NorthSec 2023 · Canada · 2023

NorthSec 2023 Badge

AVR badge-chain interaction badge

NorthSec 2023's public badge trail combines the official badge repositories with a first-hand technical writeup documenting an ATmega328PB attendee badge with CH340C USB serial, six push buttons, 16 WS2812B RGB LEDs, optional 128x32 OLED, AVR ISP, SAO connector, side-chain headers, BLE mesh controller-screen challenge behavior, and point-scoring badge-to-badge interaction.

NorthSec Canada ATmega328PB WS2812B OLED SAO AVR ISP Badge Chain EEPROM BLE Mesh North America

EventNorthSec 2023

SeriesNorthSec

LocationBonsecours Market, Montreal

CountryCanada

Image Provenance

Asset: optimized WebP from repository photo
Status: licensed original photo
Source: hw/2023/confBadge/gerber/old/2023-01-06_confBadgeV1_rev2/photo/PXL_20230106_192338607.jpg
License: MIT License
Attribution: NorthSec nsec-badge repository contributors
Notes: Original 4080x3072 repository JPEG photo downloaded from the public nsec/nsec-badge nsec23 branch and published as the optimized WebP delivery asset without generated content or visual retouching. The repository LICENSE says everything is MIT unless otherwise stated; this is a real photo of the NorthSec 2023 conference badge PCB. 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

badge photo publisher

NorthSec nsec-badge repository contributors

The official repository publishes the 2023 conference-badge PCB photo under the repository MIT license.

Source

event and badge repository publisher

NorthSec

Official publisher of the NorthSec past-editions page and 2023 badge repository source.

Source

first-hand technical writeup

idk.bz conference-badge writeup author

Author/publisher of the first-hand NorthSec 2023 conference badge technical writeup used for AVR, EEPROM, and protocol details.

Source

Why It Mattered

It records an unusually social badge mechanic: attendees physically chained badges together to multiply points, while the official firmware archive, controller-screen challenge source, and EEPROM layout were open enough for attendee reverse engineering and protocol simulation.

Hardware

The attendee writeup documents an ATmega328PB, CH340C USB-serial bridge, six buttons, 16 WS2812B RGB LEDs, optional OLED at the soldering village, AVR ISP connector, SAO connector, 3xAAA holder, and side headers for badge-chain communication. The repository preserves 2023 hardware material.

Software & Apps

The official firmware repository documents PlatformIO/MiniCore builds for the ATmega328PB badge, AVR fuse/upload workflow, and a prebuilt `binary/firmware.hex`. The first-hand writeup documents AVR firmware and EEPROM dumping with avrdude, EEPROM fields for points, light pattern, name, and seen badges, plus an inverted-polarity asynchronous serial protocol at 38400 8N1 with a 0xAF 0xFA packet prefix. The official controller-screen repository adds BLE mesh challenge behavior for controlling badge LEDs, setting device info, sending messages/popups, broadcasting time, and enabling debug mode.

Lore

NorthSec's official past-editions page describes 2023 as the ten-years-anniversary edition at Marché Bonsecours with an in-person CTF, while the public badge sources show how the badge-chain scoring game fit that return-to-hallway context.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

challenge device archived

BLE mesh controller-screen challenge

The official controller-screen repository documents an ESP32 screen interface that controlled 2023 badge LEDs over BLE mesh, exposed debug/admin menu behavior, sent messages/popups, and used secure boot on competition boards.

Compatibility: NorthSec 2023 Badge and controller-screen challenge

Source

firmware analysis documented

EEPROM and serial protocol reversing path

The writeup documents avrdude dumping, EEPROM fields, inverted serial signaling, 38400 8N1 framing, and a 0xAF 0xFA packet prefix.

Compatibility: NorthSec 2023 Badge

Source

firmware archive archived

Official conference-badge firmware archive

The official badge-conf-2023 repository preserves ATmega328PB firmware with PlatformIO/MiniCore build instructions, AVR fuse/upload workflow, and a `binary/firmware.hex` conference image.

Compatibility: NorthSec 2023 Badge

Source

interaction hardware first-hand source-backed

AVR badge-chain scoring hardware

The 2023 writeup documents side connectors for badge chaining, optional OLED feedback, buttons, RGB LEDs, and point-scoring badge-to-badge interaction.

Compatibility: NorthSec 2023 Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

image provenance note

The NorthSec 2023 image uses the official nsec-badge repository's `PXL_20230106_192338607.jpg` conference-badge PCB photo under the repository MIT license.

The public badge page, image archive, and API point at a real repository photo with source URL, license, attribution, and processing notes preserved.

Confidence: project image provenance and repository license
Status: licensed original replacement applied
Timeframe: current catalogue build
Source note: Project image provenance and nsec/nsec-badge nsec23 repository.

mixed-source classification note

Hardware-source context comes from the official nsec-badge repository, firmware/build details come from the official badge-conf-2023 repository, controller-screen challenge behavior comes from the official nsec-badge-controller-screen repository, and detailed EEPROM/badge-chain protocol behavior comes from a first-hand attendee technical writeup.

Claims are kept specific to what each source proves, and the record does not overstate official documentation beyond the public repositories and first-hand writeup.

Confidence: primary plus first-hand secondary
Status: documented
Timeframe: current NorthSec pass
Source note: NorthSec 2023 README, badge-conf-2023 README, nsec-badge-controller-screen README, and idk.bz conference-badge writeup.

Resources

NorthSec 2023 badge README source · Primary repository README and hardware-source entry point for the 2023 badge. NorthSec 2023 badge controller screen README challenge device source · Primary controller-screen README documenting the ESP32-2432S028R board, ESP-IDF firmware, competition secure boot, BLE mesh admin commands, and `pin.py` / `broadcast_time.py` helper scripts. NorthSec 2023 badge controller screen repository challenge device source · Official NorthSec repository for the ESP32 controller-screen challenge device used as a BLE mesh interface to the 2023 badge LEDs and debug flows. NorthSec 2023 conference badge firmware README firmware source · Primary firmware README documenting Arduino/MiniCore builds, AVR programmer flashing, fuse setup, and `binary/firmware.hex` as the conference firmware image. NorthSec 2023 conference badge firmware repository firmware source · Official NorthSec repository preserving the ATmega328PB conference-badge firmware source, PlatformIO/MiniCore build workflow, and prebuilt firmware archive. NorthSec 2023 conference badge photo image source · Official repository JPEG photo used as the local rights-cleared badge image under the repository MIT license. NorthSec 2023 conference badge writeup technical writeup · First-hand technical writeup documenting ATmega328PB, CH340C, buttons, WS2812B LEDs, optional OLED, AVR ISP, SAO connector, badge-chain interaction, EEPROM layout, and serial protocol. NorthSec 2023 controller screen license license · Repository license source stating MIT coverage except where individual files say otherwise; no controller-screen image is promoted from this repository. NorthSec 2023 hardware tree hardware source · Repository hardware tree for the 2023 badge. NorthSec past editions event lineage · Official NorthSec source documenting the 2023 ten-years-anniversary edition at Marché Bonsecours and in-person CTF context.

Sources

NorthSec: Past editions Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official lineage source for NorthSec 2023 anniversary and in-person CTF context. NorthSec / GitHub: NorthSec 2023 badge README Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official repository source for the 2023 badge hardware tree and firmware context. NorthSec / GitHub: NorthSec 2023 Conference Badge Firmware Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for the ATmega328PB firmware archive, sixteen NeoPixel LEDs, six buttons, pairing connectors, SAO connector, optional OLED, USB-C or AAA power, PlatformIO/MiniCore build, AVR fuses, upload workflow, and prebuilt firmware image. NorthSec / GitHub: NorthSec 2023 Badge Controller Screen Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary source for the challenge controller screen, ESP32-2432S028R board, ESP-IDF firmware, secure-boot competition boards, BLE mesh LED-control/admin commands, debug-mode helper, and time-broadcast script. NorthSec / GitHub: PXL_20230106_192338607.jpg Retrieved 2026-05-15 · MIT-licensed source image for the official repository photo of the NorthSec 2023 conference badge PCB; used only for image provenance, not as a standalone hardware-spec source. idk.bz: NorthSec 2023: The conference badge Retrieved 2026-05-15 · First-hand technical source for ATmega328PB hardware, CH340C USB serial, optional OLED, WS2812B LEDs, SAO/chain connectors, AVR ISP, EEPROM layout, and serial badge-chain protocol.