From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hacker con is a term that describes a hacker convention. Hacker cons, among other services, serve as meeting places for phreakers, hackers, and security experts.

The actual events, timespans, and details of various themes of these conventions not only depends on the specific convention attended but also its perceived reputation. Typically the actual details of any given convention are couched in mild secrecy due to the legality of certain panels, as well as the willingness of attendees to explain themselves to law enforcement and less computer-savvy individuals (see Hacker definition controversy).

Common topics include Wardriving, Lockpicking, corporate and network security, personal rights and freedoms, new technologies, as well as general 'geek' motifs. Some may also have contests and general collaborative events such as Hackathons.

• DUDLEYCON, held by the Dudley2600 group in Dudley, England. (http://www.dudley2600.co.uk)
• CONTINUITY, UK Security Conference - 1st / 3rd December 2006, Manchester, United Kingdom.
• ClubHack, India's own hackers' Convention - 9th December 2007, Pune, India.
• Hack In The Box Security Conference, Asia's largest network security conference held annually in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and more recently the Middle East.
• Black Hat Briefings, a series of conferences held annually in different cities around the world. Black Hat USA, held in Las Vegas immediately before DEF CON, is the largest 'official' computer security event in the world.
• Chaos Communication Congress is the oldest and Europe's biggest hacker conference, held by Chaos Computer Club.
• DEF CON, in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the biggest hacker convention in the United States.
• ShakaCon, a Honolulu, Hawaii convention started in 2007 by Secure DNA held every spring.
• BRUMCON, held by the Brum2600 group in Birmingham, England.
• HackCon, Norway's biggest security convention, held in Oslo, Norway.
• Hackers on Planet Earth (H.O.P.E.), in New York is held by 2600: The Hacker Quarterly.
• HITBSecConf in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was the event where the Last Stage of Delirium Group (LSD) aka 'the hackers who broke windows' made their last 'official appearance' before disbanding in 2004. Many of the LSD members today work for Microsoft. Other notable speakers who have presented include John 'Captain Crunch' Draper, Joanna Rutkowska, Dave Aitel, HD Moore, Mikko Hypponen, Adam Gowdiak, Theo de Raadt, Bruce Scheneier, Tony Chor, The Grugq and several other internationally renowned specialists. Their upcoming event will be from 3rd - 6th September in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will for the first-time see Mark 'Phiber Optik' Abene and Emmanuel Goldstein presenting in Asia.
  • http://conference.hitb.org/hitbsecconf2007kl
• Interz0ne, in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Kiwicon, is a Wellington, New Zealand hacker convention.
• Notacon, in Cleveland, Ohio, is an art and technology conference.
• Outerz0ne, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a 'security conference' with free admission.
• PhreakNIC, in Nashville, Tennessee, is held by Nashville 2600.
• RuxCon, is a Sydney, Australia hacker convention.
• ShmooCon, a Washington DC convention started in 2005 by The Shmoo Group
• Summercon, one of the oldest hacker conventions. It helped set a precedent for more modern "cons" such as H.O.P.E. and DEF CON
• ToorCon is a San Diego hacker convention that emerged from the 2600 user group.
• LayerOne is run every spring in Los Angeles, CA.
• DNSCon is a network security convetion in Blackpool, UK.
• What The Hack is a Dutch convention known for its relaxed attitude. It is usually set in a field with visitors camping. What The Hack has gone through many names, usually based on Douglas Adams references.
  • Note: Stichting HAL2001, a not-for-profit organization, holds a quadrennial Dutch hacker convention. They have, so far, held HAL2001 (Hackers at Large) and What the Hack (2005, originally called HEX (referring to the 16th anniversary of the event, as well as an acronym for Hacking Extreme). The Dutch conferences held prior Stichting HAL2001's existence were Galactic Hacker Party (1989), Hacking at the End of the Universe (1993) and Hacking In Progress (1997), notable for being held simultaneously and in conjunction with Beyond HOPE.