host
Aask
Bringing the Midwest and West Coast hacker scenes together. Your ringmaster for the night — and the reason there’s a bag of (not-real) gold on the line.
// the_vibe
Aask is bringing the Midwest hacker scene and the West Coast hacker scene together for a pre-con IoT firmware-dumping bonanza — with booze, live music, video game contests, and suspicious little devices that absolutely should not have cloud credentials in them.
Not hacking? Still come. We’ll have 3+ live musicians, including main-stage DEF CON DJs, plus video game contests, drinks, games, and plenty of “drink all the booze, hack all the things” vibes while we wait for the last device to fall.
Now featuring CantBeABird.
TOP HACKERS CAN WIN
100 GOLD COINS*
*Not real gold. Obviously.
// your_hosts
Running the show and pouring the drinks.
// the_lineup
3+ live musicians. Main-stage DEF CON DJs. One mystery slot.
TBA
headliner
TBA
main stage
TBA
live set
???
mystery slot
Final lineup & portraits incoming. Guest list expands as RSVPs come in.
// prep_your_rig
Show up ready to dump. A little prep = a lot more points.
$ pack
- Laptop + charger (Linux/WSL/macOS — you’ll want a real shell)
- USB-TTL / FT232 serial adapter + jumper wires
- A cheap SOIC-8 clip + CH341A flasher (for SPI flash dumps)
- Multimeter (find UART, don’t fry the board)
- The cursed device itself. And a backup cursed device.
- Power strip / USB hub — outlets are always scarce
$ apt install
- binwalk
- flashrom
- minicom / picocom / screen
- sigrok + pulseview (logic analyzer)
- ghidra / cutter
- firmware-mod-kit, sasquatch, jefferson
[ rules_of_engagement ] Anything on the table is fair game — that’s the whole point. Drop a device on the pile and it’s open season: bringing it is your consent to watch it get dumped, and you rack up points cracking everyone else’s, too. Off-limits: the venue’s network, people’s personal phones/laptops, and anything you didn’t bring to the party. Findings get disclosed responsibly. Hack the things on the table; don’t be a felon.
// bring_a_device
Bring the weird IoT thing you bought, found, forgot about, or “definitely meant to look at later.”
- routers
- cameras
- smart plugs
- mystery boards
- cursed cloud trash
- bad ideas from Amazon
- anything with firmware and regrets
If there’s no GitHub repo to save you, even better.
// scoring
Dump your own. Dump the device next to you. Points either way, for…
uniqueness
impact
keys
firmware dumps
weird services
cursed findings
“wait, what the f*ck?” count
// faq
I’m not a hacker. Can I still come?
Yes. Genuinely. There’s live music, video game contests, drinks, and games. Come for the vibes, stay for the “wait, what the f*ck?” moments.
Why is it approval-only?
We’re figuring out capacity for the space. RSVP early — the guest list expands as we lock down the venue.
Where is it?
Las Vegas, location TBD. Approved guests get the address before the night. It’s the Tuesday before DEF CON 34, so: in town, close to the action.
Do I have to bring a device?
No, but you can’t win the 100 gold coins* without one. Bring something with firmware and regrets. See prep_your_rig.
Is the gold real?
No. Obviously. *Not real gold.
// shell
You’re among hackers. Poke around. help to start —
or run adventure and hack your way through DEF CON. There’s a flag in there. 🚩
midwestcoast.best shell v2.0 — type help, or adventure to play.
guest@defcon:~$
// rsvp
Approval-only at first while we figure out capacity. Location TBD.
[ RSVP ON PARTIFUL ]