Ideas for Defcon 15

[Surreal]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

So DT asked folks to come up with more ideas to fill some con space. I was really impressed with lockpick village, especially the newbie stations.

Lockpick village _was_ great.

I've got an idea that would amuse me somewhat, but I haven't put a lot of thought into the logistics. I'm thinking of a Network Attack Village. An air-gapped network with one or more hosts running a selection of targets under VMware or other free virtualization setups.

It would be a place you could plug in, run Nessus, Metasploit, or Wireshark, Nepenthes, boot up Linux S.T.D, practice/learn some scripting and netcat-fu, etc.etc. and, optionally, indulge in behaving like a drunken script kiddie for awhile without the legal repercussions. Like the network setup for one of those Learn To Haxor classes - a playground for the unwashed masses who don't get into CTF or Amateur CTF. Heck, maybe charge $1.00 for 5 or 10 minutes playtime and donate the proceeds (over costs?) to the E.F.F.

Make the VMs nonpersistant and reset the whole shebang or portions of it periodically. It could run donated, licensed copies of everyone's favorite Practice Target OS, some older or misconfigured Linuxes...

Just a thought. Sigh... August is coming mighty slow this year, isn't it?

Surreal

[bluknight]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15: Hacker Olympics

Funny you mention that, crickett from DC208 is trying to put together a local Con in SE Idaho that addresses that very concept. http://wargamez.org/. I'm not trying to plug the con but we can probably use the experience of the con as a template for how one could be run at Defcon.

Funny that you mention this, as I would love to attend something this close to where I live in SE Montana.

[nak]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

I ordered the Free Radio Berkeley 1 watt PLL and 15 watt amp, filter and brick enclosure before defcon last year, once I heard DMZ couldnt make it. It arrived just as I was unpacking the stuff in my room.

If anyone has put one of these together successfully, or knows someone who has, please tell me. I've soldered the PCBs but I have some questions... like "What is the R7+ resistor?"

I'll see if I can get the everything working before next defcon.

[converge]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

iirc, DMZ has long offered Defcon Radio participation to anyone willing to put forth effort and time to making it kick even more ass. As one (generally quite busy) man he is limited in attendance and resources .. I would highly encourage checking through last year's posts that he left (between April and con, iirc) and consider pursuing it.. get in touch with him, etc.

/me adds DMZ to his beer list for this year in hopes it might bring him back

[mage2]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

Yes DefconRadio has been around for awhile. I think it has been so far under utilized. To be honest I knew it was there, I dont think I ever listened to it.
This could increase the number that listen and at the same time increase the update coverage. Anything that requires a connection to the net could be a problematic mostly because Defcon's network is well known for downtime and it is the most hostile non contest related network ever. Projecting scrolling updates on a wall would only inform those that were in the room.

But using a radio does have its shortcomings, only those actively listening at the time of the announcement would be informed. I think that a many angle approach would be the most effective. I wonder what the person that ran DefconRadio thinks about the radio idea.

Defcon Radio was around for years, but the organizer (dmz, I believe) was unable to attend last year.

[Vog]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15: Hacker Olympics

I think Defcon 15 should have a contest that goes something like this. x teams are formed to compete in a challenge of awkward feet... something that goes against every grain in our online existance.

Teach.

Contest runners find and, through painful measure, certify the limited skills of x skript kiddies attending Defcon, one for each participating team. Contest runners on the first day of Defcon present the desired outcome/contest format. Each team of skilled haxor then has the weekend to pump their randomly assigned patron with as much knowledge and skill as humanly possible (whether systems exploitation, SE, lockpicking, etc) ... tailored to that teams strategy for winning the contest at the end, where only the prepped and groomed haxors in training can actually make the win for the entire team. This could include forced attendance of talks, participation in certain events for practice, hanging out in certain breakout areas (Villages) etc.. none of the above, or other more creative means. Final contest is held at the end of Sunday before Awards Ceremony where results are announced.

Individual gets recognized for their learning ability and skill, team gets recognized for their 1337 skills as well as their ability to bring others up to speed.

It's CTF meets Olympics meets Breakout Session meets Junkyard Wars meets Defcon.

Spoonman?

Funny you mention that, crickett from DC208 is trying to put together a local Con in SE Idaho that addresses that very concept. http://wargamez.org/. I'm not trying to plug the con but we can probably use the experience of the con as a template for how one could be run at Defcon.

[LosT]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

It is hard enough creating a tier based contest, much less bringing all contests together this way...

LosT

[Voltage Spike]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

A idea, what about a low power FM station that could broadcast updates every hour or so?

Defcon Radio was around for years, but the organizer (dmz, I believe) was unable to attend last year.

[mage2]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

A idea, what about a low power FM station that could broadcast updates every hour or so? Sooner for those last minute sessions. I am pretty sure almost everyone has a fm radio somewhere available , that along with a projector/website at the info booth should keep the masses informed as well as could be expected. The transmitter could also be located at the info booth. Of course this could be subject to abuse, like someone transmitting on the same freq with false data. But the data could be verified by the info booth.

What do you think?

I also love the idea of breakout sessions and thing what LoST did this year was awesome! I think the biggest hurdle regarding the breakouts is getting the word out that one is happening/going to happen.

Forget about the speakers...my concern is for the attendees. How do we get the word to them about upcoming breakouts? They generally happen pretty quickly and if you aren't in the right place at the right time, you are kind of hosed.

I really don't know what the solution to this is? The Info Booth? Perhaps, but then people have to come by the Info Booth several times a day to see if there is a session they want to go to. There must be a way, I'd love to hear folks' ideas.

[converge]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15: Hacker Olympics

I think Defcon 15 should have a contest that goes something like this. x teams are formed to compete in a challenge of awkward feet... something that goes against every grain in our online existance.

Teach.

Contest runners find and, through painful measure, certify the limited skills of x skript kiddies attending Defcon, one for each participating team. Contest runners on the first day of Defcon present the desired outcome/contest format. Each team of skilled haxor then has the weekend to pump their randomly assigned patron with as much knowledge and skill as humanly possible (whether systems exploitation, SE, lockpicking, etc) ... tailored to that teams strategy for winning the contest at the end, where only the prepped and groomed haxors in training can actually make the win for the entire team. This could include forced attendance of talks, participation in certain events for practice, hanging out in certain breakout areas (Villages) etc.. none of the above, or other more creative means. Final contest is held at the end of Sunday before Awards Ceremony where results are announced.

Individual gets recognized for their learning ability and skill, team gets recognized for their 1337 skills as well as their ability to bring others up to speed.

It's CTF meets Olympics meets Breakout Session meets Junkyard Wars meets Defcon.

Spoonman?

[TheCotMan]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15: Hacker Olympics

There are several competitive events at Defcon, as we all know, and the winners from all those events get their 15 seconds of fame during the award presentations and sometimes even the coveted black badge. Being part of the DC208 crew that was awarded the buffalo bills award last year, for placing second in Hacker Jeapordy for as long as I can remember, I would like to see longtimers like g4lt, Anonpoet, and Cute Skunk have a chance at getting their 15 seconds of fame for sometime other than always placing 2nd.

I propose that a Hacker Olympics be started for those DC groups that participate in multiple events with an over all hacker award going to the winner. So even though you place 2nd in Ken Shoto's CTF and Hacker Jeapordy (ahem) you would still get points towards an over all hacker title awarded at the end of the con.

So a series of qualifying team events (ctf, actf, jeapordy, scavenger hunt etc...) would need to be listed and then a points system established so that a running tally can be kept through the con. There are of course problems with this picture because not everyone qualifies for entry into every event, but who said things had to be fair, if everyone can apply, that's all that matters. I don't see people bitching about locals having a leg up on everyone else in the scavenger hunt... If this idea gets a positive reaction then I'll create another thread to go into more detail.

Cheers,
Vog

How would a scoring system work? Would more weight be placed in scores of certain event instead of others? What events would be included? Who would run the final numbers after scrabling around to get information on the placements of various winners in all of the contests after they were over, but before closing ceremonies?

Expand this idea with more thoughts and suggestions. Let's see where it goes. If you get more responses, I can shear the related posts into "New Ideas" which is under the Contests/Events section as a separate forum.

[Vog]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15: Hacker Olympics

There are several competitive events at Defcon, as we all know, and the winners from all those events get their 15 seconds of fame during the award presentations and sometimes even the coveted black badge. Being part of the DC208 crew that was awarded the buffalo bills award last year, for placing second in Hacker Jeapordy for as long as I can remember, I would like to see longtimers like g4lt, Anonpoet, and Cute Skunk have a chance at getting their 15 seconds of fame for sometime other than always placing 2nd.

I propose that a Hacker Olympics be started for those DC groups that participate in multiple events with an over all hacker award going to the winner. So even though you place 2nd in Ken Shoto's CTF and Hacker Jeapordy (ahem) you would still get points towards an over all hacker title awarded at the end of the con.

So a series of qualifying team events (ctf, actf, jeapordy, scavenger hunt etc...) would need to be listed and then a points system established so that a running tally can be kept through the con. There are of course problems with this picture because not everyone qualifies for entry into every event, but who said things had to be fair, if everyone can apply, that's all that matters. I don't see people bitching about locals having a leg up on everyone else in the scavenger hunt... If this idea gets a positive reaction then I'll create another thread to go into more detail.

Cheers,
Vog

[jeremycec]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

I would really like to see some custom Riviera Defcon chips this year like these.

Jeremy

[big chopper]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

I thought the "Dart Throwing Village" was strangely out of place.
--BC,

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Ideas for Defcon 15

What about reaching out to promters for some barter system for video content?

while that has the potential to work, it gets a wary thumbs down from me simply because it legitimizes a horrid system that deserves to die.