Later this week Defcon, the world's largest hacker convention, will kick off in Las Vegas. One of the more popular gadgets from the previous two Defcons were the hackable convention badges. This year, we convinced Defcon's founder Jeff Moss, aka Dark Tangent, and badge-designer Joe "Kingpin" Grand, to give Wired.com an exclusive sneak preview of the Defcon 16 badge.
Keep in mind that the badge in the photo is a prototype; the actual badges will be a different color, won't have the USB and debug ports soldered on, nor include an SD card (so bring one, seriously).
Threat Level: Defcon 15's badge was exponentially more complicated and functional than Defcon 14's badge. How does this year's badge compare to the DC 15 badge?
Joe Grand: Last year's badge was sort of an over-engineered project. We wanted to do something that was cool and different than the year before, but it ended up getting more complicated because of design problems along the way ... I was really aiming to have something a little less complicated and a little less over-engineered than Defcon 15, but still more complicated then Defcon 14 and have enough hackable features to make it interesting enough for people. It's more simple than last year but also more powerful.
TL: Why did you choose a Freescale microprocessor, and why did you choose the MC9S08JM60 over the MC9S08QG8?
JG: The guys at Freescale have been super supportive throughout both the Defcon 15 and this Defcon 16 badge. One of their things is that they have a lot of engineers who truly love engineering and they love coming up with new products that use their technologies. They understand that it is a hacker gathering and the hackers are ultimately the ones who are creating the cutting-edge products and they're messing around with technology and doing things that haven't been done before. They love the concept and they love being involved with Defcon ...
The JM60 was a new product that they just launched ... We looked at the processor and said the JM60 has support for USB so let's use USB. It has support for a Secure Digital card so let's add SD in there ... I rarely come across companies that are as passionate as I am about a project and these guys are, so it's a total thrill to be able to work with them.
TL: What components and other fun stuff does the badge have?
JG: The artistic elements and the PC board design tricks that I did this year [are] some of my favorite parts of doing the badge. Ping and Dark Tangent don't necessarily understand the engineering constraints of making circuit boards so they really push me ... In turn I get to learn a lot of new techniques ... We're doing stuff that's totally crazy and nonstandard for circuit boards.
TL: Are they the same batteries as last year?
__JG: __No, different batteries. One of the things I ran into last year that I was pretty embarrassed about was the battery life. Depending on how much you used the badge, the batteries didn't even last the weekend. For me one of my major design goals is making sure that the badge lasted longer than Defcon. This year I went with a larger battery, something that's way more robust and will just last a long time for people who really want to hack on the badge. It's one of the CR123A batteries. These things will last a long time, weeks if not months. It's a little bigger than I would have like, but I placed it in away that hopefully will not get too annoying for people.
TL: Did you see the RFID badges at The Last HOPE? Will yours also include some kind of unique ID for buddy/hacker tracking?
JG: I didn't [see the HOPE badges] ... We talked about the badges being able to either track each other or have some kind of unique identifier, but I think that shit is just way too big brother. Most people at Defcon don't even use their real name. Forcing them to wear a badge that has features like that, to me is crap. I wouldn't want to wear one of them.
TL: What were the biggest challenges in the badge development this time around?
JG: This badge ... ended up taking 200 hours to design, versus the 170 from last year ... Most of that was because I was trying new things I'd never done before ... During the process every time I had an engineering problem or I stayed up late ... I just kept thinking the pain's going to be worth it. Once the badge is done and it gets into people's hands and they just love the way it looks and they have fun with it and they hack on it it makes all of the trouble worthwhile to get people interested into this type of thing.
__TL: __How are you going to top this badge next year?
JG: I have a few ideas for what I want to do next year assuming we do it ... I won't say what they are yet, but it's going to be cool.
TL: What other projects are you working on right now?
__JG: __I just started a new apparel line called Kingpin Empire ... I am going to donate a portion of the proceeds to hacker related charities and health related charities: EFF, ACLU, American Heart Association. Things that have personally affected me or personally saved me in some way.
It's a way for me to spread the hacker message to the masses ... to educate people as to what hacking is about, support hacker and health related causes and give back to the community that shaped my entire life.
__TL: __Anything else you want to say about the badge?
JG: I just hope people like it. It's a labor of love. The more people that hack on it the better. I want people to modify it, I want people to fix any problems they might see with it and just make it their own. If I can inspire just one person out of the 8,500 people that have a badge to start hacking on things and maybe even become and engineering then I've done my part.
The front of the Defcon 16 badge shows the IR transmitter (top eye), receiver (lower black square) and status LEDs.
The back of the Defcon 16 badge shows the SD card slot (SD card not included), microprocessor, battery, mode button, debug and USB ports as well as a 2D barcode for your decoding pleasure.
A close-up of the Defcon 16 badge shows the IR receiver and status LEDs.
A close-up of the center of the Defcon 16 badge shows the Freescale microprocessor; various surface mount diodes, resistors and capacitors; the SD card slot and a 2D bardcode.
A close-up of the Defcon 16 badge shows IR transmitter.
A close-up of the Defcon 16 badge shows the mode select switch, the resistors for the LEDs and the battery.
(Photos: Wired.com/Dave Bullock)
