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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1262 matching issue record(s)
HiP Berlin 2022 Badge note

short-notice hardware caveats · RIOT OS board documentation · historical

RIOT OS documentation says the event and badge were organized in about six weeks and records hardware issues around the missing WiFi/BLE antenna connection, broken IR transceiver, partially populated SGP30 sensor, and missing MAX17048 fuel gauge.

The catalogue records the shipped board as a real attendee badge while preserving the known build limitations.

Source note: RIOT OS HiP Badge board documentation.

CyberThreat 2024 Hackable Badge warning

soft-brick safety caveat · official walkthrough · documented

The A Nice Edit walkthrough warns that the challenge carries a high risk of soft-bricking the badge and explains that erasing flash without preserving the bootloader can make USB programming unrecoverable without ISP.

The badge page preserves the original risk context for firmware modification instead of presenting the challenge as routine or risk-free.

Source note: CyberThreat A Nice Edit walkthrough PDF.

39C3 Cyberwatch Badge note

software lifecycle caveat · project page and repository · documented

Sources mention expected base firmware and linked firmware material but do not establish a single canonical, fully documented OTA/app ecosystem for all shard variants in this source pass.

The software record stays tied to the published architecture and shard references instead of inventing an endpoint, app-store, or locked release stream model.

Source note: cyberwatch codeberg docs and 39C3-release_board README.

CactusCon 11 Badge note

software-source caveat · badge-maker writeup · needs software archive recovery

The badge-maker writeup says the CactusCon crew planned a software-side writeup and hints at event wireless infrastructure, but this pass did not recover a public firmware repository, complete challenge source, or software architecture note.

The catalogue records verified hardware and firmware-access surfaces while avoiding unsupported claims about the badge's full event game or OTA backend.

Source note: Badge Pirates CactusCon 11 Badge writeup.

CactusCon 13 Badge note

software-source caveat · repository tree inspection · needs firmware archive recovery

The CactusCon13 repository exposes CAD, outer-board, documentation, reference, and 3D-print material, but this pass did not recover standalone final firmware, event-game source, OTA service code, or challenge archive.

The catalogue records verified hardware/manufacturing evidence while avoiding unsupported claims about badge software behavior.

Source note: BadgePiratesLLC/CactusCon13 repository tree.

CactusCon 14 Badge note

software-source caveat · repository tree inspection · needs firmware archive recovery

The GitHub repository description mentions firmware, but the visible public tree inspected in this pass primarily exposes hardware design, manufacturing, enclosure, BOM, schematic, and art outputs rather than standalone event firmware or challenge source.

The catalogue records the verified hardware archive while avoiding unsupported claims about badge applications, games, OTA behavior, or event infrastructure.

Source note: BadgePiratesLLC/CactusCon14 README and repository tree.

SAINTCON 2021 MiniBadge Collection note

source and media boundary · official event source but incomplete technical archive · needs badge-team archive

The recovered public trail proves the event context and visible 2021 MiniBadge collection, but this pass did not recover a central build guide, complete schematic/BOM set, firmware archive, production counts, or reusable image permission for page media.

The record keeps claims tied to the official archive page, Sched listing, venue page, and MiniBadge standard, and leaves the page image-free until a rights-cleared original photo or official render is available.

Source note: SAINTCON 2021 archive, MiniBadges page, venue page, Sched listing, MiniBadge standard README, and badge.gallery image policy.

SAINTCON 2023 MiniBadge Collection note

source and media boundary · official event source plus community catalogue but incomplete archive · needs badge-team archive

The recovered public trail proves the event context, MiniBadge culture, and year-specific data export, but this pass did not recover a central 2023 build guide, official per-badge source archive, final schematic set, complete BOM set, firmware archive, or reusable image permission for wiki/page media.

The record keeps hardware claims to official FAQ language, community data-export fields, and the MiniBadge standard instead of inventing missing per-badge technical detail.

Source note: SAINTCON 2023 official site, FAQ, MiniBadge Wiki export, MiniBadge standard README, and badge.gallery image policy.

SAINTCON 2024 MiniBadge Trading Collection note

source and media boundary · official page but incomplete technical archive · needs badge-team archive

The recovered public trail proves the trading page, build-guide link, and MiniBadge standard context, but this pass did not recover a central per-badge source archive, final schematic set, complete BOM set, firmware archive, or reusable image permission for guide/page media.

The record keeps hardware/protocol claims to the MiniBadge standard and official trading-page wording, and leaves the page image-free until a rights-cleared original photo or official render is available.

Source note: SAINTCON 2024 MiniBadge trading page, linked build-guide PDF, MiniBadge standard README, and badge.gallery image policy.

BSides Puerto Rico 2019 DIY Badge note

source depth · source-backed but compact · documented caveat

The public sources are strong for kit intent, BOM, assembly, Arduino workflow, Gerbers, KiCad files, and photos, but they do not provide a full event field report or attendee writeup for how the badge was used during the day.

The record keeps its claims to documented kit distribution, assembly, and sample-code behavior rather than inventing on-site gameplay or contest lore.

Source note: BSides PR 2019 badge docs, repository README, and Security BSides wiki page.

BSides CDMX 2025 Badge note

source inventory caveat · repository tree and releases · needs deeper artifact inventory

The public tree preserves many firmware library files, role-specific hardware variants, backup archives, release HEX files, BOM CSVs, and Metro add-on material, but this pass did not audit every generated backup zip, dependency license, or manufacturing output.

Software and production claims stay tied to README, releases, firmware README, visible hardware tree, and named release assets rather than treating the repository as a fully inventoried manufacturing archive.

Source note: ElectronicCats/Badge-bsides-cdmx-2025 repository tree, firmware README, and releases page.

AND!XOR DC25 Badge note

source-archive gap · public-source recheck · needs archive recovery

The postmortem says source code and Gerbers were published, but a current public-source check found the referenced GitHub trail unavailable while the Hackaday.io file area still exposes only VRML/SVG/DXF model files.

The record cites the available project logs and model archive while avoiding stronger open-hardware/source-code claims until the missing repository or an archive mirror is recovered.

Source note: AND!XOR DC25 postmortem, Hackaday.io files area, and current public GitHub search.

SAINTCON 2016 ESP8266 LED Badge note

source-code and production gap · official event archive plus public badge docs · needs badge-team archive

The public documentation proves the kit contents, assembly path, flashing workflow, and Hackers Challenge registration behavior, but this pass did not recover a public schematic archive, PCB source, production count, complete Lua source tree, final firmware image mirror, or badge-team repository.

The record preserves verified public hardware and workflow facts without inventing unrecovered firmware internals, board-source details, or manufacturing data.

Source note: SAINTCON 2016 archive, venue map, badge assembly, upload-code, and registration documentation.

BSides Adelaide 2024 Wombat Badge note

source-code archive gap · source-backed but incomplete · needs public firmware or schematic recovery

The recovered sources document hardware components, soldering, USB CTF interaction, and LED progress behavior, but this pass did not recover a public firmware, schematic, PCB, BOM, or gerber archive.

The dossier records the verified badge behavior while avoiding unsupported pinout, firmware, protocol, or source-release claims.

Source note: Hackster Wombat badge writeup, Hackerware badge page, and soldering tutorial PDF.

BSides Adelaide 2025 Wombat-2 CTF Badge note

source-code archive gap · source-backed but incomplete · needs public firmware or schematic recovery

The recovered sources document components, onboard controls, CTF prompts, LED behavior, and a PCB-blueprint challenge, but this pass did not recover public firmware source, schematic, BOM, or final gerber archive suitable for component-level verification.

The record keeps the hardware and software claims to creator and attendee documentation instead of inferring a full implementation.

Source note: Hackerware Wombat-2 pages, Hackster project-owner writeup, and semaja2 attendee challenge writeup.

BSides Ballarat 2026 Underground Badge note

source-code archive gap · source-backed but incomplete · needs main-badge firmware or schematic recovery

The official event page documents the Underground badge's ESP32, screen, controls, badge-to-badge communication, SAO support, and CTF framing, and a maker writeup documents a WS2812B SAO board, but this pass did not recover public firmware, schematic, PCB, BOM, radio protocol, or production files for the main badge.

The record captures the public badge and add-on evidence while avoiding unsupported chip pinout, firmware, radio, protocol, or shipped-behavior claims.

Source note: BSides Ballarat 2026 event page, Ballarat Hackerspace reference, Eurekative reference, and dmoges SAO maker writeup.

CHCon 2025 Badge note

source-code archive gap · source-backed but incomplete · needs public repository or schematic recovery

The designer writeup documents source-file names, firmware architecture, and implementation details, but the current source trail did not recover a reliable public firmware repository, schematic, board-file archive, or license statement.

The dossier can now describe the implemented firmware architecture from a primary source while still avoiding unsupported repository, schematic, image, or reuse-rights claims.

Source note: Sinclair Studios CHCon 2025 badge challenge writeup and Jeremy Stott technical writeup.

SINCON 2023 Khong Guan Building CTF Badge note

source-code archive gap · source-backed but incomplete · needs public firmware or schematic recovery

The recovered project-owner writeup documents hardware components and CTF behavior, but this pass did not recover a public firmware, schematic, PCB, or BOM archive for the SINCON badge.

The dossier records the observable hardware and serial CTF flow while avoiding unsupported repository or source-code claims.

Source note: Hackster.io Khong Guan Building CTF badge writeup.

SAINTCON 2017 Raspberry Pi Badge note

source-code gap · official docs but incomplete source recovery · needs image/repository recovery

Official pages and the public manual document badge assembly, flashing, registration, and post-event conversion, but this pass did not recover a public source repository for the badge image, custom PCB design files, challenge daemons, or final production files.

The catalogue records the verified deployed badge and public manual without inventing unrecovered firmware internals or PCB-source details.

Source note: SAINTCON 2017 badge page and GitLab Pages badge manual.

Easterhegg 2010 eHaserl note

source-depth and link-rot caveat · official wiki and current mirrors · needs archive review

The wiki preserves strong assembly and flashing instructions, but several referenced media and source URLs are old brezn/blinkenlichts-era links that need archival review before adding a cleared image or claiming a complete BOM.

The current record keeps sourceable details while marking original-photo, full-BOM, and source-history recovery as future work.

Source note: EH2010 badge wiki, source checkout path, and image links.

IHC 2018 1337 3310 WiFi note

source-depth caveat · creator project and secondary article · needs original media recovery

Original media and software archive still incomplete.

The entry is sourceable, but image and deeper software details remain intentionally omitted until licensing and archive recovery improve.

Source note: Hackaday.io project page, project logs, Hackaday article, and creator profile.

Hackover 2013 Badge note

source-depth caveat · primary blog and archive posts · needs git archive recovery

The Hackover blog and archive support the event, ticket, feature-list, firmware, and schematic-link facts, but the current live git redirect requires authentication and has not been mirrored into this dossier.

The first-pass record avoids unsourced chip-level, firmware-feature, and designer-credit claims until the repositories or original media are recovered.

Source note: Hackover 2013 blog page and Hannover Hackover archive.

Easterhegg 2024 RCA Badge note

source-depth caveat · repository, talk, wiki, field report, and participant reports · repository reviewed; firmware still not asserted

The repository review confirms schematics, Gerbers, LCSC parts exports, media, 3D-print files, NE556-related challenge material, and multi-board RCA structure, but this pass still does not claim a complete firmware architecture or full electrical BOM extraction.

The dossier is now specific about the public artifact package while still avoiding unsupported firmware and chip-level claims beyond what the repository and reports expose.

Source note: x70b1/eh21badge repository, Rabbit Chaos Adventure closing talk, Rabbit Radio, Easterhegg wiki, and participant reports.

TROOPERS11 Nixie Badge note

source-depth caveat · secondary article plus event archive · needs original design files

The current source set documents the badge concept and attendee-facing hardware, but does not recover original schematics, firmware, BOM, or a complete creator archive.

The dossier preserves the badge without inventing chip-level or high-voltage design details that are not present in the public sources.

Source note: Hackaday article, TROOPERS11 archive, official Flickr set, and ERNW/TROOPERS follow-up announcement.

TROOPERS22 Badge note

source-depth caveat · PID record plus official event page · needs hardware and firmware sources

The current public source set confirms a Badge.Team-linked Troopers 2022 badge record, but does not yet provide a full hardware writeup, firmware repository, app-store page, author list, or field report.

The dossier is intentionally conservative: it preserves the record without inventing component-level specs or badge-team credits.

Source note: PID.codes Badge.Team record and official TROOPERS22 event page.

BruCON 0x0A Badge note

source-depth caveat · event retrospective and repository review · schematic-backed review still useful

The repository review confirms the source tree, firmware release, KiCad/Gerber package, LCD, ADC, Wi-Fi, URL, menu, map, schedule, and server-side workflow, but the page still avoids unsourced chip-level claims that require careful schematic/BOM extraction.

The dossier is now stronger than a first-pass retrospective record while still keeping component lists tied to inspectable files.

Source note: BruCON retrospective and BruCONbadge2018 repository.

Hacktivity 2018 Badge note

source-depth caveat · detailed guide, mirror, and event archive · needs repository or team-page recovery

The badge guide and migrated mirror are strong for hacking workflow and credits, but no public design-file repository has been seeded yet for a full bill of materials or firmware-history record.

The dossier intentionally avoids unsupported MCU/module claims beyond the public USB UART, Omega shield, jumpers, CTF, and RF wiring notes.

Source note: Jump ESP, jump! badge guide, migrated mirror, and Hacktivity event archive.

DEF CON 1 Name Tag note

source-depth caveat · source-backed but limited · needs deeper archive review

The current public sources prove DEF CON 1 name-tag and paper role-badge artifacts but do not identify the badge designer, production process, complete role taxonomy, or any official puzzle layer.

The record limits claims to visible physical-credential evidence and official registration context.

Source note: DEF CON 1 official announcement, official archive page, official picture index, media-server badge image, and scanned program archive.

DEF CON 2 Human Badge note

source-depth caveat · source-backed but limited · needs deeper archive review

The current public sources prove visible DEF CON 2 rectangular printed chest credentials but do not identify the badge designer, production process, material, full role taxonomy, or any official puzzle layer.

The record limits claims to visible physical-credential evidence and event context.

Source note: DEF CON 2 official media-server event photos, official DEF CON archive page, official picture index, announcement, and scanned program archive.

DEF CON 3 Human Badge note

source-depth caveat · source-backed but limited · needs deeper archive review

The current public sources prove visible DEF CON 3 colored rectangular waist credentials but do not identify the badge designer, production process, material, full role taxonomy, or any official puzzle layer.

The record limits claims to visible physical-credential evidence and event context.

Source note: DEF CON 3 official media-server event photos, official DEF CON archive page, official picture index, and scanned program archive.

DEF CON 4 Human Badge note

source-depth caveat · source-backed but limited · needs deeper archive review

The current public sources prove visible DEF CON 4 rectangular chest credentials but do not identify the badge designer, production process, material, full role taxonomy, or any official puzzle layer.

The record limits claims to visible physical-credential evidence and event context.

Source note: DEF CON 4 official media-server event photos, official DEF CON archive page, and scanned program archive.

DEF CON 5 Human Badge note

source-depth caveat · source-backed but limited · needs deeper archive review

The current public sources prove a visible DEF CON 5 hanging credential but do not identify the badge designer, production process, material, full role taxonomy, or any official puzzle layer.

The record limits claims to visible physical-credential evidence and event context.

Source note: DEF CON 5 official media-server event photo, official DEF CON archive page, and scanned program archive.

DEF CON 8 Human Badge note

source-depth caveat · source-backed but limited · needs deeper archive review

The current public sources prove attendees wore DEF CON 8 lanyard credentials but do not identify the badge designer, production process, material, full role taxonomy, or any official puzzle layer.

The record limits claims to visible physical-credential evidence and event context.

Source note: DEF CON 8 official media-server event photos, official DEF CON event page, and scanned program archive.