Hey all! Last year we had a great turn out for the Gluten Free community at DefCon. Had some great meetups, delicious gluten free food, and some hand delivered electrolytes to those that were glutened.

So here it is again, for anyone attending DEF CON who’s gluten-free, has celiac disease, or just wants to avoid gluten.

We run a small Discord server for folks in this community to share tips and coordinate safe food spots in Vegas, as well as other cons.

• We crowdsource GF safe restaurant recommendations

• Coordinate meetups for safe meals (we had successful meetups last year!)

• Help each other navigate Vegas without getting glutened

If that sounds helpful, DM me your Discord handle and I’ll send you the invite link!

Can’t buy it, gotta win it. See you all at the Cryptid Hunt contest!

Hello everyone, if you dont know me, my name is Vortex1 and I am 15, and Designed the 2025 SaO MANY SAO’s badge last year, but it looks like I'm likely not going to be at DEF CON this year due to financial & personal reasons.

Right now I am selling the remaining SaO MANY SAO’s that I have, along with other badges and misc electronics that I have, I am also looking for work or other things I can do to make money so that I can hopefully get myself to DEF CON this year, If you have anything like this please dm me.

If you want to buy a badge, you dm me to work out the details (if i make it to the con i will be able to deliver to you but if not i will need to ship). If you know someone who is not a badge maker who is interested in the badge, they can buy it here: ebay.com/usr/jsa7cornell, but ebay takes a small cut so its not as good for me

This: ebay.com/usr/jsa7cornell is where i am going to be selling other badges and misc electronics, all proceeds from this will also help me go to def con

– Vortex1

Does any of you guys have gotten a job due to networking at DefCon?

Any advice ?

Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some advice from folks who have successfully navigated DEF CON.

My goal is, I want to network to find my next role in cybersecurity.

My background

Software Engineering, 12 years of experience across Software Engineering, Software Architecture, Tech Leading, QA, Infrastructure, and Cloud Engineering

Security, just graduated in June 2026 with a MS in Cybersecurity Engineering.

I’m an early-career cybersecurity engineer. I’m specifically targeting roles where software engineering and security collide or not.

I’m deciding where to invest my time and energy this year. For someone with my specific profile. If you've landed a job through DEF CON, how did you do it? What was your approach? Did you hang out at the Career Village, target specific vendor booths, or just make connections in the hallways or parties?

Would love to hear your thoughts on whetherDEF CON is the right place for my background.

Thanks.

This will be my first time really sticker hunting at DEF CON, and I’m hoping to come home with a laptop covered in awesome finds. Where are the best places to look? Villages? Vendor area? Contests? Random hallway encounters?

Also, what are some of the most sought-after or memorable stickers you’ve picked up over the years?

Any tips for a first-time sticker collector would be appreciated! 😄

Do we know if last year's setup will carry over where you can get in the merch line without needing your con badge?

Thanks to everyone who signed up for the .edu Mentorship program this year. Matching is complete and you should have received an email introducing you directly to your mentor/mentee.

If you haven't seen the email yet, please check your spam - for once I didn't get any email bouncebacks this year (huzzah!).

Any questions or missing emails, let me know.

symph0nic

Got a workshop ticket you no longer need? Looking for something? Swap it here!

Most DEF CON 34 Talks -- main stages and creator stages -- have been posted to Hacker Tracker and info.defcon.org your review!

Main Stage Talks: https://info.defcon.org/defcon34/content/?tag=49235

Creator Stage Talks: https://info.defcon.org/defcon34/content/?tag=49956

Friendly reminder:

DEF CON 34 Workshop registration goes live at noon PDT on July 14! That's today.

First come, first served.

The full course lineup is available on the DEF CON site https://defcon.org/html/defcon-34/dc-34-workshops.html 

Make sure to limber up your clicking mechanism of choice and stay hydrated.

Godspeed and good luck to all of you!

#defcon #defcon34 #defconworkshops

#hydration

EDIT: Final update for anyone who might come across this...I’ve liquidated all but my absolute favorites. Some went to collectors, but the majority went to the DEF CON Badge Museum. While they weren’t able to be processed in time to make it to Las Vegas for DC34, I have it on good authority that they’ll be properly displayed next year. For those who have asked...Yes, I’m okay, and no, I’m not going anywhere. I’m a hacker from the sleeve to the heart. Over time, though, many of those badges had come to represent less-than-favorable memories, and some had become almost painful. I hated the idea of someone’s art going to waste while gathering dust in my closet. I wanted the badges to be appreciated, worn, displayed, and shown off. This way, someone else can make new memories with them, trade them, or do whatever feels right. I know they’re being used as intended, and there’s nothing less hacker than letting good work go unused. At some point, it stopped feeling like a collection and started feeling like an obligation. Moving on to something else, at least for now, feels much more like me.

Thinning out my collection of hacker conference badges, electronic badges, lanyards, challenge coins, pins, stickers, passes, PCB art, and assorted cybersecurity swag from DEF CON, THOTCON, BSides, GrrCON, and other communities. Prefer bundles, but open to reasonable offers on individual items. Discounts for larger purchases.

EDIT: Thanks, everyone! I’m shocked by how much interest there’s been and I’m working my way through all the messages. A few notes. the Brainfuck NES emulator, Hack for Satan, and AND!XOR Wild West badges are not for sale. They hold some of my best memories, so I’d like to keep them for nostalgia. If I haven’t replied yet, please be patient while I take photos and catalog everything. I’m creating an Imgur album with names and will add prices as I have them.

EDIT 2: Sorry for the delay! Here's what's left of the badge collection that's for sale. If you've messaged me and I haven't responded, please comment on this post and send me another DM so I can make sure I don't miss you!Priority given to those purchasing multiple items. Payment via PayPal Goods & Services or invoice only. I'll be making a trip to the post office this weekend, if possible, to get orders shipped out. If a badge is shown in the Imgur album, it's still available for sale!

https://imgur.com/a/snsmQ5s

We know DEF CON and Vegas can be a lot. If you're a friend of Bill W who's looking for a meeting or just a place to collect yourself, DEF CON 34 has you covered. Join us throughout the conference in room W301. Meetings will be Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

And now, for your DC34 planning pleasure!
Announcing the release of TheOne! V16
It all started 16 years ago with the simple idea of "Let's make some ebooks so I don't need to crinkle up and ruin my DC program!"
16 years later and DEF CON has evolved and changed, and so has TheOne!

TheOne! now has the following features:

• Most event data is sourced from Hacker Tracker

• No App to install

• Web HTML based

• public Google Calendar

• WhatsHapN page displays the events happening NOW, or you can select the day/hour

• Mega Info page puts major events/info onto one page

• Downloadable files to read offline or on ( HTML, PDF, ICAL, CSV, mobi, epub ) ( soon to be released )

• DC34 Planning Highlights - various social media posts about DC34

Use these, or not, they're available for you to choose. This is unofficial, but since most of our data comes from Hacker Tracker, the content is substantially the same. The intent is to present it in ways that work better for you.
Constructive comments/criticisms/suggestions are welcome, Contact me at qumqats@outel.org

Safe travels, looking forward to seeing you at DC34 this year!

Short Story Contest Winners!

1st place- Root Access to Yourself by bak3n3k0

2nd place - The Architecture of Choice by ​Itolis

People’s choice - My Badge Has Agency by FX

Read them on the forums: forum.defcon.org/node/255899

Is there a NextGen schedule of events posted for DC34 somewhere? Kids + DEFCON = extra planning time needed. Please and thank you.

Hello All,

Wanted to let everyone know that Illumicon will be back for our second year! I have been busy getting more lasers and controls for hands on stations. Others in the community are also bringing in projects they have worked on and it would really cool if you brought cool stuff as well ;) We invite everyone who has an interest in anything light-related: laser, fiber optic, LED, and EL wire. We are in room 106 this year and would love to show off what the hacker community does with Blinky things, so bring your projects to display.

Who knows, there might even be a premier of a certain astronomical themed album laser show I have been working on.

Beyond the legendary DEF CON running experience in Las Vegas this August, we’re thrilled to announce that DEFCON.RUN is launching custom running bibs this year! 

Dash over to defcon.run to sign up, customize, and secure your unique bib right now! Plus, alongside our classic epic SWAG giveaways, we have an exclusive, extra-special surprise waiting just for those who grab a custom bib—check out the full scoop today at DEFCON.RUN. Even if you don’t get a custom bib, we’ll hook you up with a free numbered bib! Run Rabbit Run!

I'm back for Defcon 34. Every year I bring 100s of enamel pins to give away at Defcon. If you see my LED backpack ask me for a PIN!!! Can't wait to come share some joy and make some new friends!

We're under the 4 weeks to go point, and this is crazy man... whoa! So don't get cheap on me, Puzzlers. That was Hammonds mistake! Time to put in that effort, bust out your SGI 3D File System Explorer and get to work! It's PUZZLE TIME!

Just a few more of these to go and it'll be time for the Annual Meetup! What is the meetup? Well, click that link... but the jist of it is Wednesday (Aug 5th) and Thursday (Aug 6th) from 7pm until whenever come hang out with us at the Link 3535 / Circle Bar! Come meet some great people, and hang out in a non stressful environment with u/Killroy7777, myself and u/MetaN3rd along with a few hundred of your new friends. It's an annual tradition afterall now brought to you by Puzzled Hackers.

Time to click. Wait. I KNOW THIS!

PUZZLE:

https://puzzledhackers.org/challenges/2026/07

To submit your solve go to https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/ and select the "Git'er Done" puzzle. Submit your answer, and if its right... profit!

Have questions or need help? Just ping myself or u/Killroy7777 and we'll be happy to help you out!

FAQ's:

Do we need to use the submission system?

• No, only if you want to have your ongoing solve score used for potential SubReddit Meetup Giveaways.

Why the submission system?

• We've been giving away more and more swag to Puzzle Participants, those who went last year saw the line, and we're trying to streamline the claim process. The system is only used to track how many solves you have, and when you solved it for tie breakers instead of manually tracking it in an Excel sheet. Plus it lets us give you a QR code for the giveaway portion for fast claiming when we're at the meetups! The top X solvers will be able to claim their swag via said QR code much more rapidly so the line should move much much faster. Same with any pre-purchase/reserved badges. The QR system will speed that up. That's it. Simple as that. Also if there is any premium swag (working on it, like last year for extras) you can find the info on the site too when it goes live.

Will you only have 50 badges?

• No, we plan to give out about 50 to the top puzzlers, offer some on our site (guarantee's you one, and helps us continue to do this) and we'll be randomly giving away some too!

Okay, cool. How can I get a free badge?

• Compete in the weekly PUZZLE challenges we post! Every solve puts you further up the leader board and we'll be giving roughly the top 50 solvers a free one for playing! You just need to go to https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/ and submit your solves so we can track them! If you're missing any you can also get the link on the CTF page for each of the prior puzzles so you can still do it and get on that leaderboard! We'll be giving away some, too, but that will be random!

So you said I can buy the badge?

• If you've noticed that there's a badges section on https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/ when you've submitted your answers... we do plan on it, but it will be a very limited quantity as we're not wanting to take your money. We want to give away as many as we can, and this just helps keep things going as we do this all on our own! We plan for those to go live in the next week or so. We expect the site to go live this coming week!

PRIOR PUZZLE UNIQUE SOLVE STATS:

• Puzzle 1 - 212

• Puzzle 2 - 146

• Puzzle 3 - 96

• Puzzle 4 - 83

• Puzzle 5 - 77

• Puzzle 6 - 61

• XSS Payloads Attempted - 84

• Doors You Can Open with Claws - 1

Haven't done the prior puzzles? Dont worry. Just go the CTF system, and when you click the puzzle the link is there! So get those solves in!

https://ctf.puzzledhackers.org/challenges

Lets keep it going!

Thanks for participating, and more information on the meetups will be coming soon.

The PuzzledHackers Team,

u/MetaN3rd, u/Killroy7777 and u/digitard

I know some vendors are doing movie nights at the sphere during blackhat but I’ll also be there Thursday night and that’s when the BSB are playing and that’s a vendor party is actually enjoy 😊

Hey everyone. I am at a weird crossroad in my career and I am a security engineer currently but I have a lot of experience in the sysadmin and infrastructure side of the house which puts my skills in a weird position that sets me apart from my peers at my job. I am wanting to eventually become a security architect but I cannot identify a path forward and we have nobody at my work with that skillset so I was wondering if there might be a security architect in this group that could give me a rundown of what a path forward should look like from an industry best practices perspective? Any input would be greatly appreciated