DEF CON 28 Safe Mode · United States · 2020

AND!XOR DC28 Badge

Unofficial DEF CON 28 STM32F412 badge with BlackBerry keyboard CTF

The AND!XOR DC28 Badge was an unofficial DEF CON 28 Safe Mode badgelife board shipped through pandemic-era proxy drops, with an STM32F412RET6 MCU, 0.96 inch OLED, ST7735 128x160 TFT, APA-102C LEDs, BlackBerry Q10 keyboard, USB-C, Keystone 1020 battery holder, MyBASIC hardware scripting, and an embedded BENDERPISS CTF text adventure.

AND!XOR DEF CON DEF CON 28 Safe Mode United States Virtual Event Unofficial Badge STM32F412 BlackBerry Q10 MyBASIC BENDERPISS CTF Badgelife North America

EventDEF CON 28 Safe Mode

SeriesDEF CON

LocationVirtual / online

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

AND!XOR badge contributor

Zapp / @zappbrandnxor

The RTFM contributor list names @zappbrandnxor among the AND!XOR DC28 badge contributors.

Source

PCB silkscreen, acrylic, bandanna, and lanyard artwork

Doc

The RTFM credits Doc for artwork across PCB silkscreen, acrylic, bandanna, and lanyard surfaces.

Source

PCBA vendor

MacroFab

The RTFM BOM names MacroFab as the PCBA vendor.

Source

RTFM author and badge contributor

Hyr0n / @hyr0n1

The RTFM log is authored by Hyr0n and names @hyr0n1 among the badge contributors.

Source

VOIP service puzzle, greetings, and lulz

Alethe Denis / @AletheDenis

The RTFM credits Alethe Denis at Penguin for the VOIP service puzzle, greetings, and lulz.

Source

acrylic faceplate vendor

Ponoko

The RTFM BOM names Ponoko as the acrylic faceplate vendor.

Source

badge team and repository publisher

AND!XOR

The Hackaday.io project and GitHub repository identify AND!XOR as the badge team and source publisher for the DC28 badge.

Source

filming and editing

Mike Laan / @mlaan

The RTFM credits Mike Laan for filming and editing.

Source

puzzle design and Intern of the Month Award Jun

Will Caruana / @WillCaruana

The RTFM credits Will Caruana for puzzle design and the Intern of the Month Award Jun role.

Source

puzzle design and beta testing

Kur3us / @kur3us

The RTFM credits Kur3us for puzzle design and beta testing.

Source

sponsor

Urbane Security

The RTFM sponsor line names Urbane Security.

Source

sponsor and augmented board-inspection workflow

inspectAR

The RTFM sponsor line names inspectAR and documents its sponsored-project workflow for inspecting the badge without removing the acrylic faceplate.

Source

sponsor and puzzle collaborator context

Penguin

The RTFM sponsor line names Penguin and separately credits Alethe Denis at Penguin.

Source

Why It Mattered

It preserves the AND!XOR lineage through the year when DEF CON moved online: the team kept badgelife social by shipping free badges through distributed drops and moving collaboration into Slack, while still publishing firmware, Gerbers, SPI assets, and a post-CTF Apache-2.0 source archive.

Hardware

The RTFM log lists MacroFab PCBA, Ponoko acrylic faceplate, STM32F412RET6 MCU, ER-OLED0.96-1.3B-1655 OLED, ST7735 128x160 TFT, APA-102C-NEW LEDs, BlackBerry Q10 keyboard, Hirose BM14B keyboard connector, 8 MHz STM32 crystal, TYPE-C-31-M-12 USB-C connector, and Keystone 1020 battery holder. The public repository preserves Gerbers, firmware, SPI-generation tools, troubleshooting notes, and a flash-image archive.

Software & Apps

Primary sources describe bling, a socially distant embedded CTF text adventure, MyBASIC extended to badge hardware, BENDERPISS standalone play through the BlackBerry keyboard, RS232 mirroring for serial-terminal interaction, CTF scoreboard/Slack collaboration, firmware land-mine flags, and a post-CTF source release under Apache-2.0.

Lore

The project page says DEF CON was canceled by the pandemic but the team still planned badge drops around the country through proxy hackers. The RTFM credits AND!XOR handles, Doc artwork, Alethe Denis at Penguin, Will Caruana, Kur3us, Mike Laan, sponsors, philanthropists, MacroFab, Ponoko, and inspectAR support.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge interface source-backed

BlackBerry Q10 keyboard controls

The RTFM documents SYM/ALT key chords for movement, quit/back, delete, special characters, and Bling Rager mode on the BlackBerry keyboard interface.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC28 Badge

Source

event game historical

BENDERPISS standalone CTF

The badge hosted a BENDER CTF variant playable directly on the badge while mirroring interaction over an RS232 serial connection.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC28 Badge

Source

hardware platform source-backed

STM32F412 and dual-display badge platform

The RTFM BOM documents an STM32F412RET6 badge with a 0.96 inch OLED, ST7735 128x160 TFT, APA-102C LEDs, USB-C, BlackBerry Q10 keyboard, and coin-cell holder.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC28 Badge

Source

source release archived

Apache-2.0 post-CTF source archive

The public repository preserves firmware, Gerbers, SPI tooling, troubleshooting notes, a flash-image archive, and Apache-2.0 license metadata after the CTF window.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC28 Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

archive-depth caveat note

The public repository preserves firmware, Gerbers, SPI tools, troubleshooting, and a flash image, while this pass does not audit every firmware commit, CTF flag, Slack hint, scoreboard state, patch, land-mine flag, or physical drop artifact.

The record captures the verified hardware/software surfaces without claiming complete CTF reconstruction or complete production logistics.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs deeper artifact inventory
Timeframe: current AND!XOR DC28 pass
Source note: AND!XOR DC28 RTFM, CTF walkthrough logs, and GitHub repository.

distributed-drop caveat note

The project page says badges would be shipped to drops around the country for proxy hackers to give away for free, but this pass did not recover a final drop manifest, production count, recipient list, or universal-attendee distribution statement.

The catalogue treats the board as an unofficial DEF CON-adjacent badgelife artifact and avoids implying it was the official DEF CON 28 admission badge or a universally issued attendee item.

Confidence: project-owner source but incomplete
Status: documented as unofficial badgelife
Timeframe: DEF CON 28 Safe Mode
Source note: AND!XOR DC28 Hackaday.io project page and RTFM log.

image-rights boundary note

No local AND!XOR DC28 image is published because this pass did not pair a specific physical badge photo or official upstream full-board raster with complete reusable image rights, attribution, source URL, and processing notes.

The record remains image-free rather than copying Hackaday.io media, social posts, repository-adjacent screenshots, article images, or generated artwork.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current AND!XOR DC28 pass
Source note: badge.gallery image policy, AND!XOR DC28 Hackaday.io media, and public repository image-source review.

missing rights-cleared image note

No AND!XOR DC28 Badge image is published because the current public source trail has not been paired with a reusable original badge or artifact photo or official upstream raster render with source URL, license or permission basis, attribution, and processing notes.

The United States record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying source-page media, documentation screenshots, event photos, social media, placeholders, or generated approximations.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy and AND!XOR DC28 Hackaday.io project, RTFM log, and public GitHub firmware/Gerber/SPI archive.

Resources

AND!XOR DC28 Badge project project page · Project-owner Hackaday.io source for DEF CON 28 pandemic-cancellation context, distributed free badge-drop framing, bling, embedded CTF, MyBASIC hardware scripting, Slack/scoreboard links, team roster, sponsors, and project logs. AND!XOR DC28 RTFM badge manual · Primary manual source for the STM32F412RET6, OLED, ST7735 TFT, APA-102C LEDs, BlackBerry Q10 keyboard, USB-C, battery holder, inspectAR workflow, key bindings, BENDERPISS CTF, and source-release links. ANDnXOR DC28 Gerbers manufacturing output · Repository Gerber directory used as the public manufacturing-output evidence for the badge board. ANDnXOR DC28 SPI assets content source · Repository SPI directory preserving badge content-generation scripts and source assets used for bling/content packaging. ANDnXOR DC28 badge repository source repo · Public repository preserving firmware, Gerbers, SPI asset-generation tools, flash image archive, troubleshooting notes, README, and Apache-2.0 license. ANDnXOR DC28 firmware tree firmware source · Repository firmware directory containing badge firmware source tree, Zephyr setup helper, and word-list generation assets. ANDnXOR DC28 license license · Apache-2.0 repository license source for firmware and archive reuse context; local badge image reuse remains withheld pending image-specific provenance. ANDnXOR DC28 troubleshooting notes support documentation · Repository troubleshooting note source for post-release hardware/software support context.

Sources

GitHub / ANDnXOR: ANDnXOR/ANDnXOR_DC28_Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Public source archive preserving firmware, Gerbers, SPI tooling/content, flash image archive, troubleshooting, README, and repository metadata. GitHub / ANDnXOR: ANDnXOR DC28 badge firmware tree Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Repository source for the released badge firmware tree and Zephyr/word-list helper files. GitHub / ANDnXOR: ANDnXOR DC28 badge LICENSE Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Apache-2.0 license source for the public repository; image reuse is still treated separately under badge.gallery provenance rules. Hackaday.io / AND!XOR: AND!XOR DC28 Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary project-owner source for the DEF CON 28 canceled/remote context, distributed free badge drops, bling, embedded CTF adventure, MyBASIC hardware scripting, Slack/scoreboard collaboration, sponsors, team roster, and project logs. Hackaday.io / Hyr0n: RTFM Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary manual source for the BOM, inspectAR usage, BlackBerry keyboard controls, BENDERPISS CTF, RS232 mirroring note, GitHub source links, and named contributor/sponsor credits.