DEF CON 24 · United States · 2016

DEF CON 24 Badge

Electronic skull badge with Konami and serial puzzle paths

A Ryan Clarke / 1o57 DEF CON 24 electronic skull badge with a mini processor, buttons, LED eyes, printed codes, hidden-trace/silkscreen text, serial strings, lanyard data, conference-media files, and a badge challenge that used the Konami Code as an early visible hook.

DEF CON United States Electronic Badge Skull Badge Konami Code Serial LED Cryptography Badge Contest North America

EventDEF CON 24

SeriesDEF CON

LocationParis Hotel and Bally's Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

CountryUnited States

Image Provenance

Asset: optimized WebP from Wikimedia Commons photo
Status: licensed original photo
Source: Defcon-24-badge-front.jpg
License: CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
Attribution: Hanno Böck, Wikimedia Commons
Notes: Original 4032x3024 Wikimedia Commons photo downloaded from File:Defcon-24-badge-front.jpg and preserved in Public/images/source. The published WebP delivery asset is auto-oriented, metadata-stripped, resized to 1600x1200, and otherwise kept as the real public-domain badge-front photo. The Commons caption identifies it as the front side of a DEF CON 24 press badge; 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

CC0 badge-front photographer

Hanno Böck

Wikimedia Commons identifies Hanno Böck as author of the DEF CON 24 badge-front photo and states the image is released under CC0 1.0.

Source

DEF CON founder and badge-talk presenter

Jeff Moss / The Dark Tangent

InfoconDB lists Jeff Moss / The Dark Tangent as a DEF CON 24 welcome and badge talk presenter.

Source

badge challenge winners and walkthrough publishers

Council of 9

DEF CON's archive and the walkthrough page identify Council of 9 as DEF CON 24 badge-contest winners and methodology publishers.

Source

badge challenge writeup team

Degenerate Metric / Discordia

The Degenerate Metric writeup credits the Discordia contributors and documents the challenge path used in this record.

Source

badge designer and puzzle author

Ryan Clarke / LostboY / 1o57

InfoconDB lists Ryan Clarke / LosT as presenter for the DEF CON 24 welcome and badge talk; contemporary articles identify 1o57 as badge designer.

Source

Why It Mattered

It captures DEF CON's return from a fully analog record badge to a mass-produced electronic puzzle object, while still tying hardware observation, serial extraction, printed text, conference signage, lanyards, room keys, media-server files, and team fieldwork into one challenge.

Hardware

Public reports describe a skull-shaped electronic badge with a processor, battery-backed operation, buttons, LED eyes, hidden traces, badge-type variants, and exposed behavioral clues. Engadget reported roughly 20,000 badges and last-minute programming work before the event.

Software & Apps

Writeups document serial output strings, a Konami Code unlock path, encoded text, DEF CON media-server files, and challenge material. This record avoids unsupported firmware internals beyond the observed serial and button/LED behavior.

Lore

The badge theme aligned with DEF CON 24's Rise of the Machines framing and the 1o57 puzzle arc. Public writeups show teams chasing standee glyphs, room keys, lanyards, badge back text, serial dumps, program equations, and CD material before Council of 9 won the challenge.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

event puzzle historical

Lanyard and conference-media trail

The challenge expanded beyond the skull PCB into lanyard data, room keys, standee glyphs, DEF CON media-server files, conference CD material, and program equations.

Compatibility: DEF CON 24 Badge

Source

firmware behavior historical

Konami Code serial unlock

Writeups documented that entering the Konami Code on the badge buttons unlocked LED-eye behavior and serial text, even though the visible code path was not the final puzzle answer.

Compatibility: DEF CON 24 Badge

Source

physical challenge historical

Hidden trace and silkscreen puzzle

DEF CON 24 solving notes used badge backs, hidden traces, common encoded text, badge-type-specific silkscreen strings, and visible printed codes as puzzle material.

Compatibility: DEF CON 24 Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

firmware-detail caveat note

Public writeups expose serial strings and interaction behavior but this pass does not unpack the full badge firmware or media-server archive.

The compendium records observed behavior and published challenge paths while avoiding unsupported claims about the badge's internal firmware architecture.

Confidence: source-backed but incomplete
Status: needs deeper artifact inventory
Timeframe: current DEF CON 24 pass
Source note: Degenerate Metric writeup, Inverse report, and DEF CON 24 media links.

image provenance note

The DEF CON 24 image now uses Hanno Böck's original Wikimedia Commons photograph of the badge front under CC0 1.0.

The entry can show a real badge photo while preserving the project rule against generated, placeholder, press, video-frame, or uncleared writeup imagery.

Confidence: source-backed
Status: cleared
Timeframe: 2026 image replacement pass
Source note: Wikimedia Commons File:Defcon-24-badge-front.jpg.

Resources

Council of 9 DEF CON 24 walkthrough winner walkthrough · Winner-published walkthrough documenting the DEF CON 24 badge contest path, Council of 9 attribution, multi-day clue flow, and final solution context. DEF CON 24 Konami badge report article · Contemporary source documenting the skull badge, mini processor, buttons, printed codes, Konami Code behavior, 1o57 authorship, and media-server badge-contest files. DEF CON 24 badge talk record talk record · InfoconDB metadata for the DEF CON 24 welcome and badge talk with Jeff Moss and Ryan Clarke / LosT presenter attribution. DEF CON 24 badge-front Commons photo licensed photo · Wikimedia Commons source for Hanno Böck's CC0 photograph of the DEF CON 24 press badge front side. DEF CON 24 event archive event page · Official DEF CON source for 2016 Paris/Bally's event context, badge contest forum link, Council of 9 badge walkthrough link, CD torrents, and black-badge references. DEFCON 24 badge writeup writeup · Technical challenge writeup documenting room keys, standee glyphs, hidden traces, silkscreen strings, Konami serial dump, lanyards, conference CD, and program equations. Engadget DEF CON 24 badge feature article · Contemporary feature source for Ryan Clarke / 1o57 attribution, robot-skull badge form, roughly 20,000 badges, and last-minute badge programming context.

Sources

Council of 9: DEF CON 24 Badge Challenge Walkthrough Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Winner walkthrough source for Council of 9 attribution, final badge-contest path, clue aggregation, and DEF CON 24 challenge solution context. DEF CON: DEF CON 24 Hacking Conference Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official archive source for DEF CON 24 event context, badge contest forum link, Council of 9 badge walkthrough link, CD torrents, and black-badge material. Degenerate Metric: Defcon 24 Badge write-up Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Challenge writeup source for room keys, standee glyphs, hidden traces, badge silkscreen, serial strings, Konami unlock, lanyards, CD files, and program equations. Engadget: The incredibly intricate badges of Def Con Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Contemporary source for Ryan Clarke / 1o57 attribution, robot-skull electronics, badge-production crunch, and approximate 20,000-badge scale. InfoconDB: DEF CON Welcome & Badge Talk Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Talk metadata source for DEF CON 24 badge-talk timing and Jeff Moss / Ryan Clarke presenter attribution. Inverse: This DEF CON Badge Has a Classic 'Contra' Easter Egg Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Contemporary source for skull badge, mini processor, buttons, printed codes, Konami Code behavior, 1o57 authorship, and badge-contest media files. Wikimedia Commons: Defcon-24-badge-front.jpg Retrieved 2026-05-15 · CC0 source image for Hanno Böck's original photograph of the DEF CON 24 press badge front side; used only for image provenance, not as a hardware-spec source.