DEF CON 32 recap!
The new badge concept was exciting, although it was a bit of a shame that it was surrounded by confusion and half-baked firmware. It felt like a miss on the collaborative side that promotes people to talk and engage with each other. Still, I like that it’s a piece of reusable hardware was built to be modified.
I liked the new venue at the convention center. The extra space made it easier to move around, and overall more modern. However, the food options left a lot to be desired. It’s a shame to see price gouging, the attendees who were already making sacrifices to attend. Hopefully, this is something they’ll improve on for next year.
This year, I found myself spending a lot more time in the villages. The Cloud and Hardware villages being my favorites. The Cloud Village always delivers with interesting talks and solid content. It’s the place to be if you’re into cloud security and want to see some of the best innovations.
The Hardware Village that really stood out to me this time. In my opinion, it offered some of the best hands-on learning at the conference. They had several sub-workshops running simultaneously, each led by knowledgeable instructors who guided small groups through training sessions. I left those workshops feeling like I had learned real skills and could start exploring the domain myself. I even picked up some boards to try my hand at UART, SPI, and flash dumping—something I never thought I’d get into before this DEFCON.
I also tried my hand at the Cloud CTF. I put in some work on Saturday with friends and held a solid 7th place for a while, but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to really dig in, and we lost our lead the next day. Next year, I’ll make sure to allocate more time for it because the challenges looked amazing.
Overall, I’m looking forward to DEF CON 33.