Hacker Con Badges

DEF CON 25 · United States · 2017

AND!XOR DC25 Badge

Unofficial DEF CON 25 nRF52 BLE badge with BOTNET game

The AND!XOR DC25 Badge was an unofficial DEF CON 25 badgelife board built around a Rigado BMD-300 / Nordic nRF52 module, color TFT, WS2812B LEDs, sensors, microSD, BLE smartphone integration, TCLish scripting, BYOB bling, CHIP8/SCHIP games, and a badge-to-badge BOTNET game.

AND!XOR DEF CON DEF CON 25 United States Las Vegas Unofficial Badge nRF52 BMD-300 BLE TCL MicroSD BOTNET Badgelife North America
EventDEF CON 25
SeriesDEF CON
LocationCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada
CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

badge team and project publisher

AND!XOR

Project identity behind the DC25 badge, Hackaday.io project page, logs, model files, and badge-game documentation.

Source

badge team member

Andrew

Hackaday.io lists Andrew on the AND!XOR DC25 Badge project team.

Source

badge team member

Jorge Lacoste

Hackaday.io lists Jorge Lacoste on the AND!XOR DC25 Badge project team.

Source

badge team member

bitstr3m

The postmortem says bitstr3m joined the team for the DC25 project after DC24.

Source

badge team member

hyr0n1

The postmortem says hyr0n1 joined the team for the DC25 project after DC24.

Source

project owner and postmortem author

Zapp

Hackaday.io lists Zapp as project owner and the DC25 postmortem author.

Source

Why It Mattered

It shows how the unofficial badge scene expanded after AND!XOR's DC24 Bender badge: the team moved to a more capable nRF52/BLE platform, added a richer app/game layer, and sold a much larger run during the year when DEF CON's official badge was intentionally simple.

Hardware

The primary Hackaday.io page documents a Rigado BMD-300 SoC based on Nordic nRF52, ARM Cortex-M4F, 512 KB flash, 64 KB RAM, integrated antenna, 128x128 1.44-inch color LCD, 15 WS2812B LEDs, tilt and ambient-light sensors, microSD, five exposed GPIO pins, 3.3 V expansion power, and VRML/SVG/DXF model files. The postmortem adds Crystalfontz CFAF128128B display context, regulator substitutions, and Macrofab assembly history.

Software & Apps

Public logs document Nordic S132 SoftDevice use, roughly 11k lines of custom firmware, activation-code gating, bling modes, TCLish scripting with graphics/GPIO commands, BLE terminal control through the AND!XOR Android app or Nordic nRF Toolbox, custom RAW assets on microSD, CHIP8/SCHIP support for public-domain ROMs, and the multiplayer BOTNET game.

Lore

The postmortem says DC25 planning started immediately after DC24, with goals to ditch Arduino, pay for assembly, produce more badges, and improve badge-to-badge communications. The BOTNET game deliberately framed participating badges as a safe badge-only wireless network where players secured and attacked fictional services for points and XP.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge customization workflow source-backed

MicroSD Bring Your Own Bling

The BYOB log documents using the microSD card for custom RAW 16-bit 565 bling assets, including ffmpeg conversion and the `/SDCard/BLING/` folder workflow.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC25 Badge

Source
badge scripting environment source-backed

TCLish scripting and GPIO

The scripting log documents TCLish language support plus badge-specific graphics, LED, button, timing, file, and GPIO commands for day-one badge hacking.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC25 Badge

Source
badge-to-badge game source-backed

BOTNET badge-to-badge game

The BOTNET log describes a badge-only wireless game where activated badges could act as badge-net repeaters while players managed services, firewalls, exploits, points, XP, and attacks against other AND!XOR badges.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC25 Badge

Source
hardware architecture source-backed

BMD-300 / nRF52 BLE badge core

The project page and postmortem document a Rigado BMD-300 module based on Nordic nRF52 with ARM Cortex-M4F, 512 KB flash, 64 KB RAM, integrated antenna, Nordic S132 SoftDevice, TFT display, WS2812B LEDs, sensors, and microSD.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC25 Badge

Source
mobile app integration source-backed

BLE smartphone terminal

The smartphone-integration log documents the AND!XOR Android app terminal, Nordic nRF Toolbox compatibility, nearby badge scanning, BLE terminal commands, script buttons, and maintenance-mode behavior.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC25 Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

missing rights-cleared image note

No AND!XOR DC25 badge image is published because Hackaday.io, Hackster, CDN, and social images have not been paired with complete reusable image rights, attribution, and processing provenance.

The record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying article/project images, screenshots, video frames, generated art, placeholders, or uncleared media.

Confidence
local project policy
Status
needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
badge.gallery image policy, Hackaday.io project media, Hackster article media, and linked CDN files.
source-archive gap note

The postmortem says source code and Gerbers were published, but a current public-source check found the referenced GitHub trail unavailable while the Hackaday.io file area still exposes only VRML/SVG/DXF model files.

The record cites the available project logs and model archive while avoiding stronger open-hardware/source-code claims until the missing repository or an archive mirror is recovered.

Confidence
public-source recheck
Status
needs archive recovery
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
AND!XOR DC25 postmortem, Hackaday.io files area, and current public GitHub search.
wireless-game caveat note

The BOTNET log frames wireless activity as badge-only gameplay with custom packet structures and payloads interpreted only by AND!XOR badges, with activation and airplane-mode opt-out behavior.

The catalogue records the game mechanics without implying a real-world botnet or harmful network capability beyond the badge ecosystem described by the project owners.

Confidence
primary game log
Status
documented
Timeframe
DEF CON 25 game operation
Source note
AND!XOR BOTNET game log.

Resources

AND!XOR DC25 BOTNET game log game documentation · Primary log describing the badge-to-badge BOTNET game, activation, badge-net repeating behavior, airplane-mode opt-out, services, firewall rules, exploits, XP, and points. AND!XOR DC25 Badge project project page · Project-owner Hackaday.io source for DEF CON 25 context, BMD-300/nRF52 hardware specs, TFT, LEDs, sensors, microSD, badge functions, team list, files, and project status. AND!XOR DC25 TCLish scripting scripting documentation · Primary log documenting badge scripting, supported commands, graphics drawing APIs, GPIO read/write commands, button state commands, and examples. AND!XOR DC25 badge postmortem project log · Primary retrospective log for team expansion, design goals, BMD-300 selection, display/LED/regulator production context, S132 firmware base, activation code, bling, games, production quantities, and source-release caveats. AND!XOR DC25 microSD BYOB bling customization guide · Primary log documenting the microSD card, Bring Your Own Bling workflow, RAW 16-bit 565 asset format, ffmpeg conversion command, and custom bling folder behavior. AND!XOR DC25 model files model archive · Hackaday.io file archive advertised by the project as VRML, SVG, and DXF models for badge accessories and paper/PLA mockups; not treated as full Gerber source. AND!XOR DC25 smartphone integration app integration · Primary log documenting BLE terminal behavior through the AND!XOR Android app, Nordic nRF Toolbox compatibility, maintenance mode, scanning, connection, script buttons, and app-permission notes. Hackster AND!XOR DC25 article article · Secondary coverage corroborating the DC25 badge as a hackable BLE DEF CON 25 indie badge and pointing to the Hackaday.io project.

Sources

Hackaday.io / AND!XOR: AND!XOR DC25 Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary project-owner source for hardware specs, DEF CON 25 dates/location, badge functions, team roster, project files, and the open hackable-badge framing. Hackaday.io / AND!XOR: The AND!XOR Conference Badges Are Part Of An IoT Botnet Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary game-design source for the badge-only wireless BOTNET mechanic, player services, firewall/exploit rules, badge-net behavior, activation, and opt-out details. Hackaday.io / AND!XOR: Smartphone Integration Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary BLE/app source for AND!XOR Android terminal behavior, Nordic nRF Toolbox compatibility, maintenance mode, and BLE permission caveats. Hackaday.io / Zapp: DC25 Badge Post Mortem Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary retrospective source for BMD-300/nRF52 choice, display, WS2812B LEDs, production quantities, regulator substitution, S132 firmware base, activation, games, app, and source-release caveats. Hackster.io: A Hackable BLE DEFCON 25 Indie Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Secondary technical source corroborating the BLE indie-badge framing and Hackaday.io project evidence.