Issue dossier

DEF CON 23's official badge is documented as a fully analog playable record rather than an electronic board.

A linkable camp-impact record with badge context, severity, evidence confidence, and source notes.

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analog scope · source-backed · documented

The compendium avoids MCU, firmware, LED, battery, and circuit claims and records the audio, physical, lanyard, and printed clue surfaces instead.

Badge
DEF CON 23 Badge
Category
analog scope
Severity
note
Confidence
source-backed
Status
documented
Timeframe
DEF CON 23 badge pass
Source note
Hackaday, The Register, and DEF CON 23 challenge writeups.

Evidence

Related Resources

article

DEF CON 23 record badge article

Contemporary article documenting LostboY / Ryan Clarke authorship, playable vinyl record format, role-color variants, secret alphabets, inner-groove markings, and analog puzzle clues.

Badge: DEF CON 23 Badge

article

Help Decipher The DEFCON Badge

Contemporary Hackaday source documenting the 7-inch vinyl record badge, non-electronic alternation context, collaborative badge-hacking effort, and early puzzle hunt.

Badge: DEF CON 23 Badge

licensed talk video

DT and 1057 - Welcome to DEF CON

TIB AV-Portal recording with CC BY 3.0 license metadata, DEF CON publisher metadata, and a badge-talk slide showing the DEF CON 23 vinyl record badge variants at 00:09:56.

Badge: DEF CON 23 Badge

Source trail

Evidence Sources

Elegin / Team Potato · retrieved 2026-05-15

Defcon 23 Badge Challenge

Challenge writeup source for lanyard ciphers, Nyctograph and Gold Bug alphabets, lanyard translations, key-card clues, and solution flow.

Badge: DEF CON 23 Badge

TIB AV-Portal / DEF CON · retrieved 2026-05-15

DT and 1057 - Welcome to DEF CON

CC BY 3.0 licensed video source for the DEF CON 23 opening and badge talk; a 00:09:56 frame is used only for image provenance after cropping to the talk-slide vinyl record badge collage.

Badge: DEF CON 23 Badge