competition at
DEF CON 17 A
hacker conference, also known as a
hacker con, is a
convention for
hackers. These serve as meeting places for
phreakers,
hackers, and
security professionals. The actual events, time-spans, and details of various themes of these conventions not only depends on the specific convention attended but also its perceived reputation. Typically the actual details of any given convention are couched in mild secrecy due to the legality of certain panels, as well as the willingness of attendees to explain themselves to law enforcement and less computer-savvy individuals (see
hacker definition controversy). Common topics include
wardriving,
lockpicking, corporate and network security, personal rights and freedoms, new technologies, as well as general 'geek' motifs. Some may also have contests and general collaborative events such as
hackathons. One facet of Hacker conferences that tends to differentiate many "HackerCons" from general computer security conferences, is the evolution of the conference badge. While many conferences use a fairly standard paper/plastic badge to identify attendees by name, many hacker con's have evolved to use more non-traditional badges, such as electronic PCB's with LED's, LCD screens, and can include wifi and advanced, often hidden functionality, to include games, that do not identify the individual, sometimes promoting a group identity or regional/local group affiliation. This has spurred the creation of so-called "badgelife" where different individuals and organizations (such as local hacker groups) may design, create, and sell or otherwise distribute a separate badge attendees wear in addition to their conference badge. These badges may be purchased, but some may have to be earned by completing a challenge at the conference. One of the rarest and most desirable badges is the
DefCon Black Badge. While the use of the badges are traditionally associated with DefCon, their use has spread to other conferences. Pixelflut is a common activity at hacker events. It is a protocol for software to draw a
canvas. Usually this is done in a client-server architecture with multiple clients who send individual pixels and the server displays. The clients then overwrite each other's images on the same server. There are various variants of the protocol and different implementations for both the server and the client.
List of hacker conferences • AthCon, the largest hacker conference in South Eastern Europe taking place annually in Athens, Greece. •
BSides, community conference that initially started in the US is now global. • Blackhoodie, is a series of free, women-only reverse engineering conference offering workshops and talks. They are held in different cities around the world on a regular basis to encourage women interested in the cyber security field. •
BornHack, an annual hacker camp on the Danish island of Funen. •
CactusCon, the largest hacker and cybersecurity conference in
Arizona, held annually since 2012. •
CarolinaCon, an annual
information security and
rights conference held every spring in
North Carolina's
Research Triangle. •
Chaos Communication Congress, the oldest and Europe's largest hacker conference, held by
Chaos Computer Club. • CIA Conference - A series of international conference on cyber security which aims to bridge the gap between the corporate need of cyber security to the fancy world of hacking. •
Cop CON, is a unique Cyber Policing Conference held across
India every year by Indian Cyber Army. •
CypherCon, a
Milwaukee based hacker conference held late winter each year. •
DEF CON, in
Las Vegas,
Nevada, is the biggest hacker convention in the
United States held during summer (June–August). •
DerbyCon, an annual hacker conference based in Louisville, KY (2011–2019). •
DEVSEC Conf, National Conference on
Cyber Security and Operation Development (
DevOps) in Farsi in Iran •
Diana Initiative, an annual hacker conference to promote Women in cybersecurity technologies by The Diana Initiative non profit org located in Las Vegas, NV. •
Digital Overdose Con, a
Europe based hacker and tech conference focused on rookies held in the spring each year. •
Ekoparty, a hacker convention in Argentina and one of the most important in South America, held annually around September in Buenos Aires. •
GrrCon, an annual hacker conference hosted each September in Grand Rapids, Michigan. • GroundZero Summit, an annual hacker conference hosted each November in Hotel Ashoka, New Delhi. •
Hack in the Box, an annual hacker conference. •
Hackers Day is one of the hacking conferences in
India held frequently in January–February every year. The organizers also used to organize DEFCON
Lucknow, which was dissolved by the
DEFCON after many controversies arose in 2016. •
Hackers 2 Hackers Conference (H2HC) is the oldest security research (hacking) conference in Latin America and one of the oldest ones still active in the world. •
Hackers Idol, is a unique Hackers & Cyber Enthusiast Talent Hunt held across
India every year by Indian Cyber Army. •
Hackers Next Door, in
New York City is held by
Tech Learning Collective during the Winter (November/December). •
Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE), in
New York City is held by
2600: The Hacker Quarterly in mid-summer (July/August) every other year. •
Hackfest.ca, in Quebec, Canada, bilingual conferences and hacking games. •
Hackers Teaching Hackers, a hacker conference in Columbus, Ohio, featuring talks, hands-on villages, a CTF, mentorship, and more. • HackMiami Conference, a hacker conference in Miami, Florida, organized by the
HackMiami hackerspace. • Hardwear.io - Hardware Security Conference is an annual Hardware Security event held in The Hague, Netherlands. It is being organized every year to answer the emerging threats and attacks on hardware. •
IDSECCONF, Indonesian annual IT Hacking and Cybersecurity conference. •
INFILTRATE, hosted by Immunity, Inc, is a deep technical security conference that focuses on offensive technical issues. The conference has been held annually in
Miami Beach,
Florida since 2011. •
Kernelcon, is an
Omaha, Nebraska hacker convention held annually in April, beginning in 2019. •
Kiwicon, is a
Wellington, New Zealand hacker convention. •
LayerOne, held every spring in Los Angeles, California. •
LeHack, FRENCH HACKERS CONFERENCE hosted in Paris •
Malcon, the world's first International Malware Conference, hosted in India. • No Hat is an international computer security conference held annually in Bergamo (IT), and considered the largest technical security event in Italy. •
NorthSec, in
Montreal,
Quebec, is an applied security event held yearly mid-May, featuring two days of conference followed by a 48h on-site CTF. •
Notacon, in
Cleveland,
Ohio, is an art and technology conference held frequently in mid-April. •
Nuit Du Hack, in
Paris,
France, is the oldest and largest hacker conference held frequently in late-June. •
PhreakNIC, in
Nashville,
Tennessee, is held by Nashville 2600. around October. • Pumpcon, A yearly HackerCon in a bar in Philadelphia, PA. • Quahogcon, In
Providence,
Rhode Island is held at the end of April. • Roadsec, One of the biggest hacking conferences in Latin America, held in Brazil, with smaller city editions throughout the whole year, and a big ending edition held in São Paulo in November (February - November). • ROOTCON, is the leading pioneer of hacking conferences in the
Philippines and the most sought after conference by security researchers, professionals and enthusiasts for top caliber source of security skills and discoveries that is held annually around the months of September - October. •
RootedCON, in
Madrid,
Spain, is one of the biggest hacker conference in
Europe. This convention started in 2010. (March) •
ShellCon, in
Los Angeles CA is an information security conference that is held annually in the beautiful beach cities of Los Angeles. •
ShmooCon, in
Washington, DC is an annual east coast hacker conference that is held in Washington, DC. •
SkyDogCon, A technology conference in Nashville, TN for the individual with the Renaissance Mind. SkyDogCon exists to facilitate learning, information sharing, and mingling with like-minded people in a relaxed atmosphere. • Sthack is an annual security conference in
Bordeaux, followed by the traditional Capture The Flag. •
Summercon, one of the oldest hacker conventions, held during Summer (frequently in June). It helped set a precedent for more modern "cons" such as H.O.P.E. and DEF CON. •
The Hackers Conference, is India's biggest Cyber Security Conference held in New Delhi,
India every Year. •
THOTCON, a
Chicago based hacker conference held in the Spring each year. •
ToorCon, San Diego hacker convention that emerged from the 2600 user group frequently in late September. •
WildWestHackinFest, a conference focused on training and development held in
Deadwood, South Dakota in October. Explore the
Black Hills and learn how to hack all the things, including the
IoT. • ZeroAccess, is a unique International Cyber Security Conference held in India,
India in the Month of April by Indian Cyber Army == Non-annual hacker conventions ==