Defcon: A Hacker’s Pilgrimage
It takes many villages to educate a Hacker!
For one of the first times in the history of the world, a country has asked for the help of hackers in fighting a war against another country. This is a very bold statement, but a necessary one. Ukraine made a call to hacker communities around the world in the war against Russia. Hackers from the US responded to the call. The result — Russian government networks and many ICS (Industrial Control Systems) were down for 5 weeks!*
The role of hackers is changing very rapidly. Not too long ago, the word hacker had an overwhelmingly negative connotation, and few would ever want the help of a hacker. However, things have begun to change recently. Ethical hacking is becoming a core part of cybersecurity, and Defcon is nothing less than a Mecca for ethical hackers!
What is Defcon, anyway?
Defcon is one of the oldest, largest, and continuously running hacker conventions. Defcon is held every summer in Las Vegas. August 2022 was the 30th year of Defcon. On average, more than 25000 people attend Defcon with the highest attendance of 30,000 people at Defcon 27 back in 2019.
Although Defcon is a hacking conference, it offers something of interest to every cybersecurity professional — from Application security to…
