DEF CON Hacking Conference

Posted 2026-05-04

Our founder, The Dark Tangent, did a live interview on CNA. It's worth your time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-qKcofJvy8

Posted 2026-04-22

We're excited to announce that the Call for Trainers is now OPEN for DEF CON Training Middle East!

Are you passionate about cybersecurity, hacking, and hands-on learning? Do you have expertise in emerging threats, defensive strategies, or cutting-edge security techniques? We want to hear from you!

Visit training.defcon.org to submit your trainer application for a two-day or three-day course by May 9, 2026.

Posted 2026-04-04

DEF CON Training Las Vegas 2026 Course Lineup is now live!

We’re thrilled to share the full slate of courses for DEF CON Training in Las Vegas! Join us in August for hands-on courses led by top practitioners from across the community.

For the first time ever, we will offer 1-day, 2-day, and 4-day classes! Whatever your needs, whether you’re sharpening fundamentals or diving deep into advanced techniques, there’s something here for you!

Explore the full lineup and course details here: https://training.defcon.org/

Explore our offerings, grab your seat, and get ready to learn and build.

DEF CON Middle East Dates!

Posted 2026-03-13

We've got dates for this year's event in Bahrain!

Following a very successful event in 2025, DEF CON and DEF CON Training are returning to Bahrain for DEF CON Middle East.

Training will be held November 8-10 and DEF CON Middle East will be November 11-12.

We hope you'll save the date and follow us for updates.

Posted 2026-03-10

DEF CON 34's theme is 'Agency'. We're focusing on self-determination in our use of tech. Charting our own course and helping others do the same.

Let's start moving our valuable attention to tech that supports our agency. Let's find the places we can help and choose to act.

Read more at: https://defcon.org/html/defcon-34/dc-34-theme.html

Visual style guide and homework assignments coming soon!

Posted 2026-03-04

The wait is over. Pre-registration for DEF CON 34 opens TODAY!

Reminder – the cash route is unchanged: Cash at the door registration (LineCon) will continue in its traditional, vibey fashion (think hacker slumber party). Doors open Thursday, August 6 and the price is $520.

Those who pre-register are guaranteed a human badge, even if we run out. To receive this badge, you must redeem your ticket onsite. The badge entitles one human full access to the DEF CON floor during open hours. Tickets are fully transferrable, so which human gets that access is up to the purchaser.

Pre-reg is open at shop.defcon.org until July 31 at 8:59 PM EDT. After that date registration is LineCon only. If you have any questions or need to make bulk purchases please email us at info@defcon.org.

There are some pricing benefits to early registration, too. Early bookers save money, so don't procrastinate. August will be here before you know it.

Ticket Pricing:

Early Bird - $560 ($540 + $20 CC Processing Fee) - Good until May 22 at 8:59pm EDT

Regular - $580 ($560 + $20 CC Processing Fee) - Good from May 23 to July 17 at 8:59pm EDT

Late - $600 ($580 + $20 CC Processing Fee) - Good from July 18 to July 31 at 8:59pm EDT

Ticket Cancellation Fee:

Before July 18 - $34

After July 18 - $84

Check out the following for villages, contests, and communities accepted to return this year:

Villages
Contests
Communities

Introducing the New DEF CON CTF Organizers: Benevolent Bureau of Birds!

Posted 2026-03-03

Back in 1996 at DEF CON 4, the first Capture The Flag contest was created. It build on the chaos of a wide open network at DC 3, and has continued to be the premier computer security CTF contest.

The CTF started with a single person watching over it and turned into a team effort. Soon teams of hackers and past CTF players would become organizers, building on those that came before while continuing to push the edge of what's possible.

Today things are changing fast, with agentic tools shaking up the industry. This change has already been reflected in the CTF space. At DEF CON 33 CTF, Sampriti of the team Blue Water discovered that their agentic tool had completed a challenge only after a judge notified them that they had already won. It was an exciting novelty.

This year, we expect that novelty to be the norm.

For DEF CON 34 we are proud to announce the new CTF organizers that will help navigate us in this new era, the Benevolent Bureau of Birds! You can find the Birds online at https://bbbirds.org/.

The BBB joins an august lineage of CTF puzzle masters.

The People - 1996 - 2001
Ghetto Hackers - 2002-2004
Kenshoto - 2005-2008
DDTek - 2009- 2012
Legitimate Business Syndicate - 2013-2017 - https://blog.legitbs.net
Order of the Overflow - 2018- 2021 - https://archive.ooo/
Nautilus Institute - 2022-2025

Your first opportunity to sample what the Birds have in store for us will be the DC 34 CTF Qualifier Round, scheduled for May 22-24 2026.

If you're a seasoned competitor, we thank you for the part you play in this legacy. If you're new, or still thinking about it, we invite you to get yourself up to speed at the DEF CON CTF resources page. It's stocked full of recaps, walkthroughs, files and articles to show you what you can expect from our flagship contest.

We hope we'll see you in the arena.

Hotel Room Blocks for DEF CON 34 are Open!

Posted 2026-02-14

Good news, everyone!

The DEF CON 34 room blocks are live! While supplies last, you can get a special room rate at the following hotels:

Fontainebleau
Swanky, luxurious and conveniently located across the street from the LVCC. For those who must be first in line.

Sahara
Legendary Vegas spot with next-level pools and right on the monorail.

Wynn and Encore
Lovely accommodations and tons of cool places to eat and be entertained.

Circus Circus
Budget friendly and has a haunted house AND an arcade. We promise the clowns are friendly.

We're halfway there. DEF CON 34 will be upon us before you know it - be prepared and save yourself some coin.

See you soon!

Posted 2026-02-05

DEF CON 34 Update! All of the calls for DC34 in Vegas are now live, including the Calls for Papers, Workshops, Demo Labs, and Policy. If you're looking to participate in a creator capacity, the submission doors are open and the clock is running. Choose your adventure.

Posted 2026-02-02

Good news,everyone! We consulted the groundhog and DEF CON 34 content call season is officially open!

Starting today, the calls for

Villages
Contests
Communities
Parties
Meetups
Events
Music
Soundtrack
Authors
Vendors
Exhibitors
Sponsors
Press Reg

Are all ready to accept your submissions.

CFP, Workshops, Demo Labs and Policy calls will open shortly.

Let's go.

Happy New Year!

Posted 2026-1-1

Heartfelt thanks to the DEF CON community for your support in 2025. Here's hoping your 2026 exceeds your dreams.

We've got big plans for the New Year. In addition to DC34 in Las Vegas we're returning to Bahrain and adding DEF CON Singapore. New CTF runners. More trainings. We're excited and we hope you are, too.

Keep in touch with us for updates and deadlines. Look out for each other. See you soon.

Posted 2025-12-4

We're excited to announce that the Call for Trainers is now OPEN for DEF CON Training Las Vegas at DEF CON 34!

Are you passionate about cybersecurity, hacking, and hands-on learning? Do you have expertise in emerging threats, defensive strategies, or cutting-edge security techniques? We want to hear from you!

Visit training.defcon.org to submit your application by January 12, 2026.

DEF CON 34 and 35 Dates!

Posted 2025-10-29

Good News, Everyone! We have the official dates for DEF CON 34! And to make up for the delay, we also have the dates for DEF CON 35!

Please join us at the Las Vegas Convention Center August 6-9 in 2026 and August 5-8 in 2027.

Save the dates, friends. It'll be here before you know it.

See you there.