Hacker Conventions and Gatherings

Hackers, crackers, business people, and even federal agents attend the biggest hacking (or cyberpunk) conventions. Some of these conventions started out as offline meetings of online cracking groups or informal gatherings of hackers.

If you have ever wanted to play a game of Spot the Fed, learn advanced hacks, or just wanted buy some kewl T-shirts, go to a convention. The following subsections list some of the top gatherings for hackers and crackers:

DEFCON

DEFCON started in 1993 and gets bigger every year. DEFCON is probably the biggest underground hacking event in the world. It’s held in Las Vegas, and the highlights of the convention are the lectures and contests. Contests include the hacker version of Capture the Flag, Spot the Fed, and hacker Jeopardy.

Famous hackers and crackers attend the convention along with the hundreds of obligatory script kiddies. Despite the large contingent of blue- and green-haired kiddies, DEFCON has become a place where security experts, hackers, and even government agents can meet and discuss current security issues.

On The Web 

For more DEFCON information, visit www.defcon.org.

HOPE

2600 Magazine sponsors HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth). It’s held in New York City every two or three years, and is frequented by many of the same individuals that attend DEFCON every year. 2600 posts information regarding upcoming HOPE conventions on its Web site.

On The Web 

Visit 2600 on the web: www.2600.com.

ToorCon

ToorCon (Toor is root spelled backward; more l33t-speak) has been held in sunny San Diego every year since 1999. Like DEFCON, ToorCon offers several lectures, and although far smaller than DEFCON, it’s becoming a worthwhile event to attend.

On The Web 

For ToorCon information, visit www.toorcon.org.

2600 meetings

The readers of 2600 Magazine meet on the first Friday of every month to discuss, learn, and teach each other about technology. All persons are welcome to attend and meetings are held worldwide. 2600 maintains a list of meetings on its Web site.

On The Web 

Visit 2600 magazine on the web at www.2600.com.

Worldwide WarDrive

The Worldwide WarDrive (WWWD), now in its fourth year, is a coordinated wardrive (driving around looking for unsecured Wi-Fi access points) to collect Wi-Fi security statistics. Esentially, a lot of people wardrive on the same day and then compile the results and post them on the Web site.

Cross-Reference 

Wardriving is discussed in great detail in Chapter 6.

This site should be of particular interest to you, since wardriving is the principal threat to your WLAN. This Web site illustrates just how many insecure networks there are and how easy it is for wardrivers to find them.

On The Web 

For information about the WWWD, visit www.worldwidewardrive.org.

These are just the largest and most well-known conventions and events. Every year, more of them appear, with some surviving and others occurring only once. The DEFCON Web site hosts an updated list of events.