Hacker Con Badges

Not just specs

Issues & Camp Impact

Safety warnings, delivery problems, app-store gaps, team-process history, and first-hand reports are tracked as sourced records.

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2166 matching issue record(s)
WHY2025 Badge major

ctf impact · first-hand participant report, partially corroborated · reported

A CTF participant reported receiving their badge only on the final day of camp, making it difficult to work on an embedded-device challenge during the event.

Badge-dependent embedded work became timing-constrained for at least one participant; this aligns with public feedback about late handout.

Source note: First-hand report from badge.gallery project owner; corroborated by public late-distribution feedback.

WHY2025 Badge major

team/process · public mailing list and secondary source · historical, incomplete public record

Public sources document a Badge Team conflict before the event. Hackaday reported that the original Dutch badge team resigned en masse after disagreement with organizers; orga mailing-list posts confirm a conflict involving project leadership, a hardware lead, and others while cautioning that public facts were incomplete.

The conflict forms part of the badge's production history and likely contributed to a hurried replacement effort, but individual claims should not be overstated beyond public evidence.

Source note: Hackaday and WHY2025 orga mailing-list posts.

CampZone 2020 Badge moderate

API compatibility caveat · primary API matrix · documented caveat

The BadgePython API matrix lists CampZone 2020 with display support but without the generic buttons API, so portable apps expecting the standard buttons module need badge-specific input handling.

CampZone 2020 should be represented as a reusable Badge.Team firmware badge with a different input API surface, not as a drop-in match for every BadgePython app.

Source note: Badge.Team BadgePython API reference.

WHY2025 Badge moderate

LoRa · primary wiki · documented caveat

The LoRa connector was not pre-soldered, the supplied antenna was documented as a compromise 868/915 MHz antenna, and the wiki warned that transmitting without a connected or correctly matched antenna could permanently damage the Semtech SX1262 transmitter. The dedicated antenna page records VNA/SWR measurements, including one report above the safe SWR threshold at EU frequency before antenna rework; the compendium treats the colloquial bricked-antenna story as a source-backed RF-transmitter damage risk rather than as a literal claim that antennas themselves were bricked.

LoRa was not a simple out-of-box feature: users needed soldering, antenna choice or tuning, and caution with auto-transmitting firmware such as Meshtastic to avoid RF damage.

Source note: WHY2025 Badge, Badge Issues, and Badge/LoRa-Antenna wiki pages.

EMF 2026 Spaceagon Badge moderate

firmware-update and physical-assembly caveat · official assembly guide · documented owner workflow

The official guide says firmware must be updated before installing the 2026 frontboard; otherwise the new buttons do not work, although the joystick can still be used to update. It also instructs owners to disconnect the battery by its connector rather than its wires and to use isopropyl alcohol to release the battery's glue dots.

Spaceagon is a maintainable upgrade path, but it is not a plug-and-forget accessory: a prospective owner needs to account for firmware state, frontboard disassembly, display and battery connectors, and the guide's physical handling steps.

Source note: Spaceagon Assembly (2026) documentation.

Fri3d Camp 2026 Badge moderate

safety and modification caveat · official hardware and add-on documentation · documented guidance; field outcome unrecovered

The official documentation says the analog multimeter connector has no protection, warns against operating the optional LoRa module without an antenna, and notes that the 2000 mAh LiPo is mechanically less robust than prior 18650 cells and is protected by a cover. The optional radio and expansion paths also require soldering.

The record presents the expansion surface as intentional maker hardware, not risk-free plug-and-play peripherals.

Source note: Fri3d Camp 2026 Badge documentation, Revision 02 hardware README, and LoRa kit guide.

CyberThreat 2026 Planned Hackable Badge Challenge note

2024 lineage non-transfer boundary · separate year-specific source records · 2024 archive retained separately; 2026 design unannounced

CyberThreat's site still hosts rich 2024 Secure Impact badge and walkthrough material, including hardware and firmware challenge evidence, while its 2026 pages give only high-level hackable-badge activity wording. No reviewed source says that Secure Impact, the ATmega1284P/FTDI design, the nine challenges, or any 2024 mechanics will return in 2026.

The catalogue preserves the 2024 technical dossier without silently carrying its components, creator, challenge count, software, or delivery model into the planned 2026 record.

Source note: CyberThreat 2024 archive on the current official site and CyberThreat/SANS 2026 event pages.

HITCON 2026 NTAG215 NFC Attendee Badge note

2024/2025 PCB Badge Quest separation · official 2026 programme wording · older PCB-board activity explicitly separated

The official 2026 Badge Quest wording applies to 2024 or 2025 PCB badges that must be flashed with event firmware. It does not state that the 2026 NTAG215 attendee badge is a PCB, programmable, flashable, powered, display-equipped, or compatible with that firmware.

No historic HITCON PCB hardware, controller, firmware, game, connector, display, or BadUSB claim is carried forward into the narrower 2026 NFC attendee-badge record.

Source note: HITCON 2026 events page, Badge Quest and NFC Battle descriptions.

BSides Fort Wayne 2026 Optional E-Badge note

2025 documentation and 2026 source revision boundary · current repository review · distinct 2026 commits documented; inherited documents retained

The public repository is named BSidesFW2026Badge, carries a 2026 description, includes June 2026 source and STLs/2026 commits, but its current root README calls itself BSidesFW2025Badge and its V4 hardware guide points to an older 2025 lineage schematic. This mixed tree cannot prove that every inherited behavior or specification describes a final 2026 unit.

2026-specific source changes are recorded precisely, while older hardware and guide material remains labelled inherited context rather than silently upgraded into a production claim.

Source note: BSidesFW2026Badge repository, root README, Hardware Specifications V4, June 4 STLs/2026 commit, and June 6 2026-data commit.

BSides Vancouver 2025 Electronic Badge note

2025 production versus 2026 source-revision boundary · public commit chronology and dated hardware documentation · dated artifact and later source distinguished

The hardware reference calls the board REV 2 dated 2025-05-05, while the public refactored firmware and workshop documentation were committed in May-June 2026. The archive itself labels a prebuilt directory as 2025 production, but no reviewed release or hash maps the later source tree to the original 2025 binary or proves a 2026 electronic-badge reissue.

The record does not backdate later source improvements into the delivered 2025 image or treat public 2026 commits as evidence of a separate 2026 conference badge.

Source note: maltchev source commit history, README, HARDWARE.md, and CHANGELOG.md.

BSidesKC 2026 Admission Badge note

2025-hardware relationship boundary · official admission wording plus maker continuation statement · separate artifacts retained

Badge Pirates separately said its 2026 Lunar Lander programme used last year's hardware and introduced no new hardware. The official afterparty source does not identify which badge attendees had to present, so it does not prove the admission artifact was the 2025 board or that every 2026 attendee received, owned, or used it.

The catalogue keeps the generic 2026 admission badge distinct from the 2025 electronic hardware and avoids a duplicate or fictitious 2026 board record.

Source note: BSidesKC 2026 activities page and Badge Pirates 2026 Ad Astra update.

IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Conference Badge Project note

2025-to-2026 badge boundary · official historical context · distinct years and allocation models documented

The 2026 page describes the 2025 basic and advanced badge runs as background before explaining that the 2026 effort targeted a new advanced design. It does not establish that 2025 hardware, parts, firmware, cost, units, or features carried into the 2026 bare-PCB attendee artifacts or the five advanced prototypes.

The record uses the historical account for lineage context only and does not transfer prior-year specifications into the 2026 entry.

Source note: IEEE Rising Stars 2026 Badge Project page and its linked 2025 background.

EMF 2026 Spaceagon Badge note

2026 hardware archive and release-scope gap · official source review · public operational documentation; complete release archive not recovered

The reviewed official sources publish feature, assembly, API, app, and model-link material, but this pass did not recover a complete, separately versioned 2026 package of final frontboard PCB layout, schematic, BOM, Gerbers, manufacturing files, firmware build/release instructions, and explicit license terms. The public base-platform software repository is therefore tracked as context rather than promoted to a complete Spaceagon release archive.

Readers can use the documented upgrade and programming surface without assuming full hardware reproducibility, a specific final firmware version, redistribution rights, or that any public moving branch precisely matches every 2026 shipped kit.

Source note: Official Spaceagon announcement, order listing, assembly/API documentation, and linked public base-platform software repository.

Vibe Coder Dog SAO (DEF CON 33) note

2026 leftover presale, pickup, stock, and fulfillment boundary · first-party marketplace source · availability and pickup terms published; outcome unconfirmed

The source says a few leftover units are available as a pre-order for DEF CON 34 or BSidesLV pickup, and the current page shows $15, five sold, zero remaining, and one free BadgeLife Village drop label. It does not establish paid orders, final stock, pickup scheduling, handoff, shipment, refund, replacement, support, or completed fulfillment.

Readers can see the dated seller snapshot without treating an announced 2026 pickup as a completed distribution or as a change to the artifact's stated DEF CON 33 origin.

Source note: Vibe Coder Dog SAO product listing.

TROPICON 2026 Electronic Badge note

AHT30/AHT10 sensor discrepancy and final-unit parity gap · commit-pinned hardware and firmware documentation · source discrepancy unresolved

The commit-pinned hardware README names AHT30, while the commit-pinned companion firmware README names AHT10. Neither source reconciles the sensor reference or identifies the fitted sensor on a documented final event unit. The reviewed material also does not provide a final BOM, manufacturing record, component-substitution history, unit revision manifest, assembly inspection record, or complete hardware/firmware parity statement.

The entry preserves both source statements and does not select a sensor, claim a final component list, or represent public design files as a verified production configuration.

Source note: Electronic Cats TROPICON 2026 hardware README at commit 36890a53c4bbddcf19b0bba1af7ecf159a1d828f and firmware README at commit bf0ed67bcb1a388eaf5f81d43dd5135971a0636b.

Vibe Coder Dog SAO (DEF CON 33) note

AI magic, firmware, source, and licensing gap · marketing wording versus supplied technical description · AI wording only; no software function documented

The product prose calls the LED behavior AI magic, but no reviewed source describes a microcontroller, firmware, model, application, inference, sensor, network, repository, binary, software license, hardware license, build/flash path, update policy, or test evidence.

The catalogue records the named cycling LED behavior without turning marketing language into an AI, software, security, or open-source claim.

Source note: Vibe Coder Dog SAO product listing.

METROPOLIS AI SAO (DEF CON 34) note

AI, firmware, source, and licensing gap · product title versus supplied technical description · AI title only; no software function documented

The product title includes AI and its prose attributes a judgmental personality to the automaton, but the listed technical behavior is only a red eye lighting on power. No microcontroller, firmware, model, app, network, sensor, source repository, binary, software license, hardware license, build/flash path, update policy, or test evidence is supplied.

The catalogue does not turn branding or creative language into an artificial-intelligence, software, security, or open-source claim.

Source note: METROPOLIS AI SAO product page.

Clip-Boy: The Unofficial DEF CON 34 Electronic Badge note

AI-assisted art and static-graphic image provenance boundary · official maker AI/tooling disclosure · image media remains excluded

The official maker disclosure says Flux.1 Schnell and Gemini were used for collectible artwork, Adobe Firefly for image refinement/cleanup, and ChatGPT for some static graphics including Clippy. It does not map each published storefront image to a tool, a reusable license, attribution, an original/source file, or a processing trail.

No shop artwork, collectible art, static graphic, or media thumbnail is treated as a cleared factual image of the physical badge or copied into the public catalogue.

Source note: Clip-Boy official shop AI & Tooling Transparency section and public storefront source.

LayerOne 2025 GLiTCh BadgE note

AI-generated documentation caveat · repository README · documented with caution

The repository README explicitly warns that later documentation may include AI-generated docs, so this pass treats the repository as useful project evidence while preferring official LayerOne pages for event claims and recording documentation limits.

Hardware and firmware features are kept to repeatedly corroborated repository and guide statements instead of overstating uncertain generated prose.

Source note: LayerOne 2025 GLiTCh BadgE README.

Adversary Village DEF CON 34 Volunteer Badge note

Adversary Village badge versus DEF CON badge boundary · explicit official volunteer-notice wording · village badge is explicitly non-admission; separate DEF CON-badge possibility conditional

The notice explicitly says Adversary Village badges do not give access to the con. It separately says the organizer hopes to offer DEF CON badges to volunteers but says availability means that cannot be guaranteed. It does not identify an access path, whether any DEF CON badge exists or will be provided, its relationship to the named village badge, or any access-control implementation.

The catalogue does not misrepresent the volunteer artifact as a DEF CON-issued credential, an admission pass, a substitute for registration, or proof of a delivered DEF CON badge.

Source note: Adversary Village DEF CON 34 call for volunteers.

Fri3d 2024 Badge note

Arduino partition and reset caveat · primary docs · documented

The Arduino guide says the custom fri3d-esp32 package writes sketches to the MicroPython partition and relies on the default firmware to start that partition; overwriting the default firmware requires the reset guide to return.

Fri3d 2024 has multiple programming paths, but they are not equivalent: users need to understand whether they are using the managed MicroPython partition or replacing the default firmware.

Source note: Fri3d 2024 Arduino IDE Guide.

FightDystopia 2025 Badge (DEF CON 33) note

BLE address-awareness privacy, security, and regulatory gap · maker feature wording only · user-defined BLE-MAC-address detection claimed; mechanics undocumented

The source says it detects a user-defined list of BLE MAC addresses to alert the user about what is around them, but does not disclose passive/active operation, address handling, filtering, range, logging, storage, transmission, retention, consent, false positives, interference, security controls, authorized-use guidance, or jurisdictional/regulatory analysis.

The catalogue preserves the maker's exact high-level feature claim without presenting it as a privacy-safe, legally cleared, reliable, covert, or generally appropriate tracking capability.

Source note: FightDystopia 2025 Badge product listing.

IEEE RFID 2026 Active BLE Badge note

BLE telemetry, privacy, and software boundary · official badge documentation · high-level advertised fields documented; implementation and data practices unpublished

The official page identifies the active tag and says it advertises a unique 48-bit identifier, battery voltage, and temperature when light charged, but does not publish tag firmware, a protocol specification, radio configuration, range, cryptography, identifier assignment, account linkage, scan/log policy, participant consent, data retention, data sharing, server configuration, security review, source release, or software license.

The entry preserves the stated radio and sensing surface without implying an attendee-tracking deployment, a privacy guarantee, secure implementation, a particular collection practice, or a supported software workflow.

Source note: IEEE RFID 2026 RFID Badges page.

Helgatchi Badge (DEF CON 34) note

BLE, Wi-Fi, privacy, detection, and lawful-use boundary · maker feature description only · configurable scan and alert claims; no independent validation recovered

The maker describes background passive scans and alert-triggered active scans for nearby BLE beacons and Wi-Fi APs, configurable identifiers, and examples including cameras or surveillance equipment. Reviewed sources do not publish radio configuration, scan cadence, antenna/range testing, target-list provenance, false-positive/false-negative performance, lawful-use guidance, local radio restrictions, consent model, data collection/retention/export policy, security controls, or independent assessment.

The dossier records the advertised research/detection surface without claiming reliable identification, safety, legal compliance, privacy preservation, target classification, or suitability for surveillance, counter-surveillance, or emergency use.

Source note: DC801 Helgatchi Badge product page and Pips801/Helgatchi repository README.