DEF CON 34 · United States · 2026

AND!XOR DC34 5N4CK3Y Badge

Pre-event independent BENDER contest badge with activation pending

AND!XOR's source-backed DC34 5N4CK3Y project is an independent DEF CON BadgeLife contest badge with limited philanthropy units and a stated free-badge distribution route through challenges, contests, events, and other convention activity. Its official product page says BENDER hacking challenges and same-day activation instructions are scheduled for the event, but does not yet disclose the board or firmware implementation. It is a pre-event independent record, not the official DEF CON 34 Human badge.

AND!XOR 5N4CK3Y DEF CON 34 United States Las Vegas BadgeLife Pre-event BENDER CTF Independent Badge North America

EventDEF CON 34

SeriesDEF CON

LocationLVCC West Hall, Las Vegas, Nevada

CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

badge project, distribution, and activation publisher

AND!XOR

Official publisher of the DC34 5N4CK3Y philanthropy page and the linked official GitHub account.

Source

project sponsor

Doc

Named as `Doc` by the official DC34 product page among sponsors; the source does not identify a fuller organization or personal name.

Source

project sponsor

Urbane Security

Named by the official DC34 product page among sponsors thanked for making the giveaway model possible.

Source

project sponsor and challenge-hosting platform

CTFd

Named by the official DC34 product page among sponsors, and the same source says BENDER challenges will appear on a CTFd-hosted server.

Source

Why It Mattered

It brings a long-running independent DEF CON badge lineage forward to the current event without inflating a deliberately teaser-style announcement into a hardware specification. The evidence establishes a real planned badge, its BENDER game/activation context, a philanthropy-supported distribution model, and source/publication ownership while retaining strong boundaries around technical, delivery, allocation, and image claims.

Hardware

AND!XOR's official DC34 product page calls the item a real badge and a premium convention-hardware experience, and refers to firmware and possible GPIO in deliberately playful sales copy. It does not identify a microcontroller, radio, display, LEDs, battery, connectors, PCB shape, schematic, BOM, Gerbers, dimensions, production configuration, or electrical specifications. This pre-event record therefore models a documented physical badge project without inventing an electronic design from marketing language.

Software & Apps

The official product page says BENDER hacking challenges will become available through its CTFd-hosted server on Friday, August 7, 2026 at 10:00 Vegas time because the badges are part of a DEF CON Contests & Events challenge. It says activation instructions will appear on AND!XOR's GitHub account on the day the contest starts. No DC34 firmware, challenge content, activation workflow, source archive, protocol, software license, or final game rules were public in the reviewed sources before the event.

Lore

The storefront lists a limited philanthropy sale intended to reserve one badge while helping the project manufacture and give away additional units. It says more than 84 percent of the badges are planned to go out free through hacking challenges, contests, events, and assorted convention activity, with philanthropist badges shipping by early August, no Las Vegas pickup, and no international shipping. These are upcoming distribution intentions rather than proof of a completed run, recipient count, or event outcome.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge challenge announced pre-event

BENDER contest activation

The official product page says BENDER hacking challenges will appear on the CTFd-hosted server at 10:00 Vegas time on Friday, August 7 because the badges are part of a DEF CON Contests & Events challenge, with activation instructions promised for the same day.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC34 5N4CK3Y Badge

Source

distribution model announced pre-event

Philanthropy-supported badge distribution

AND!XOR says its limited philanthropy sale reserves a badge for supporters while helping manufacture additional badges to give away; it says more than 84 percent are planned for free distribution through convention challenges, contests, and events.

Compatibility: AND!XOR DC34 5N4CK3Y Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

allocation and fulfillment boundary note

The source says philanthropy units are limited and more than 84 percent of badges are planned for free convention distribution, but it does not publish a total production count, exact giveaway count, recipient criteria, event-by-event allocation, final shipping completion, or complete physical variant list. It also says there is no Las Vegas pickup and no international shipping for philanthropy units.

The catalogue does not infer a universal attendee issue, final recipient count, or completed giveaway from the planned distribution model.

Confidence: official product page
Status: planned distribution only
Timeframe: pre-event source pass
Source note: AND!XOR DC34 official product page.

hardware and firmware archive gap note

Public DC34 material does not identify the board's components, radio, display, battery, connector, power, PCB, schematic, BOM, Gerbers, firmware, flashing procedure, protocol, source repository, or software license. AND!XOR explicitly says activation instructions will be posted only when the contest begins.

The record does not turn marketing references to hardware, firmware, or GPIO into an unverified electronic-badge specification.

Confidence: official product page and GitHub inspection
Status: awaiting announced activation material
Timeframe: pre-event source pass
Source note: AND!XOR DC34 official product page and official GitHub account recheck.

independent badge classification note

AND!XOR describes a separate badge project participating in DEF CON Contests & Events and a philanthropy/giveaway route. It is not the official DEF CON 34 Human badge or a general admission credential.

The record can sit under the DEF CON 34 event without confusing the independent BadgeLife project with the official conference-access badge.

Confidence: official project page and DEF CON context
Status: documented pre-event
Timeframe: DEF CON 34
Source note: AND!XOR DC34 official product page and DEF CON 34 event context.

missing rights-cleared image note

No AND!XOR DC34 5N4CK3Y image is published because the official product page and GitHub account do not pair a specific badge image with source URL, reusable license or explicit permission basis, attribution, and processing notes.

The United States pre-event record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying shop imagery, GitHub media, social posts, screenshots, placeholders, or generated approximations.

Confidence: local project policy
Status: needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: badge.gallery image policy and reviewed AND!XOR DC34 sources.

pre-event activation and delivery boundary note

The official page schedules BENDER challenge availability and activation instructions for August 7, 2026, and says philanthropist badges will ship by early August. DEF CON 34 has not yet occurred, and no completed activation, delivery, challenge, or post-event badge report is public.

The catalogue records announced game and logistics context, not a completed physical run, completed server activation, delivered firmware, or observed attendee experience.

Confidence: official product page
Status: awaiting DEF CON 34 outcome
Timeframe: pre-event as of 2026-08-03
Source note: AND!XOR DC34 official product page.

Resources

AND!XOR DC34 Philanthropist Badge official badge project and distribution page · AND!XOR's official DC34 5N4CK3Y philanthropy-sale page. It establishes the real badge, limited philanthropy units, BENDER challenge schedule, planned activation-instruction timing, planned shipping/no-pickup terms, and stated giveaway model. Product imagery is evidence only, not a reuse license. AND!XOR official GitHub account stated activation-instruction publisher · AND!XOR's official GitHub account, identified by the product page as the location where DC34 activation instructions will be posted when the contest starts. The reviewed account has no identified public DC34 repository or activation material yet.

Sources

AND!XOR: AND!XOR DC34 Philanthropist Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary official source for the DC34 5N4CK3Y badge's limited philanthropy route, planned free-badge distribution through DEF CON activities, BENDER challenge timing, activation-instruction plan, sponsor acknowledgements, and shipping/no-pickup constraints. It does not provide technical design documentation or reusable image permission. GitHub / ANDnXOR: AND!XOR official GitHub account Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official AND!XOR GitHub account, whose profile identifies it as the group's official account and whose existing public repositories corroborate its prior badge lineage. It is a stated future DC34 activation channel, not a published DC34 firmware or hardware archive at this pre-event update.