My Experience
Coming to Defcon 32 as a highschool student, I had three goals on my agenda: learn, explore cybersecurity, and network. Once I got there, I only explored and networked. This is because I had a limited time and learning can be done later. I explored cybersecurity fields that I’d never seen or reviewed, started conversations, and built bonds. Exploring was the hard part, as I didn’t want to risk my time on something I might not enjoy.
Exploration
Because of the unforgiving fast pace of the conference, I had to make quick notes and a schedule. With plans to study tools from demo’s and talks, I starred many Github repositories and made notes of my learning objectives. I didn’t enjoy every thing I tried so I often ended up burning time with my friends and learning from them. The beauty of the convention isn’t the organized events and workshops, but the people with varying experiences who are willing to share. Nonetheless, I went to workshops, labs, and villages – or at least tried to – and gained new interests. One example is IoT village, where I found my next bug bounty field and gained a professional contact.
Networking
Meeting people at Defcon is the best part of the convention. I was around others intrigued by the same things as me and professionals/students who want to help me in the industry. Me and a friend coincidentally ended up at Defcon so finding a friend group was easy. Outside of that friend group, I still made it an objective to network. I gained a mentor, some professional connections, and peers, but unfortunately didn’t connect with anyone I could teach as I was one of the youngest and least experienced people at the convention.
How to spend your time
- Limit yourself to one creator talk the whole week. These creator talks are posted online for free at a later time
- Go to demos, workshops, labs, do not go to creator talks. The demos, workshops, and labs are one time experiences where you won’t get to learn or enjoy as much in a video.
- Have fun, meet people, and network. Defcon is a convention, not a conference. If you make Defcon a time to work, you will miss out on the opportunity to learn from brilliant minds and explore the cyber world.
- Get all your merch shopping done on the first day. The merch line will be 4 hours long but if you wait until the next day, it will be 3 hours long and you will miss out on talks, labs, and people.
Considerations
- Do not pre-register if you know you will be there on time (a few hours within the first day of the convention). The pre-registration line was longer than the regular registration line at Defcon 32
- Register for the labs you want to attend at least 3 weeks early. I didn’t register for any labs or workshops so I was unable to attend any. They sell out within days and weeks.
- Bring all cash. You will not use a card inside the convention center.
- Bring hacking tools. They are cool to show to people and fun to experiment on with other minds
- Do not bring a MacBook. They are incompatible with a lot of things – the Defcon secure WiFi being one of them.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you can use this written account for a good Defcon experience.