PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Received word from Pyr0 authorizing new contest this year in Hardware Hacking Village (HHV):


[forum=530]PCB PWNage[/forum]
In this Mini-Contest from the Hardware Hacking Village (HHV) contestants compete with each other to see: Who can make the coolest PCB Design. (twitter)

This contest is being run by forum members afterburn188 and core1287 in the HHV.

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

DC101 Description changed from:

"This is a talk/event and not to the entire Thursday events of last year. A new description will likely replace this one when more information is available."

To:

"DC101 is the Alpha to the closing ceremonies' Omega. It's the place to go to learn about the many facets of Con and to begin your Defconian Adventure. Whether you're a n00b or a long time attendee, DC101 can start you on the path toward maximizing your DefCon Experiences. "

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Defcon 18 Contest "Twitter Hunt" twitter hashtag changed from "#DCTH" to "#DefconTH". Forum description has been updated.

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

By request from RiVeRSiDE, forum description for the "Wall of Sheep" forum has been changed from:

"Can you believe people at Defcon use the defcon network with pain-text authentication over the wire to login to remote accounts? Advertise these users on the Wall of sheep! (Temporary description until I get one from the organizers or Pyr0.)"

to:

"Are you a sheep? Maybe you are and don't know it. Think you can herd the sheep to slaughter? Do it! This is the Wall of Sheep."


By request from RiVeRSiDE, forum description for the "" forum has been changed from:

"Description coming soon!"

to:

"CTP is a network scavenger hunt. In this challenge, contestants will monitor the network, look for clues, solve puzzles, and win prizes."

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

New forum created:

[forum=529]Ninja Networks Badge and Events[/forum]
Forum for threads about the badge and the party. (site) (twitter)

(Expect description of forum to change, as that is a place-holder until I get a description from Barkode.)

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Long time user Che got special permission for a username change on the forums:
User Account Che and Gadsden merged into one account Gadsden.
Performing cleanup now.
Good luck Gadsden!

-Cot

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Spux announced an event for Defcon 18, which has been approved by Nikita:

[forum=524]Mohawk-Con![/forum] (New forum Added)
Present description:

"Get your head buzzed at DC 18 to support the EFF!"

Thread moved to forum, and it is open for comments and questions.

Good luck!

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Pyr0 confirmed this morning:

One contest returns, and a contest I *think* is new comes to Defcon 18.

[forum=521]Wall of Sheep[/forum]
Can you believe people at Defcon use the defcon network with pain-text authentication over the wire to login to remote accounts? Advertise these users on the Wall of sheep! (Temporary description until I get one from the organizers or Pyr0.)

[forum=522]CTP : Capture the Packet[/forum]
Description coming soon!

(It is possible that CTP was at Defcon before and isn't new. If so, my mistake, and sorry about that.)

Both contests are being run by RiVeRSiDe and his associates, so expect to see official updates from RiVerSiDe about these contests and who else might be making official comments about these contests. Descriptions to both will be updated soon!

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Pyr0 confirmed this morning:

A new forum for a new contest has been added to this year's Defcon Contest and Events forum:

[forum=520]Backdoor hiding contest[/forum]
Two contests in one Backdoor Hiding/Finding Contest (participate in either or both): In the first stage, participants provide a source code hiding a backdoor, in the second stage organizers mix the source codes with non-backdoored (placebos), and then ask people to spot the placebos. You get hiding points for being voted as a placebo and finding points for spotting the placebos.

The user with official announcements about this is awaissbein.
Here is what they have said:
"We will follow up with an invitation message and instructions shortly."

Expect updates to that soon.

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

[forum=519]Crack Me If You Can [/forum]
For the first time, this Password Cracking Challenge is coming to Defcon as a contest. Can you crack the password?

New for Defcon 18.

Forum user contact: minga

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

New contest announced by Nikita:

[forum=518]Dark Tangent's Tamper Evident Contest[/forum]

Forum has now been created. Nikita is set as Leader/Organizer for that forum. Thread moved to forum.

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Received confirmation from Lil_Freak as OK to add Nikita as leader/organizer to the Forum Meet forum.

A few days ago, also added Nikita as Forum Leader/organizer to the Short Story Contest forum.

She has been Leader/Organizer for the "What's in Neil's Pants" Forum.

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

The Social Engineering Contest organizer is changing from "Moose" to forum user "loganWHD"

The old description was:

Social Engineering is back at Defcon! HOPE and other conferences have been doing this successfully with a lot of participation for years, and we felt that this was a contest that after so many years should come back to the conference. Thank god we have some help from some veterans to pull this one off (complete with a little red button that cuts audio, in case you get too lucky.) This is being run by [forum=480]DC718[/forum] and Telephreak. (site) (twitter.)

New Description is:

The Crew at Social-Engineer.org is challenging you. We are inviting those of you who think you can use ethical social engineering skills to stretch your limits as a social engineer. A unique blend of information gathering, planning and attack vector execution will challenge the very core of every participant. This will be a different SE challenge as our focus is not on who can “get” the target the worst, but a true display of SE talents. (site) (Blog: announcement)

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

Rides and Room Sharing is open.

[TheCotMan]

Re: PUBLIC-NOTICES: Forum Changes/Fixes. Any Questions?

This is either the second or third time I've brought down the forums as a mistake. Sorry about this.

I ran a report on the server, and through resource exhaustion, killed it. I spoke with Jeff, and he was not able to login to the server at all. Console messages suggest I used too much memory. Whoops! Sorry about that.

Database was mostly recoverable. It looks like someone was in the middle of a post when the server was reset. That post was lost as the transaction was empty. No other posts appear to be damaged or lost.

Forums should be returning to service in a few minutes.