# DEF CON **Entity class:** Annual hacker and security-community convention **As of:** 2026-09-23 ## Definition **DEF CON** is a large hacker and information-security convention built around talks, hands-on villages, contests, demonstrations, and peer exchange. DEF CON 34 was scheduled for August 6–9, 2026, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Its value to the intelligence and defense ecosystem is indirect but consequential: emerging exploit techniques, hardware and wireless security, social engineering, industrial-control security, biohacking, cryptography, and defensive practice appear in a dense community environment before they are fully absorbed into institutional doctrine. DEF CON remains distinct from the more professionally packaged [[wiki/Black Hat USA|Black Hat USA]]. ## Relationships - **adjacent event:** [[wiki/Black Hat USA|Black Hat USA]]. - **technical routes:** [[wiki/Zero-Day Exploit|Zero-Day Exploit]], [[wiki/Hardware Security|Hardware Security]], and [[wiki/Cyberwarfare|Cyberwarfare]]. - **event ecosystem:** [[wiki/Intelligence and Defense Conferences|Intelligence and Defense Conferences]]. - **collection route:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [DEF CON Forums — DEF CON 34 dates and venue](https://forum.defcon.org/node/253965)