DEF CON 20 · United States · 2012

DEF CON 20 Badge

Propeller multicore IR puzzle and development badge

A Ryan Clarke-designed DEF CON 20 electronic badge manufactured by Parallax around the Propeller P8X32A multicore processor, infrared badge-to-badge communication, eight LEDs, USB programming, many physical variants, and a crypto/social badge challenge.

DEF CON United States Propeller P8X32A Parallax Infrared VGA PS/2 Badge Contest Cryptography North America

EventDEF CON 20

SeriesDEF CON

LocationRio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

CountryUnited States

Image Provenance

Asset: optimized WebP crop from Wikimedia Commons documentary photo
Status: licensed original photo derivative
Source: DefCon Badges.jpg
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Attribution: Sephiroth storm, Wikimedia Commons
Notes: Original 1412x1059 Wikimedia Commons photo downloaded from File:DefCon Badges.jpg and preserved in Public/images/source. The published WebP delivery asset is auto-oriented, metadata-stripped, cropped to the visible DEF CON 20 Human badge, and otherwise kept as a real CC BY-SA 4.0 documentary-photo derivative. The crop preserves the badge's visible '20' marking and Parallax PCB body; this is not generated content or a placeholder. The published badge.gallery delivery file is an optimized WebP generated from the rights-cleared local derivative/source with metadata stripped, WebP quality 82, and a maximum side cap of 1600 pixels when the source is larger; upstream source URL, license, and attribution remain unchanged.

People

Authors & Credits

DEF CON founder and badge talk presenter

Jeff Moss / The Dark Tangent

InfoconDB lists Jeff Moss as presenter for the DEF CON 20 badge talk, and Parallax frames the badge as made for Jeff Moss's DEF CON.

Source

badge designer and challenge author

Ryan Clarke / LosT

Parallax and InfoconDB identify Ryan Clarke / LosT as the DEF CON 20 badge designer.

Source

badge manufacturer and documentation publisher

Parallax

Parallax documents manufacturing the DEF CON 20 badge and publishing schematics, firmware examples, and hardware-mod guidance.

Source

core code objects

Jon Williams

Parallax credits Jon Williams with authoring the DEF CON 20 badge core code objects.

Source

Why It Mattered

It is a major North American official-badge record where DEF CON shifted badge hacking toward mixed teams: hardware, firmware, cryptography, language, social interaction, and venue-wide puzzle clues all mattered.

Hardware

Parallax documents a Propeller P8X32A 32-bit multicore processor, IR LED and receiver, eight visual-feedback LEDs, USB data/programming circuit, EEPROM-backed firmware, eight attendee-role color schemes, and 21 Human badge shapes. Attendees received PS/2 adapters and a VGA connector so the badge could become a small computer system in the Hardware Hacking Village.

Software & Apps

Parallax published top-level Propeller objects, schematic, firmware, LED examples, and VGA/PS2 examples. DEF CON's archive later pointed to LosT-posted firmware and conference-DVD badge materials, while WIRED described free/open software paths for programming in Assembly, C, or Spin.

Lore

The badge continued LosT's secret-society story and used hieroglyphics, binary, firmware strings, venue clues, lanyards, programs, CD-ROM material, and badge encounters to push attendees into collaborative puzzle solving.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

badge-to-badge interaction historical

Infrared encounter graph

Badges communicated over infrared and could report encountered badge identities through a serial terminal, turning attendee movement and mingling into puzzle state.

Compatibility: DEF CON 20 Badge

Source

event game historical

Secret-society badge challenge

The badge puzzle combined firmware, hieroglyphic shapes, binary codes, lanyards, venue clues, program material, and social interaction into a secret-society narrative.

Compatibility: DEF CON 20 Badge

Source

firmware workflow archived

Propeller firmware release path

Parallax and DEF CON published firmware, schematic, top-level objects, LED examples, VGA/PS2 examples, and conference-DVD materials for post-event badge hacking.

Compatibility: DEF CON 20 Badge

Source

hardware expansion source-backed

VGA and PS/2 small-computer mod

Attendees received PS/2 adapters and a VGA connector and could add them in the Hardware Hacking Village to turn the Propeller badge into a small computer system.

Compatibility: DEF CON 20 Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

archive-depth caveat note

This pass records the public firmware/material release paths but does not unpack, mirror, or inventory every firmware object, EEPROM dump, conference DVD file, or badge-contest writeup.

The record preserves the verified hardware and software surfaces while leaving deeper artifact archaeology for a later pass.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs deeper artifact inventory
Timeframe: current DEF CON 20 pass
Source note: DEF CON event archive, Parallax forum attachments, and InfoconDB talk metadata.

image provenance note

The published DEF CON 20 image is a WebP crop from Sephiroth storm's CC BY-SA 4.0 Wikimedia Commons documentary photo of multiple DEF CON badges.

The catalogue can show a real DEF CON 20 badge image while preserving the full source original and avoiding Parallax forum images, WIRED gallery images, generated art, or uncleared archive photos.

Confidence: source-backed
Status: licensed original replacement applied
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: Wikimedia Commons File:DefCon Badges.jpg metadata and badge.gallery image policy.

Resources

DEF CON 20 event archive event page · Official DEF CON source for July 26-29, 2012 Rio Hotel event context, badge firmware notice, conference DVD material, and badge-contest writeup links. DEF CON badges Commons photo licensed photo · Wikimedia Commons source for Sephiroth storm's CC BY-SA 4.0 documentary photo containing the DEF CON 20 Human badge among multiple DEF CON artifacts. Parallax DEF CON 20 badge start-here post hardware and firmware archive · Primary manufacturer source for Propeller P8X32A hardware, IR, LEDs, USB, attendee-role variants, firmware downloads, schematic, VGA/PS2 examples, and designer/code credits. WIRED DEF CON 20 badge reveal article · Contemporary article documenting Ryan Clarke's design goals, embedded game, cryptography, badge variants, IR interactions, free/open software, VGA expansion, and secret-society story. Welcome & Making the DEF CON 20 Badge talk record · InfoconDB metadata for the DEF CON 20 badge talk, Jeff Moss presenter credit, and Ryan Clarke / LosT badge-designer credit.

Sources

DEF CON: DEF CON 20 Hacking Conference Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official event source for dates, venue, badge firmware availability, conference DVD badge materials, and badge-contest writeup links. InfoconDB: Welcome & Making the DEF CON 20 Badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Talk metadata source for DEF CON 20 badge presentation context and Jeff Moss / Ryan Clarke presenter attribution. Parallax Forums: Parallax Propeller on DEF CON 20 Badge Start Here Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary manufacturer source for Propeller P8X32A, IR badge communication, LEDs, USB, role variants, Human badge shapes, firmware artifacts, VGA/PS2 expansion, and named contributors. WIRED: DefCon 20 Badges, the Big Reveal Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Contemporary source for Ryan Clarke design context, embedded game, crypto/puzzle goals, badge-type roles, IR interactions, programming-language support, VGA expansion, and secret-society lore. Wikimedia Commons: DefCon Badges.jpg Retrieved 2026-05-15 · CC BY-SA 4.0 documentary photo source by Sephiroth storm showing multiple DEF CON badges, including the DEF CON 20 Human badge; used for image provenance, not hardware specification.