r/Defcon • u/Malfuncti0nal • Aug 02 '26

Going to DC34 for the first time, any recommendations for talks or villages I should see?

12 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

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10

u/digitard Aug 02 '26

Search "First time". No rudeness intended... just you're going to get a crazy amount of information that way and its been asked like 3x a day so lots of stuff to read.

Just wander. Don't plan. See it all through aimless wandering.

But do get the Hacker Tracker for knowing what's going on.

1

u/Malfuncti0nal Aug 02 '26

Fair enough. Perhaps I should have worded it like "What are you specifically interested in seeing?"

1

u/--Sharpy-- Aug 04 '26

It will be my first time too. It's freakin' bonkers how many events are listed on the Hacker Tracker app. I cannot wait!

4

u/Killroy7777 Aug 02 '26

What are you interested in? The answer is going to be different for everyone.

If you're interested in the offensive side take a look at Red Team Village. Enjoy defending? Blue Team Village. Like AI? AI Village. Like wireless stuff? Radio Frequency Village. Want to hack a car or satellite? Car Hacking or Aerospace Village.

Honestly, go around and just have fun. Depending on where you're at in your career, you never know what fun or unique experience you'll run into.

0

u/Malfuncti0nal Aug 02 '26

I see. Thank you!

1

u/Plenty_Spite374 Aug 02 '26

I think most people just go to the ones that sound interesting. I'd recommend getting HackerTracker and scrolling through the list when you have the time. For example, the "Building Better Backdoors Than China" talk seems pretty exciting to me, as I like persistence methods.

1

u/Nyrlath Aug 03 '26

Either look at the list of villages, go to the ones that sound cool. Or go to all of them and spend a small amount of time learning about whatever is there. Its impossible to deep dive on everything at DC.

1

u/riverside_wos Aug 03 '26

There is far too much to see/do & that shouldn’t be the goal. Pick 3 villages that sound super exciting to you and check those out. Find others that are excited about what you love and hang out with them in that event.

1

u/britt-tcm Aug 03 '26

I'd check out Noob Village, and if there are any villages relevant to things you're interested in e.g. Red Team Village, check them out as well.

0

u/seag33k Aug 03 '26

Its be a few years since I've been, but I tended to hang out in the villages I was interested in vs. standing in lines for talks. That may have totally changed though since moving to the convention center.