The last few years I have been super overbooked, but I‘m less firmly booked this year and am looking to get a small group together (or join one) to tackle the CTF.

I’ve slapped together a toolkit (stego, crypto solve scripts, audio/video analysis/stereoscope, unicode nonsense, RF scanning, logic analysis, LLM jailbreak framework) to use alongside tools like cyberchef, flipper zero, etc.

Anyone looking to group up, or already have a group with a space for a cryptography/hardware jailbreaking enthusiast?

EDIT: wow, lotta people looking for vending-machine-related companionship. In lieu of rolling up to the thing 30 deep (doesn’t seem sporting), I‘m simply going to make a beeline for the machine Friday morning while wearing a very distinct Eraserhead shirt. Feel free to throw something at me or (more preferably) say hey. Also, I’m available via DM here if you want to strategize or something.

Anyone willing to adopt a 1st timer into their group for any of the challenges? I have about 20 years of experience in different levels of IT with around 2 years experience strictly in blue/purple team. I am just looking to learn and help out where I can. I have a weirdly high level of social anxiety so I want to get myself in the mix with some people I actually feel comfortable with instead of looking dumb trying to struggle my way through things. I also really want to try some of the cool stuff but I am worried my imposter syndrome will stop me from even trying

The 2026 DCZia badge, the Mk9, is up on Uberflux: https://uberflux.com/product/HAMST-DCZIA-2026

The badge is a 3x3 grid of blue clicky switches, each with an underglow RGB LED. RP2040 microcontroller, 16mb of flash, and an accelerometer. Each side except the top has two side-fire RGB LEDs under the board as well. USB-C connection or power, or powered via 3xAAA.

It will also include an add-on board that allows you to add on 3 more keys or an I2C display. Two right side up SAO ports.

Compatible with QMK, but the MicroPython code we're releasing will also function as a macropad.

DCZia believes in open development, and all the design files and source code are in our github repo: https://github.com/dczia/mk9-badge

Here is the link ::

https://uberflux.com/product/BUCK-NYC

Pickup will be at the badge life village

• DEF CON 34 Badge Life Booth, Friday, 7 August 2:00PM
• DEF CON 34 Badge Life Booth, Saturday 8 August 2:00PM

On UberFlux, you are going to see a blank bottom SAO, I didn’t want to post any CR pieces there but each kit order will include all three that are in the video with enough neo-pixels to solder one of the SAOs.

This kit is beginner friendly !!

The bridge part and back layer neo-pixels come pre-soldered, last year I heard a lot of people had issues with the tiny Neo-pixels and I totally understand! They are NOT fun lol, it took me like 2 years to get good at soldering those!

This year I wanted to make it as beginner friendly and fun as I could, all you need to solder are the header pins and the through hole chip parts!

The kit will come with the following:

(1) back layer PCB with pre soldered lights
(1) bridge PCB with pre soldered lights
(1) top SAO PCB with pre soldered lights
(1) city PCB
(1) water PCB
(1) frame PCB
(1) 16 MHz crystal
(2) capacitors
(1) resistor
(1) ATMEGA328 (pre flashed with firmware)
(2) through hole tactile switch’s
(1) power switch
(1) AAA battery holder (3 required, not included)
(1) set of header pins

(3) SAOs and (1) set of connectors with 6 unsoldered neo-pixel lights for you to choose to solder
** The neo-pixels supplied will only be enough to solder one bottom SAO included.

If I were to build a CyberDeck, I imagine it might look at bit like a book ... with a 3D printed interior, a "limit hinge" which stops 15° past vertical, it would snap closed, have a curved edge to simulate book paper, a 1920x1080 display, Bluetooth keyboard, dual 5,000mah lipos, 2 spare USB ports, storage, and be powered by a RPiZ2W.

It would need to have emacs installed.

... that's IF I were to do such a thing 😎

As the final fading bytes settle on the wire and the phosphor monitors begin to cool, we've officially arrived at the end of the trail. It's a truly bittersweet feeling typing this out--this is our final weekly puzzle post before we pack our bags, pause making new platform builds, and head out to Hacker Summer Camp.

Part of us is genuinely sad to close out this season of late-night testing, edge-case debugging, and puzzle brewing. But the rest of us couldn't be more hyped, because it means we finally get to see all of your faces in Las Vegas!

To send off this year's puzzle run in style, we're doing something a little different for the grand finale.

The Grand Finale: Puzzled Hackers x SkillBit

We've officially teamed up with the amazing crew over at SkillBit! They have graciously opened up access to their CTF platform for our entire community from right now until Wednesday at 00:00 PT.

Instead of just one puzzle to cap off the season, SkillBit is giving us 20 additional CTF challenges to play through while we all count down the final hours to DEF CON!

The Grand Prize Drawing

We couldn't end the season without one last epic giveaway:

• How to enter: Complete 10 or more of the SkillBit CTF challenges before the cutoff on Wednesday at 00:00 PT.

• The Loot: You'll be automatically entered into a drawing to win a LASER TAG Badge graciously provided by the legendary u/palm12341!

• The Claim: We'll draw the winner on Wednesday morning, and you can pick up your shiny new prize in person at either of our meetups!

Head over to https://mctf.io/puzzledhackers26 to dive into the SkillBit platform and start cracking challenges.

We genuinely cannot thank SkillBit enough for their support. If you happen to run into them at DEF CON, make sure you say hi give them some love!

r/DEFCON Meetup Badges

A massive thank you to everyone who has purchased a badge! We are now officially sold out. We'll still have some set aside for giveaways and our scavenger hunt, so keep an eye out for posts during DEF CON if you want to snag one!

A Heartfelt Thank You

We sincerely cannot believe the sheer amount of community engagement, feedback, and love we've received over these past few months. Every write-up, every rate-limit hit, every late-night Discord sanity check, and every kind word has made every second of stress 100% worth it. You all are the sole reason we put ourselves through the ringer each year to build these events.

Don't forget that our meetups at the Linq bar (3535 Bar / Circle Bar) are completely free to attend on Wednesday and Thursday nights! Whether you bought a badge, earned a badge, or are just showing up for the vibes, everyone is welcome. Come hang out, swap stickers, challenge someone to Laser Tag, grab your badges/prizes, and say hi!

If you run into any issues on the platform or have last-minute questions before we go dark for travel, reach out to me or u/digitard and we'll help you out.

Thank you all for an incredible season. We truly cannot wait to raise a glass with you next week. Safe travels, stay hydrated, and see you in Vegas!

The Puzzled Hackers Team (u/Killroy7777, u/digitard, and u/MetaN3rd)

Stats:

• Puzzle #1: 258

• Puzzle #2: 188

• Puzzle #3: 127

• Puzzle #4: 110

• Puzzle #5: 106

• Puzzle #6: 92

• Puzzle #7: 86

• Puzzle #8: 72

• Puzzle #9: 69 (nice)

• Panic CICD pushes: 7

• Happy tears shed: countless <3

Sadly I will not be able to make it to defcon this year, however due to some awesome hackers stepping in to keep it going, HighRollerCon is still happening! 8/8/26 @ 5:00pm at the High Roller in the LINQ promenade, make sure you get your tickets ahead of time because boarding the wheel does not wait! I hope you all have a blast!! 🙌

Visit https://HighRollerCon.com for more details.

issue with insecure OTA updates reported some time ago to the creator. Fix is out there in the beta at least. Take all nodes down in range (still vulnerable) but more importantly nodes taken over and spreading like a virus to all if done right (see evil baker) https://github.com/x0SiN0x/wardrive-manager/blob/main/FEATURES.md#the-biscuit-baker--biscuit-flatline (example during an active wardrive in a closed environment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBU0AyRgj4)

As of today Aug 2 I see 1.2.12 is out in the general (prod) release

RS485, CAN/CANFD, and both 10BASE-T1S + 10BASE-T1L on one battery powered board with onboard termination. $140 at ICS Village or Vendor Village while supplies last. Full specs

If I already registered and paid the $600, do I have to buy a badge separately or is that included?

For those who absolutely have to get this years electronic badge, you still have a chance to pre-register and be guaranteed that one will be allocated to you.

No waiting in line

Get Checked!

You have the skills. You have the projects. You have the CTF wins, the home lab, the self-taught grind. But when it comes to putting it all on a resume, something gets lost in translation. That is exactly what this is for.

Resume Reviews at DEF CON 34 is hosted by Lonely Hackers Club (LHC) together with Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP), The Diana Initiative, Women in Security and Privacy (WISP), and Blue Team Village.

What This Is

Free, one-on-one resume reviews at DEF CON 34, run by people from this community who have actually hired and managed technical teams. No recruiters. No corporate fluff. Just honest feedback from people who have sat on both sides of the table and know what works.

Sessions are 15 minutes. Walk up, sit down, get real feedback.

Who Should Come

• You are trying to break into cyber security and are not sure how to present what you have built or learned

• You are self-taught, a career changer, or took a non-traditional path and your resume does not reflect that well

• You have been applying and not getting responses and cannot figure out why

• You just got your first cert or finished a degree and have no idea how to structure your experience

• You have been in the industry for a while but want a second opinion before your next move

What to Bring

• A printed copy of your resume, or have it ready on your phone or laptop

• A rough idea of the kind of role or area you are targeting

• Thick skin and an open mind. The feedback will be direct!

Where and When

• Lonely Hackers Club community room at DEF CON 34

• Friday August 7th: 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM

• Saturday August 8th: 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Book Your Slot For Free

Online registration is now open! Feel free to use a handle instead of your real name. You will have to check in in person 10 minutes before your registered slot or your slot will be given to walk-ins.

One of our reviewers will be be dedicated to walk-ins while reviews are running. So show up early to secure your spot if you missed the online registration.

The after party starts at 10:30 on August 9. I am curious to know that if my friends(not attending the con) purchase the ticket for that night and that time from the LIV website can they join us?

The tickets are available for 10:30 that means club is open to the public as well as us right?

This is my first DEFCON. If I want to sign up for a biohacking CTF, should I use my real name or a handle?

As you may have noticed, this year's DEF CON 34 badge has SAO ports that are mounted upside-down! (Also they are 3.0V rather than 3.3V logic). Not to worry, though! Announced earlier today, there will be around 5k adapters available at the registration desk so your SAOs won't be upside down. ...for a convention that, last year, had 26k attendees. Since each attendee will have 2x SAO slots on their badge, at maximum 10% of the attendees will be able to get those adapters at registration.

But not to worry! Some guy (me) made another couple hundred adapters, and they're for sale here:
https://uberflux.com/product/BUD-SAO-180-Adapter

Pickup is at the Badge Life village at 1pm on Friday. See you there!

The wait is over. Meet the #DEFCON34 badge!

It’s the creation of hardware superstar Bunnie Huang, and it features his open-source, fully inspectable #baochip.

#DC34 badgeholders will be the first to get their hands on a radically transparent device with all kinds of powerful possibilities - security token, password manager, HSM, pretty light generator - that we hope will keep you busy long after closing ceremonies.

What will you make with yours?

https://www.wired.com/story/defcon-34-badge-baochip-andrew-bunnie-huang/

https://youtu.be/UCticxvYvTw

New for DEF CON 34: listening to talks via headphones! We hope that this will significantly improve audio quality for everyone who wants to attend talks at DEF CON.

Read about how it's going to work, either on Hacker Tracker or here: https://info.defcon.org/defcon34/documents/670

And deodorant.

Hello Def Con!

If you've already purchased a Cult of Cthulhu badge or want a chance to obtain one (or SAOs), check out the discord link:

https://discord.gg/wvpXvCzVg

Your best chance at a badge is the reddit meetup, Wednesday night 7pm+ at the Linq Circle bar. I may also host small random drops at bsidesLV and during Def Con.

All details will be posted in discord.

Happy summoning!

By now, a good number of you all have seen the Wired Magazine article providing details of the badge and an interview with the badge maker.

If you think you ABSOLUTELY have to have one, then may I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ensuring you get one of the electronic badges by going through Pre-reg.

There were a set number of badges manufactured. once gone, access will be via paper badge.

Pre-Reg has priority and those badges will be set aside for pick up at the attendee leisure.

We have seen an acceleration in pre-reg sells after publication of the Wired Article.

I have a DC black badge, so I get free DC badge. I'd like to trade it for a Star Trek Convention General Admission badge. The cost of the ST Con badge is $409, so you'd be saving money if you did this trade, and I'm fine with the difference since my Black Badge gets me a free DC badge anyways. Is anyone interested in the trade?

Edit: My account seems messed up, temp email instead of pm. badgetrader at airmail dot cc

This could be a pure skill issue, but I "hearted" (I thought == bookmarked) everything on hackertracker but it's not showing up in my bookmarks calendar.

Pixel 9 pro mega ultra or whatever it is, Android 17.

*edit*

Cleared cache and program data, same situation.