I started attending DEF CON in Las Vegas a few years ago in 2018, so I guess I could be considered a newb in the eyes of The Con, but because I work in the field of cybersecurity, my work would reimburse all expenses, so it was a sweet deal. I instantly fell in love with everything there, and I met some new friends, who I would later discover to be brothers. I was inducted into The Illuminati Party at DEF CON 26, and upon entering the IP Suite the next year at DEF CON 27, when I was met by the big booming voice of, “Welcome Home,” it truly did feel like home.
Last year, because of the pandemic, DEF CON was actually cancelled, and instead we had the first ever DEF CON Safe Mode, which took place entirely online. I missed being around all my hacker friends in person, but it was still a great year. This year, DEF CON 29 was a hybrid of both on-prem and online events, so it was a bit scattered. My workplace is still on a business travel lockdown, and I wasn’t going to make things difficult, so I opted to stay at home and enjoy the virtual side of things, and The Illuminati Party did the same — conducting all of their private talks and events on a private Discord server.
In this post, I will go over some of the high points (and bittersweet points) of DC29.
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