Adelyn Wengreen, a first-time Def Con attendee
My first experience at DEF CON was awesome. As someone still new to this industry, I had no idea what to expect going in, but I really enjoyed the whole weekend. My favorite presentation was My Conversations With a GenAI-Powered Virtual Kidnapper by Perry Carpenter. He talked about how he manipulated different AI systems to go beyond their programmed restrictions and censorship and how easy it is for people to use these large language models to carry out just about any task.
In his presentation, he also touched on deepfakes and how they’re slowly taking hold of the internet. It’s wild to think about how, as a society, we’re already so desensitized by social media that it’s becoming harder and harder to spot fake images, videos, and voiceovers. Hearing Carpenter’s take on the darker side of these emerging technologies was really interesting. He even managed to talk multiple AI systems into voicing over a fake kidnapping call that sounded so realistic it could easily scare anyone into doing whatever the “kidnapper” demanded. By simply rewording a few phrases or assuring the AI that this was just a “simulation,” the tools were more than happy to comply and play along. It’s crazy to think we’re living in a world where we have to trick computers into believing in THE simulation! (If you’d like to read some of Perry’s impressions regarding DEFCON’s Social Engineering village and AI, check out his post here.)
Aside from Perry Carpenter’s presentation, I really enjoyed the overall DEF CON experience. The hands-on activities were super engaging and fun. I’ve always wanted to learn how to pick a lock, and I’m happy to report that I now know how. The Retro Village had some computers and video games older than me, which was cool to see. On the last day, I made it into the Social Engineering Village, where people volunteered to make live phishing calls to real companies. That was super fun to watch. Another highlight for me was the War Stories Village. Hearing real stories of cybersecurity going wildly wrong or wildly right was so cool.
But honestly, the coolest part of the whole experience was the sense of community. Among the 40,000 people who attended DEF CON, everyone I met was so nice and inclusive. People were excited for each other, encouraging in the competitions, helpful to those of us who were new (like me), and just generally happy to be there. It was such a welcoming environment, and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend. I highly recommend the DEF CON experience to anyone who gets the chance to go!
Norah Law’s Experiences at DEFCON
To my own surprise, DEFCON 32 proved to be worth the torturous Vegas heat.
There is so much to do and explore here, from rooting on the cold call competitors in Social Engineering Village to exploring the immersive world inside AIxCC Village or even testing your spy skills in the Physical Security Village. DEFCON has everything: countless incredible speakers, yes, but also hands-on opportunities to do what hackers ultimately love to do— to meddle. Want to try hacking a car? Great, head on down to the car-hacking village. Video games? There’s a place for that. Want to poke around on an early-generation Mac? They have a corner full of retro tech for your pleasure. It was a playground of exploration, friendly competition, and inspiration to learn something new.
Norah experienced playing around on classic machines at DEFCON
For the CON, downloading the Hacker Tracker app is a must. There are just so many opportunities at your fingertips that it can be hard to keep track of them all. The app helped us prioritize the talks we wanted to see and showed us events that pushed us into villages we might otherwise not have explored.
A highlight for me was the uniqueness of the War Stories village, which platformed unusual stories of hacker history, covering FBI plots, security disasters, and more. The talks were incredibly engaging and given by genuine experts, accompanied by new perspectives to offer alongside their history lessons. By the end of these talks, I walked away feeling more knowledgeable about this field’s impact on national and global history.
Speaking of impact– while the War Stories village reminds me of security history, Cory Doctorow’s keynote talk again calls this community to action, encouraging us to invest in the future of what he calls the ‘new, good internet.’ His talk, entitled ’Disenshittify or die,’ talked about the route that the internet has taken to find itself here– a place where money is placed above user needs and cybersecurity experts are consistently disregarded (Doctorow is a special advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where you can find out more details about his keynote.). He encouraged hackers to stand up to leadership that only follows allocated value and instead calls us to work to make the safer and better internet. Doctorow is a well-practiced speaker and a known face at DEFCON. The room was packed for his talk, and for good reason: he passionately believes in the power of this community and the good they can do. His talk ended up being one of my favorites. I have been following the EFF since the beginning of my passion for digital advocacy, so it was cool to watch Doctorow connect hackers to the EFF’s mission.
As a newbie in the industry, I was amazed at the diversity and eccentricity the conference embraced. This space is one of inclusivity, with resources for marginalized hackers to be supported and physical spaces dedicated to fostering their voices. DEFCON is evidence of how invested this community is in supporting and inspiring one another. See you at DEFCON 33!
– Norah Law, a new DEFCON enthusiast
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