent, is the founder of the Black Hat and DEF CON computer hacker conferences.Moss graduated from Gonzaga University with a BA in Criminal Justice...
contends that the quality of submitted talks has diminished since DEF CON's inception.
Since DEF CON 11, fundraisers have been conducted for the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit digital rights advocacy and legal organization based in the United States...
. The first fundraiser was a dunk tank
Dunk tank
A dunk tank, also known as a dunking booth or dunking machine, is an attraction mainly used in funfairs, fundraisers, and personal parties. Basically, a dunk tank consists of a large tank of water, over which a seat is suspended...
and was an "official" event. The EFF now has an event named "The Summit" hosted by the Vegas 2.0 crew that is an open event and fundraiser. DefCon 18 (2010) hosted a new fundraiser called MohawkCon. In 2010, over 10,000 people attended DEF CON 18.
Federal law enforcement agents from the FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
, DoD
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
, United States Postal Inspection Service
United States Postal Inspection Service
The United States Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. Its jurisdiction is defined as "crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S...
, and other agencies regularly attend DEF CON.
History
DEF CON was founded in 1992 by Jeff MossJeff Moss (hacker)
Jeff Moss, also known as The Dark Tangent, is the founder of the Black Hat and DEF CON computer hacker conferences.Moss graduated from Gonzaga University with a BA in Criminal Justice...
as a farewell party for his friend and fellow hacker. The party was planned for Las Vegas a few days before his friend was to leave the United States, because his father had accepted employment out of the country. However, his friend's father left early, taking his friend along, so Jeff was left alone with the entire party planned. Jeff decided to invite all his hacker friends to go to Las Vegas with him and have the party with them instead. Hacker friends from far and wide got together and laid the foundation for DEF CON, with roughly 100 persons in attendance. The term DEF CON comes from the movie War Games
WarGames
WarGames is a 1983 American Cold War suspense/science-fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy....
, obviously alluding to the U.S. Armed Forces defense readiness condition (DEFCON)
DEFCON
A defense readiness condition is an alert posture used by the United States Armed Forces. The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and unified and specified combatant commands. It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness for the U.S...
. In the movie, Las Vegas was selected as a nuclear target, and since the event was being hosted in Las Vegas, it occurred to Jeff Moss to name the convention DEFCON. However, to a lesser extent, CON also stands for convention and DEF stands for the number 3 on a telephone, a reference to phone phreakers. DEF CON was planned to be a one-time event, a party for his friend, but he kept getting emails from people encouraging him to host again the next year. After a while, he was convinced to host the event again, and the attendance nearly doubled the second year.
A semi-fictionalized account of DefCon II, "Cyber Christ Meets Lady Luck" written by Winn Schwartau demonstrates some of the early DefCon culture.
2001
On July 16, 2001, Russian programmer Dmitry SklyarovDmitry Sklyarov
Dmitry Vitalevich Sklyarov is a Russian computer programmer known for his 2001 arrest by American law enforcement over software copyright restrictions under the DMCA anti-circumvention provision...
was arrested the day after DEF CON for writing software to decrypt Adobe's
Adobe Systems
Adobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
e-book
E-book
An electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
format.
2005
On July 31, 2005, CiscoCisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Jose, California, United States, that designs and sells consumer electronics, networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Cisco has more than 70,000 employees and annual revenue of US$...
used legal threats to suppress Mike Lynn
Michael Lynn
Michael Thomas Lynn is an American computer security expert currently employed by Juniper Networks and known for his presentation on vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS at Black Hat and the controversy with Cisco Systems that followed...
from presenting at DEF CON about flaws he'd found in the Cisco IOS
Cisco IOS
Cisco IOS is the software used on the vast majority of Cisco Systems routers and current Cisco network switches...
used on routers.
2007
In August 2007, Michelle Madigan, a reporter for Dateline NBCDateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
, attempted to secretly record hackers admitting to crimes at the convention. After being outed by DEF CON founder Jeff Moss during an assembly, she was heckled and chased out of the convention by attendees for her use of covert audio and video recording equipment. DEF CON staff tried to get Madigan to obtain a press pass before the outing happened.
A DEF CON source at NBC had tipped off organizers to Madigan's plans.
2008
MIT students Zack Anderson, R.J. Ryan and Alessandro Chiesa were to present a session entitled "The Anatomy of a Subway Hack: Breaking Crypto RFIDS and Magstripes of Ticketing Systems". The presentation description included the phrase "Want free subway rides for life?" and promised to focus on the Boston T subway. However, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) sued the students and MIT in United States District Court in Massachusetts on August 8, claiming that the students violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by delivering information to conference attendees that could be used to defraud the MBTA of transit fares.The court issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting the students from disclosing the material for a period of ten days, despite the fact the material had already been disseminated to DefCon attendees at the start of the show.
In 2008's contest "Race to Zero", contestants submitted a version of given malware which was required to be undetectable by all of the antivirus engines in each round. The contest concept attracted much negative attention.
2011
Security company HBGary Federal used legal threats to prevent former CEO Aaron Barr from attending a panel discussion at the conference.List of venues
- The first DEF CON was held at the Sands Hotel & CasinoSands HotelThe Sands Hotel was a historic Las Vegas Strip hotel/casino that operated from December 15, 1952 to June 30, 1996. Designed by architect Wayne McAllister, the Sands was the seventh resort that opened on the Strip....
in June 1993. - DEF CON 2 was held at the Sahara Hotel and Casino in 1994.
- DEF CON 3 was held at the Tropicana Resort & CasinoTropicana Resort & CasinoTropicana Las Vegas is located on the Las Vegas Strip, in the township of Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Tropicana Las Vegas Hotel and Resort Inc. and operated by Alex Yemenidjian's Armenco Holdings. It offers 1,658 rooms and is attached to a casino...
in 1995. - DEF CON 4 was held at the Monte Carlo Resort and CasinoMonte Carlo Resort and CasinoThe Monte Carlo Resort and Casino is a megaresort hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, USA. The hotel is 32 stories, featuring a casino floor with over 2,200 slot and video poker machines and 95 table games. It is operated by MGM Resorts International...
in 1996. - DEF CON 5 was held at the Aladdin Hotel & Casino in 1997.
- DEF CON 6 was held at the Plaza Hotel & CasinoPlaza Hotel & CasinoThe Plaza Hotel & Casino is a casino-hotel located in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada owned by the Tamares Group and Play LV is the leaseholder and operator of the property. It currently has 1,037 rooms and suites, as well as an casino and there is more than of event space...
in 1998. - DEF CON 7 through DEF CON 13 were held at the Alexis Park Resort from 1999 to 2005.
- DEF CON 14 through DEF CON 18 were held at the Riviera Hotel & CasinoRiviera (hotel and casino)The Riviera is a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Winchester, Nevada. The hotel has over 2,100 rooms, many located in a 23-story tower. The casino has of gaming space.-History:...
in Las VegasLas Vegas StripThe Las Vegas Strip is an approximately stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada; adjacent to, but outside the city limits of Las Vegas proper. The Strip lies within the unincorporated townships of Paradise and Winchester...
, NevadaNevadaNevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
from 2006 to 2010. - DEF CON 19 was held at the Rio Hotel & CasinoRio All Suite Hotel and CasinoThe Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino is located off the Las Vegas Strip in the unincorporated area of Paradise, Nevada, USA. It is better known as The Rio and is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Inc. The Rio was the first all suite resort in the Las Vegas area...
.
External links
Contests- CoffeeWars: 2007 Official contest
- Race to Zero: 2008 Official contest
Venues
Multimedia