Organizers of DEF CON, the world’s largest hacker conference, have announced a date for its 20th anniversary in Las Vegas. The event took place from August 7 to August 10, just after Black Hat USA in a move organizers say will allow both events to grow and be successful together.
DEF CON is an annual conference that includes speakers, exhibitors, and attendees with interest in computer security. It should not be confused with “DEFCON,” the name of a global military defense system. “The core of DEF CON is the community it’s built,” said Jeff Moss, founder of DEF CON and counter-terrorism expert ranked as one of the top 10 most influential people in the hacker community. “We wanted to celebrate more than 20 years of an event that has brought together the best hackers on the planet.”
The event hosted about 2,000 attendees, almost double last year’s event, and was a necessity for organizers after Black Hat grew to become one of the top security conferences in the world. The two events have had a strong history together. Moss helped organize Black Hat after it was created as a spinoff from DEF CON in 2005. “I wanted another Vegas conference that focused on security,” said Jeff Moss, better known as the Dark Tangent. “I took a bunch of people from DEF CON and put them on a stage. It was the first time I’d ever done it.”
The main event is held at the Rio Casino and Hotel, which has been the event’s home for the past three years. A third more minor event is also to be hosted at The Orleans Casino and Hotel that takes place the same weekend. The events have been held separately in recent years after Checkpoint acquired Black Hat from Inverse in 2010 and sold it to Cylance this year. However, they’re back together again after organizers say they wanted to bring them together again as a new tradition is created.
The two events hosted some new additions that were added to appease both DEF CON and Black Hat attendees. There will be a Def Con Arcade area for kids of all ages to play video games and have a chance to get up close with vendors and industry experts for hands-on experience. The DEF CON Social Club will also be created as a place for attendees to interact, share their knowledge, ask questions and learn from other experts in the field. The social club will include topics such as “Hackers Guide To Voting Machines” to meetings like “Hacking How-Tos,” where attendees are encouraged to form groups and work on specific projects. DEF CON and Black Hat have partnered with Bugcrowd, a bug bounty program that allows hackers to find and report vulnerabilities. Bugcrowd will be offering a $1 million top prize for anyone who finds the most severe security flaws in the two events’ systems. The company has already awarded more than $1.6 million since it started in 2012, adding another $1 million to its kitty by last year’s DEF CON alone.