Every year, thousands of security minded people of all stripes descend and converge in Las Vegas in the US to attend this conference. Every hacker, be it ethical or otherwise who reads about Defcon will desperately wants to go - stories of ballrooms filled of people who were interested and devoted to the world of hacking, research and security… all in one place. This year, Defcon is held from 8th to 11th August 2019.
Divided into 'sections', the conference has the vendor village which is always full of interesting gadgets, surplus hardware, hacker tools, books and other gems to experiment with. The workshops are free for attendees and they have the chance to learn from some of the most talented people in the hacker world on various subjects — some for the absolute beginner, some for the best of the best. The talks themselves touch every corner of the security world, and the practical village areas will teach you cool things like lock-picking, how to get started with Capture the Flag-type games, soldering small gadgets, and the basics of wireless hacking and auditing. There really is something for everyone, at every level of skill.
It is well known that the government will send in their agents to converge and arrest suspects at this conference. This become a game whereby attendees were actually rewarded with a T-shirt if they can spot these agents.
For Defcon 2019, politicians in the US are heading to the conference looking for help from the hackers as the 2020 election looms. This is the first year that Defcon has volunteers specifically to help politicians integrate with hackers and learn about issues in cybersecurity. The outreach could potentially affect proposed legislation that would keep cities, elections and devices secure for years to come.