The Best of Defcon XV

An amateur ghostbuster shows off the output nozzle of his Proton Pack to a Defcon attendee. The device was built to exacting standards based on design documents created for the propmasters o ...

2009-02-10T08:54:29Z

amishrabbit
An amateur ghostbuster shows off the output nozzle of his Proton Pack to a Defcon attendee. The device was built to exacting standards based on design documents created for the propmasters o ...

Bruce "ShmooCon" Potter delivers his interpretive dance version of the "state of the union" speech for the computer security industry.

2009-06-24T23:57:41Z

amishrabbit
Bruce "ShmooCon" Potter delivers his interpretive dance version of the "state of the union" speech for the computer security industry.

A wide array of candy -- all impregnated with a massive dose of caffeine -- are available for sale in one place. If you ate all the candy pictured here, you would, without question, need to ...

2009-06-24T23:58:20Z

amishrabbit
A wide array of candy -- all impregnated with a massive dose of caffeine -- are available for sale in one place. If you ate all the candy pictured here, you would, without question, need to ...

The EFF booth offered a host of interesting "donation thank you gifts" including a wallet-sized copy of the bill of rights printed on an aluminum card, and this Fourth Amendment Shipping Tap ...

2009-08-05T18:55:18Z

amishrabbit
The EFF booth offered a host of interesting "donation thank you gifts" including a wallet-sized copy of the bill of rights printed on an aluminum card, and this Fourth Amendment Shipping Tap ...

Homemade t-shirts are starting to be more commonplace at Defcon, now that several vendors offer a "make your own custom silkscreened t-shirt on the premises" service. However, this guy (and ...

2009-08-05T19:20:14Z

amishrabbit
Homemade t-shirts are starting to be more commonplace at Defcon, now that several vendors offer a "make your own custom silkscreened t-shirt on the premises" service. However, this guy (and ...

From the vantage point of Defcon's "Wireless Village" in a skybox above the main conference level, one attendee flaunts his homemade laser text and image projector. The text was readable cle ...

2009-02-10T08:53:03Z

amishrabbit
From the vantage point of Defcon's "Wireless Village" in a skybox above the main conference level, one attendee flaunts his homemade laser text and image projector. The text was readable cle ...

A homebuilt laser projector, made from off the shelf commercial parts, is mounted inside a plastic storage box of the kind you might see in a "99 cents" store.

2009-06-24T23:57:57Z

amishrabbit
A homebuilt laser projector, made from off the shelf commercial parts, is mounted inside a plastic storage box of the kind you might see in a "99 cents" store.

In the lockpick village area, Defcon attendees crowd the tables for instruction in how to pick locks. These people are in a timed contest to see who can take apart a lock cylinder then put i ...

2009-06-24T23:57:07Z

amishrabbit
In the lockpick village area, Defcon attendees crowd the tables for instruction in how to pick locks. These people are in a timed contest to see who can take apart a lock cylinder then put i ...

A long view down the table at the lock cylinder disassembly contest. Participants had to bring their own tools or rent them from the table, but corrugated cardboard for keeping track of fidg ...

2009-02-10T08:54:18Z

amishrabbit
A long view down the table at the lock cylinder disassembly contest. Participants had to bring their own tools or rent them from the table, but corrugated cardboard for keeping track of fidg ...

Lockpick village is a happy place, where anyone is welcome to practice their skills on a variety of locksets.

2009-06-24T23:57:24Z

amishrabbit
Lockpick village is a happy place, where anyone is welcome to practice their skills on a variety of locksets.

NBC producer Michelle Madigan's car was surrounded by other press, who had been tipped off to her presence in advance.

2009-06-24T23:57:18Z

amishrabbit
NBC producer Michelle Madigan's car was surrounded by other press, who had been tipped off to her presence in advance.

Walk of Shame: NBC producer Michelle Madigan hustles out of Defcon with a "hidden" camera in the purse under her left arm.

2009-02-10T08:54:51Z

amishrabbit
Walk of Shame: NBC producer Michelle Madigan hustles out of Defcon with a "hidden" camera in the purse under her left arm.

The creator of Defcon's Mystery Box Challenge, LosT, shows one of the clues that contestants struggled to find inside the box.

2009-06-24T23:56:15Z

amishrabbit
The creator of Defcon's Mystery Box Challenge, LosT, shows one of the clues that contestants struggled to find inside the box.

This year's Defcon black box, the focus of the Black Box Contest, offered both technical challenges and obscure literary references that the participant had to crack.

2009-02-10T08:50:38Z

amishrabbit
This year's Defcon black box, the focus of the Black Box Contest, offered both technical challenges and obscure literary references that the participant had to crack.

Defcon speaker Ne0nRa1n, who with a game developer created a version of Tetris that uses measurements of your heart rate to determine the speed at which blocks fall

2009-02-10T08:46:59Z

amishrabbit
Defcon speaker Ne0nRa1n, who with a game developer created a version of Tetris that uses measurements of your heart rate to determine the speed at which blocks fall

Yeah, Defcon has talks, too...at university professor Tom Holt's talk about the "Market for Malware" he describes how phishing trojans modify pages ever so slightly

2009-06-24T23:55:31Z

amishrabbit
Yeah, Defcon has talks, too...at university professor Tom Holt's talk about the "Market for Malware" he describes how phishing trojans modify pages ever so slightly

A projected display at Defcon Bots keeps track of time in each event, as well as a running score for each team.

2009-06-24T23:57:22Z

amishrabbit
A projected display at Defcon Bots keeps track of time in each event, as well as a running score for each team.

A closeup view of one of the participants in the Defcon Bots competition, where robotics students demonstrate their prowess at building a "terminator" that can hit targets with a pellet gun.

2009-02-10T08:49:10Z

amishrabbit
A closeup view of one of the participants in the Defcon Bots competition, where robotics students demonstrate their prowess at building a "terminator" that can hit targets with a pellet gun.

One of the robot operators at Defcon Bots tweaks a piece of hardware that helps control his bot's machine gun.

2009-02-10T08:48:52Z

amishrabbit
One of the robot operators at Defcon Bots tweaks a piece of hardware that helps control his bot's machine gun.

Defcon's projected message board provides a wide array of information, from upcoming talk schedules to personal notes, to jokes.

2009-02-10T08:49:47Z

amishrabbit
Defcon's projected message board provides a wide array of information, from upcoming talk schedules to personal notes, to jokes.

In the Vendor Area at Defcon, you can find almost anything for sale, as long as it would be marketable to tinfoil hat wearers. These types of ex-military "seismic sensors" are buried around ...

2009-02-10T08:47:41Z

amishrabbit
In the Vendor Area at Defcon, you can find almost anything for sale, as long as it would be marketable to tinfoil hat wearers. These types of ex-military "seismic sensors" are buried around ...

The Defcon t-shirt vendors dominate the sales floor, with each offering a wide variety of unique styles and designs.

2009-06-24T23:55:50Z

amishrabbit
The Defcon t-shirt vendors dominate the sales floor, with each offering a wide variety of unique styles and designs.

At the Defcon Wireless Challenge, entrants must break through several layers of wireless and wired network security, in this device.

2009-02-10T08:51:12Z

amishrabbit
At the Defcon Wireless Challenge, entrants must break through several layers of wireless and wired network security, in this device.

Not to be outdone, this Xbox 360 was appropriately dressed for the occasion. It was used to drive the Guitar Hero contest.

2009-02-10T08:48:14Z

amishrabbit
Not to be outdone, this Xbox 360 was appropriately dressed for the occasion. It was used to drive the Guitar Hero contest.

Zac Franken, who asked that his face not be shown in photographs, demonstrates his Wiegand-protocol hacking tool, which permits him to, essentially, change the functions of this mockup conta ...

2009-02-10T08:49:11Z

amishrabbit
Zac Franken, who asked that his face not be shown in photographs, demonstrates his Wiegand-protocol hacking tool, which permits him to, essentially, change the functions of this mockup conta ...

The rear of the badge has pinouts for a serial connection, as well as solder pads for both a wireless communications chip and an accelerometer.

2009-06-24T23:53:59Z

amishrabbit
The rear of the badge has pinouts for a serial connection, as well as solder pads for both a wireless communications chip and an accelerometer.

Defcon's badge, designed by Joe Grand, features two inductive switches (the top and bottom of the three icons along the left side) used to program the scrolling text display.

2009-06-24T23:54:06Z

amishrabbit
Defcon's badge, designed by Joe Grand, features two inductive switches (the top and bottom of the three icons along the left side) used to program the scrolling text display.