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Def Con 21 in pictures: Surveillance, Snowden, and civil liberties
It’s okay. If you were a Fed, you weren’t invited anyway. So we put together a gallery of the highlights from the show. The community at Def Con is as widespread as you can imagine. There are kids with parents, people in masks, and even blood donors.
There was an unmistakable tension at this year’s conference, however, given the recent government surveillance leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Privacy and protecting civil liberties were some of the most talked-about topics, along with some really cool hacks.
The community really showed it supportive colors through this year’s “Bloodkode,” a blood donation center, in honor of a sick hacker friend. You could also see tributes to recently deceased hacker Barnaby Jack dotting the hallways.
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Check out the gallery and if you were there, let us know your favorite Def Con moments.
How Def Con is set up
Def Con goons are volunteers who help keep the con running
Charlie Miller and Chris Valasek showed off their car hacking skills at Def Con
The Wall of Sheep is famous at Def Con — don’t get your password stolen!
Unfortunately, we can’t actually show you the Wall of Sheep, but here’s its covert mascot
A hint for those hacking for the Wall of Sheep
Def Con set up a DJ for those hacking into people’s Wi-Fi networks
Bloodkode was started last year in honor of a sick friend in the hacker community. Hackers take a second to give blood and give back
Two guys give blood at Def Con
The EFF set up a phone booth that connected directly to a line in Washington D.C. where you could speak to your local representative about reforming the CFAA
Some people rented electric scooters and decorated them for the conference
There were a number of tributes to Barnaby Jack, a young hacker who died suddenly, only a week before his talk on hacking pacemakers
Attendees got their hair done to support the EFF
One guy got a pretty awesome dual mohawk
Some feel Snowden is a hero, others a traitor
Lock-picking is a hobby for many Def Con attendees
Toool is a lock-picking company that sells just that, lock-picking tools.
A man picks a lock in Def Con’s lock-picking village
This is what lunch looks like for a Def Con attendee.
More Def Con food
Beer
Sometimes there’s some weird stuff in the vendor areas
Sometimes hackers just need to be recognized for their awesome facial hair
The awards
This EFF sticker references criticized surveillance capabilities
If only they were joking
One vendor was selling small drones
The American Civil Liberties Union gave a talk at Def Con
Pwnie Express creates a number of devices used by penetration testers and hackers alike
These are long-range Wi-Fi devices
The Tamper Evident Village (hardware hacking) at Def Con
Hardware hacking is intricate work
A floor tie at Def Con. These fed in to a larger game.
One of the floor tiles at Def Con.
Feds were not invited to this year’s Def Con and there were temporary tatoos to prove it.
These two gave a talk on passing privacy laws starting with Montana
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