DEF CON has changed for the better since the days at the Alexis Park. It has evolved from a few speaking tracks to an event that still offers the speakers, but also Villages, where you can get hands-on experience and Demo Labs where you can see tools in action. Of course, there is still the Entertainment and Contest Area, as well as Capture The Flag. There is so much more to DEF CON than there was in the past and it is our goal to help you get the best experience possible. In addition to introducing each of the different aspects and areas of DEF CON, we have a panel of speakers that will talk about how they came to be part of DEF CON and their personal experiences over the years. Oh yeah, there is the time honored "Name the Noob", lots of laughs and maybe even some prizes. Plus, stay for the after party. Seriously, there is an after party. How awesome is that?
Mike Petruzzi (wiseacre) started at DEF CON participating in the Capture the Flag contest. Determined to do better the next year, he participated again. This time the format was 36 hours straight. He realized he was missing out on everything else that was happening at DEF CON. From then on he made a point to participate in as much as he could. Of course, within the limits of social anxiety so, if it allowed participation as a wallflower, he was in! Now, he wants to make sure everyone else gets to know as much as possible about this year's conference. In his private life, Mike hacks managers and is happy anyone listens to him at all. Mike would like to thank Highwiz for everything.
Ryan "LosT" Clarke has been involved with DEF CON for 16 years. In addition to his role on the CFP board, LosT serve's as DEF CON's official Cryptographer and Puzzle Master. He is best known for his early LosT @ CON Mystery Challanges designed to force creative thinking, and also introduced him to his amazing wife! Now he is responsible for designing the badges and lanyards for DEF CON, in addition to torturing a subculture of enthusiastic crypto fans with his ever-so-subtle clues and red herring rabbit holes in his yearly Badge challenge. LosT enjoys learning as much as he can about as much as he can. He can usually be found around CON in the 1o57 room, mostly encouraging and sometimes distracting a ragged band of sleep-deprived attendees who are racing to complete the challenge.
CrYpT first attended DEF CON at DC10 as CrAzE, where he made the common mistake of staying on the sidelines and not actively participating in all DEF CON had to offer. The experience was tough for him and he did not return for many years. He tried again at DC17, but this time he made the decision to start putting himself out there. After a marked improvement in the quality of his experience, he was determined to make each year better than the last. At DC20 he received the handle CrYpT from Y3t1 and met some people who would remain his closest friends to this day (looking at you Clutch). Now he leads the awesome, hard-working Inhuman Registration team in their quest to badge all the people. He's a member of the CFP Review Board and Security Tribe. In an effort to help welcome all the new faces at DEF CON, he is returning for his second year to the DC 101 panel. He encourages people to reach out and ask questions so they can get the most bang for their badge.
Born of glitter and moon beams, HighWiz is the things that dreams are made of and nightmares long to be... Years ago, with the help of some very awesome people* he set about to create an event that would give the n00bs of Def Con a place to feel welcomed and further their own pursuit of knowledge. For years he has held onto the simple tenet that "You get out of Def Con what you put into it". Sometimes HighWiz can be a bit much to swallow and hard to take. HighWiz is a member of the CFP Review Board and Security Tribe. *Some (but not all) of the people HighWiz would like to thank for helping to make 101 into what it is today : Runnerup, Wiseacre, Nikita, Roamer, Lockheed, Pyr0, Zac, V3rtgio, 1o57, Neil, Beaker, AlxRogan, Jenn, Zant, GM1, Clutch, TheDarkTangent, Siviak, Ripshy, Valkyrie, Xodia, Flipper and all the members of Security Tribe. After taking a year off from the 101 Panel, HighWiz is honored to once again be participating in it, as it marks its eighth year.
Jay Korpi is not of the traditional hacker world; CrYpT invited him to DEF CON 6 years ago, and as a surgical first assist, he decided it was not of any interest to him. CrYpT insisted every year until finally three years ago CrYpT told him "there are people there smarter than you..." Jay couldn't believe it and had to see it for himself. His first year, it was obvious there were MANY people smarter than he was. Once he met some amazing people who were both inviting and generous, Jay vowed to get involved with DEF CON somehow so he could provide the same experience to others. He found his opportunity last year when he joined the Inhuman Registration team and was invited to share his experiences on the DC 101 panel. He attributes these opportunities to his willingness to put himself out there and meet as many people as possible from his very first CON.
Nikita works to ensure DEF CON runs as smoothly as one can expect from a hacker conference. In addition to planning a vast array of details prior to DEF CON and thwarting issues while onsite, she also serves as the Director of Call For Papers and Workshops. In this role she systematically processes hundreds of submissions, organizes the CFP Board, and manages the entire CFP process from beginning to end. While no one relishes the job of rejecting submissions, Nikita strives to make the experience more positive with personal feedback and alternative speaking opportunities. Once talks have been selected, she weaves the final list into a comprehensive four day schedule over multiple speaking tracks. She serves as a primary point-of-contact for speakers leading up to DEF CON and acts as a liaison between speakers, press, and social media content organizers. Beyond the CFP, Nikita also works full-time on various behind-the-scenes administration and project management for DEF CON. As a DEF CON goon for the past 13 years, her superpowers involve putting out fires before they spark and juggling a multitude of tasks while balancing on an over-inflated ball. - rkut nefr ldbj gtjd bjws oayh qtmf york uykr fqwx awtr kumf giwk nxtw - Twitter: @Niki7a