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THOTCON

{{tone|date=February 2025}}

{{short description|Annual nonprofit hacker conference in Chicago, IL}}

{{Infobox recurring event

| image =

| begins =

| ends =

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| first = 2010

| prev = 2023

| next = 2025

| location = Chicago, Illinois

| attendance =

| genre = Cybersecurity, hacking

| website =

}}

Thotcon (stylized THOTCON) is Chicago's first-ever hacker conference, whose name is derived from the first letter(s) in the words that represent Chicago's first telephone Area Code: 312 (THree-One-Two). The event is produced by THOTCON Infinity NFP, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.,{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://thotcon.org/}} and held every 2 years, usually in May. The event numbering scheme is expressed in hexadecimal.

Originally organized by Nicholas Percoco, Matt "Jaku" Jakubowski, Jonathan "SakeBomb" Tomek, John Mocuta, David "VideoMan" Bryan, and several others who were all volunteers from the local "DEF CON 312" meetup chapter.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dc312.org/ |title=DEFCON 312 Local Group |publisher=DC312 |accessdate=2010-12-31 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20110227221700/http://www.dc312.org/ |archivedate=2011-02-27 }} It is held at a "top secret" location each year which is not publicly disclosed, though this location does not change often.

The conference was originally held on a single day but expanded to two consecutive days from 2015 onward. It currently features multiple tracks of speakers presenting on various information security and hacking topics. These talks range in length from standard 45-minute seminars, shorter "Turbo Talks", and longer demo and workshop presentations.

The conference also features "villages," which operate during the entire length of the conference. These offer subject matter experts who often provide hands-on instruction for various topics such as locksport, wireless security hacking, and other technical topics. Vendor booths are also present featuring representatives from various information security companies as well as nonprofit organizations such as Women in CyberSecurity and Black Girls Code.

Contests are also prevalent at the conference, the most difficult of which may offer the highly-coveted prize of a "Gold Badge," which offers free lifetime admission to all future THOTCON events. These contests are often both technical and non-technical, offering all skill levels a fair chance at winning something. Recurring contests include: solving the challenge inside the electronic conference badge,{{cite web |title=Hacking The Thotcon 0x8 Badge |url=https://hackaday.com/2017/05/10/hacking-the-thotcon-0x8-badge/ |website=Hackaday|date=10 May 2017 }} the "Hacker Jeopardy" game show,{{cite web |title=X - @Thotcon |url=https://x.com/thotcon/status/1102270508920385537 |website=X}}{{cite web |title=Hacker Jeopardy |url=https://hackerjeopardy.com/ |website=Hacker Jeopardy}} and completing esoteric physical challenges.

In later years, food and beverages, including alcoholic, began being offered for sale at the conference by the venue. A "VIP" area was added for use by anyone possessing a VIP badge, which offers a quiet, secluded lounge as well as free food and beverages.

The conference has also always featured some sort of "After-Party," though some years this is "unofficial" and not directly organized or funded by the conference. It is however always featured in the program. The after-party often features EDM by DJs from the hacker scene who attend the conference such as FuzzyNOP of Dual Core, as well as bands such as I Fight Dragons and Information Society.

The conference is primarily funded by information security sponsors, however some income is also generated by attendees purchasing admission and merchandise.

The 13th event, thus titled "THOTCON 0xD," is scheduled to be held on May 30-31, 2025, at an undisclosed location.{{cite web |url=https://x.com/thotcon/status/1826708952383717675 |title=X - @Thotcon |website=X - @Thotcon}} It is expected to operate similarly to recent offerings.

History

  • THOTCON 0x1 was held on April 23, 2010, at Joe's Bar.{{Cite web |url=http://preachsecurity.blogspot.com/2010/04/interview-c7five-thotcon-co-creator-and.html |title=[Interview] c7five - "THOTCON co-creator and " |publisher=Digital Soapbox - Down the Security Rabbithole! |date=2010-04-02 |accessdate=2010-12-31 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708060928/http://preachsecurity.blogspot.com/2010/04/interview-c7five-thotcon-co-creator-and.html |archivedate=2011-07-08 }}

:The conference had approximately 216 attendees and 12 talks.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0x1.html}}

  • THOTCON 0x2 was held on April 15, 2011, also at Joe's Bar in Chicago, IL.

: The conference had approximately 310 attendees and 12 talks.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0x2.html}}

  • THOTCON 0x3 was held on April 27, 2012, at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N Ravenswood, Chicago, IL.

: The conference had approximately 493 attendees and 11 full-length talks, as well as 8 "Turbo" talks.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/speakers-0x3.html}}

  • THOTCON 0x4 was held on April 26, 2013,{{cite web |title=Hacker Conferences Come To Bloom In Chicago |url=https://www.darkreading.com/perimeter/hacker-conferences-come-to-bloom-in-chicago |website=Dark Reading}} at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N Ravenswood, Chicago, IL.

: The conference had approximately 705 attendees and featured 9 full-length talks, 11 shorter "Turbo" and "Newbie" talks, and 3 2.5-hour workshops. It was the first year to add keynotes, of which there were 2. It was also the first year to add refreshments for sale, preventing the need to leave the conference.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/speakers-0x4.html}}

  • THOTCON 0x5 was held on April 25, 2014, at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N Ravenswood, Chicago, IL.

: The conference had approximately 793 attendees and featured 9 full-length talks, 11 shorter "Turbo" talks, and 7 1-hour how-to "labs." It was the only year to offer these labs and also featured the first beer brewing competition.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0x5.html}}

  • THOTCON 0x6 was held on May 14–15, 2015, at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N Ravenswood, Chicago, IL.

: The conference had approximately 1054 attendees and was the first year the conference hosted 2 full days of multiple presentation tracks, with 14 full-length talks (including 4 keynotes) and 21 "Turbo" talks. Long-form workshops and labs were discontinued this year.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0x6.html}}

  • THOTCON 0x7 was held on May 5–6, 2016, at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N Ravenswood, Chicago, IL.

: The conference had approximately 1137 attendees and hosted 13 full-length talks and 17 "Turbo" talks.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0x7.html}}

  • THOTCON 0x8 was held on May 4-5, 2017, at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N Ravenswood, Chicago, IL.
  • THOTCON 0x9 was held on May 5–6, 2018, at the Irish American Heritage Center

: The conference had approximately 1492 attendees and hosted 14 full-length talks and 25 "Turbo" talks as well as 5 2-hour presentation sessions.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0x9.html}}

  • THOTCON 0xA was held on May 3–4, 2019 at the Irish American Heritage Center.{{Cite web |url=https://infosec-conferences.com/events-in-2019/thotcon/ |title=THOTCON |website=infosec-conferences.com |date=19 April 2019 |accessdate=April 8, 2020}}

: The conference had approximately 1664 attendees and hosted 13 full-length talks and 19 "Turbo" talks as well as 5 2-hour presentation sessions. The game show "Hacker Jeopardy," popularized at DEF CON by Aaron "Linitle" Lint, G. Mark Hardy, and Winn Schwartau, and hosted by Lintile, was first added to the Contests roster this year.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0xA.html}}

: The conference had approximately 1694 attendees and hosted 11 full-length talks (returning to having only 2 keynotes) and 11 "Turbo" talks as well as 4 2-hour presentation sessions.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0xB.html}}

: The conference had approximately 1873 attendees and hosted 11 full-length talks and 15 "Turbo" talks as well as 4 2-hour presentation sessions.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://archive.thotcon.org/schedule-0xC.html}} Later this year the conference announced it would be moving to a biannual cycle.https://x.com/thotcon/status/1696214403236933881

Notable Speakers

Past speakers of THOTCON events have included:

  • Bruce Schneier, an American cryptographer, computer security and privacy specialist, and writer.
  • Jayson E. Street, author of "Dissecting the hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network"[http://www.f0rb1dd3n.com/ Dissecting the hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network]
  • Rafal Los, author of the HP blog "Following the White Rabbit"{{Cite web |url=http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Following-the-White-Rabbit-A/bg-p/sws-119 |title=Following the White Rabbit |access-date=2011-09-07 |archive-date=2011-09-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904083106/http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Following-the-White-Rabbit-A/bg-p/sws-119 |url-status=dead }}
  • Ryan Jones, star of the TV show Tiger Team (TV series)
  • Dave Marcus, director of security research at McAfee[http://www.mcafee.com/us/mcafee-labs/team/dave-marcus.aspx Dave Marcus, McAfee Labs Team]>
  • G. Mark Hardy, president of National Security Corporation[http://www.gmarkhardy.com/index.html G. Mark Hardy]
  • Samy Kamkar, a prolific American programmer, freelance security researcher, and hacker
  • Cory Doctorow, a Canadian science fiction author, activist, journalist, blogger and Special Advisor to the Electronic Frontier Foundation{{Cite news|url=https://www.eff.org/about/staff/cory-doctorow|title=Cory Doctorow|date=2011-10-07|work=Electronic Frontier Foundation|access-date=2018-07-16|language=en}}
  • Dustin Heywood (known as EvilMog), member of Team Hashcat and Senior Hacker at IBM X-Force Red {{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.ibm.com/Dustin-Heywood-The-Evil-Hacker-Using-his-Neurodivergent-Mind-for-Good|title=Dustin Heywood: The Evil Hacker Using his Neurodivergent Mind for Good|website=IBM }}{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://www.thotcon.org/archive/speakers-0xA.html}}{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://www.thotcon.org/archive/speakers-0x9.html}}{{Cite web |last=Corbella |first=Licia |date=3 November 2017 |title=Calgary's ethical hacker with the monkey tattoo |url=https://calgaryherald.com/technology/internet/corbella-calgarys-ethical-hacker-with-the-monkey-tattoo }}{{Cite web |last=Reevely |first=David |title=Preparing for the 'boom' at Ottawa's new cyber range |date=7 November 2023 |url=https://thelogic.co/news/the-big-read/preparing-for-the-boom-at-ottawas-newest-cyber-range/}}
  • int80 (David Martinjak) from Dual Core{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://www.thotcon.org/archive/speakers-0x4.html}}
  • Richard Thieme, a former priest who became a commentator on technology and culture {{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://www.thotcon.org/archive/speakers-0x5.html}}
  • Chris Valasek, a computer security researcher with [[Cruise (autonomous vehicle)|Cruise

]], best known for his work in automotive security research.{{Cite web|title=THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference|url=https://www.thotcon.org/archive/speakers-0x6.html}}

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{Official website|http://www.thotcon.org}}
  • [http://archive.thotcon.org THOTCON Archives] - Archives of the presentations from previous conferences.

Category:Hacker conventions