DEF CON
DEF CON is a privately held event and media company operating the world's largest and longest-running hacker conference, serving cybersecurity professionals, government agencies, researchers, and students through annual Las Vegas and regional events, paid training, and a global community network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1992
- HeadquartersLas Vegas, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What DEF CON does
DEF CON is a privately held event and media company operating the world's largest and longest-running hacker conference under DEF CON Communications, Inc. Founded in 1992 by Jeff Moss (The Dark Tangent) and headquartered in Las Vegas, the company has built a three-decade franchise around its annual flagship gathering, now in its 34th edition, along with a growing portfolio of paid training, merchandise, and specialized programs. The business generates revenue through a layered model: ticket sales for the Las Vegas conference ($520 cash at door, $560-$600 online), paid intensive training courses (DCT) offered as 1, 2, and 4-day formats, vendor and exhibitor fees, and merchandise through shop.defcon.org. The core product surface includes the DEF CON Hacking Conference, DEF CON Training, the DEF CON Capture The Flag competition, more than a dozen topical Villages (Car Hacking, Aerospace, Blue Team, IoT, Voting, Social Engineering), workshops, and a free public media archive spanning 30+ years of conference content.
The platform anchors a year-round community ecosystem that includes DEF CON Groups on six continents, official forums, Discord, and a Mastodon instance (defcon.social), supplemented by programs such as the DEF CON Franklin Project (volunteer cybersecurity assistance for under-resourced infrastructure), the Hackers' Almanack policy report (with the University of Chicago Cyber Policy Initiative), and Hack-A-Sat. DEF CON has pursued a deliberate international expansion with DEF CON Singapore (April 28-30, 2026, co-hosted with HTX and CSIT at Marina Bay Sands) and DEF CON Middle East (November 11-12, 2026, with the National Cyber Security Centre Bahrain). The company is also a strategic venue for the DARPA AI Cyber Challenge, which distributed over $18 million in prizes at DEF CON 32 and 33 alongside Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI. DEF CON is owned and operated by founder Jeff Moss with no institutional investment, one of the smallest paid employee bases in the industry (1-10), and a large volunteer "Goons" corps that staffs the event.
DEF CON firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- DEF CON
- Legal name
- DEF CON Communications, Inc.
- Website
- https://defcon.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1992
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- DEF CON is a privately held event and media company operating the world's largest and longest-running hacker conference, serving cybersecurity professionals, government agencies, researchers, and students through annual Las Vegas and regional events, paid training, and a global community network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
DEF CON industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cybersecurity Conferences and Events
- NAICS
- Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Technology & Developer Conferences (MPAGAGAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Virtual/Hybrid Conference Production & Platform Management (THAHACAM), Engineering & Technology Congresses (THAHAJAE)
Keywords
Where DEF CON is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Las Vegas
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
DEF CON business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Conference Tickets: Primary revenue from ticket sales for the annual Las Vegas conference and regional events. Cash-at-door and online pre-registration options available.
- Training Courses: Paid training courses offered before and after main conference, featuring hands-on technical sessions from world-class trainers. Includes 1-day, 2-day, and 4-day options.
- Merchandise Sales: Official DEF CON merchandise including badges, clothing, accessories sold through shop.defcon.org
- Vendor/Exhibitor Fees: Fees for vendor booths and exhibitor space at the conference
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | One time | DEF CON 34 Las Vegas - Early Bird Online |
| Subscription | One time | DEF CON 34 Las Vegas - Regular Online |
| Subscription | One time | DEF CON 34 Las Vegas - Late Online |
| Subscription | One time | DEF CON 34 Las Vegas - Cash at Door |
| Unit Pricing | One time | DEF CON Training Courses |
| Subscription | One time | DEF CON Singapore |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels10 records
DEF CON product offering
Product offeringCore offering
DEF CON produces one of the world's largest and longest-running annual hacker conferences, held in Las Vegas with regional editions in Singapore and the Middle East. It sells conference tickets, paid hands-on technical training courses, capture-the-flag competitions, and branded merchandise to cybersecurity professionals, researchers, students, and enthusiasts.
Product overview
DEF CON is a cybersecurity and hacking conference brand offering a portfolio of products and services centered on its flagship annual Las Vegas convention, now in its 34th edition. The core product is the DEF CON Hacking Conference featuring talks, villages, contests, and workshops. Supporting products include DEF CON Training (paid intensive technical courses), DEF CON CTF (Capture The Flag competition), DEF CON Media Server (free content archive), and various community platforms (DEF CON Groups, Forums, Discord, DEFCON.Social). The organization has expanded internationally with regional events including DEF CON Singapore and DEF CON Middle East. Additional offerings include Hack-A-Sat satellite hacking competition, DEF CON Badgelife collectible electronic badges, DEF CON Music entertainment events, DEF CON Policy bridging hacker/policy communities, and the DEF CON Franklin Project volunteer infrastructure program. The portfolio operates through both in-person events and year-round digital community engagement.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- DEF CON Hacking Conference (Las Vegas) Annual multi-day hacking and cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas featuring talks, villages, contests, workshops, and community events aimed at security researchers, hackers, students, and government attendees.
- DEF CON Singapore Regional edition of the DEF CON conference held annually in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands, featuring talks, villages, contests, and training aimed at the Southeast Asian cybersecurity community.
- DEF CON Middle East Regional edition of the DEF CON conference held annually in Bahrain, bringing talks, villages, contests, and training to the Middle East cybersecurity community.
- DEF CON Training Paid intensive hands-on technical training courses in cybersecurity, offered in 1-day, 2-day, and 4-day formats by world-class practitioners, available alongside DEF CON Las Vegas, Singapore, and Middle East conferences.
- DEF CON Online Shop Merchandise Official e-commerce storefront selling DEF CON-branded conference badges, apparel, swag, holiday items, and collectibles to individuals and fans.
- DEF CON CTF (Capture The Flag) The premier computer security Capture The Flag competition originating from DEF CON 4 in 1996, featuring online qualifier rounds and finals held at the annual conference.
Companies that use DEF CON
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
DEF CON technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
DEF CON partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- HTX (Home Team Science & Technology Agency)coreCo-organizer of DEF CON Singapore, the first-ever DEF CON event in Singapore held at Marina Bay Sands April 28-30, 2026. HTX serves as the primary government partner for this regional expansion.
- CSIT (Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies)coreStrategic partner for DEF CON Singapore, working with DEF CON and HTX to deliver the full DEF CON experience in Singapore.
- National Cyber Security Centre BahraincoreHost partner for DEF CON Middle East in Bahrain, bringing DEF CON to the Middle East region through the Arab International Cybersecurity Conference.
- DARPAcoreAI Cyber Challenge partnership - DARPA announced $18+ million in prizes for AI cybersecurity competition hosted at DEF CON 32 and 33. Partnership with Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, and OpenAI.
- Nautilus InstitutecoreCTF competition organizers from 2022-2025, running the world's premier DEF CON Capture The Flag contest. Handing off to Benevolent Bureau of Birds for DEF CON 34.
- Las Vegas Convention CentercorePrimary venue for annual DEF CON Las Vegas conferences, providing West Hall and related facilities.
- Black HatminorRelated cybersecurity conference that also banned individuals linked to Jeffrey Epstein. Similar event during 'Hacker Summer Camp' in Las Vegas.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves11 records
Expansion highlights12 records
DEF CON competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- RSA Conference: RSA Conference is one of the world's largest cybersecurity events, held annually in San Francisco with keynotes, tracks, and an expo floor. It serves the same enterprise and practitioner audience as DEF CON but skews more commercial and vendor-driven.
- CanSecWest: CanSecWest is a long-running applied security conference in Vancouver known for hosting the Pwn2Own exploit competition. It serves the same technical security research community as DEF CON and often announces vulnerabilities that debut at DEF CON.
- ShmooCon: ShmooCon is an annual hacker conference held in Washington, D.C. featuring talks, workshops, and a Capture The Flag contest. It targets a similar technical security audience with a community-driven, intimate format comparable to DEF CON's village-style content.
- BSides: Security BSides is a global network of community-driven security conferences with events in dozens of cities. It mirrors DEF CON's community-led, volunteer-staffed model at smaller scale, and several BSides events run alongside or near DEF CON during Hacker Summer Camp.
- Hack In The Box (HITB): HITB operates flagship hacker conferences in Amsterdam and Southeast Asia with technical talks, trainings, and CTF competitions. Like DEF CON, it has expanded internationally and serves a deeply technical security researcher audience.
- Black Hat: Black Hat is the most directly comparable peer — also a long-running cybersecurity/hacker conference held annually in Las Vegas as part of 'Hacker Summer Camp,' featuring technical briefings, trainings, and vendor expo. Operated by Informa Tech, it represents the commercialized counterpart to DEF CON's community-driven model.
Regional players
- Nullcon: Nullcon is a major security conference held in India featuring technical talks, trainings, and an expo. It addresses the same cybersecurity practitioner audience as DEF CON but is regional to South Asia.
Emerging players
- GreHack: GreHack is a French academic and industry security conference in Grenoble featuring CTF and technical talks. Comparable in community-driven, research-oriented format to DEF CON at smaller European scale.
- TROOPERS: TROOPERS is a Heidelberg-based security conference focused on enterprise and network security with a strong technical community. Comparable in scope and audience focus to DEF CON's training and village programs at smaller scale.
Broad incumbents
- SANS Institute Events: SANS Institute runs a global calendar of cybersecurity training events and conferences serving the same security practitioner audience as DEF CON's training tracks. As a broader incumbent, it offers paid certification-driven training rather than community-led hacker culture.
Market position
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
DEF CON social profiles
Digital presenceDEF CON financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
DEF CON leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
DEF CON funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
DEF CON M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about DEF CON
What does DEF CON do?
DEF CON produces one of the world's largest and longest-running annual hacker conferences, held in Las Vegas with regional editions in Singapore and the Middle East. It sells conference tickets, paid hands-on technical training courses, capture-the-flag competitions, and branded merchandise to cybersecurity professionals, researchers, students, and enthusiasts.
Is DEF CON a public or private company?
DEF CON is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was DEF CON founded?
DEF CON was founded in 1992. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is DEF CON based?
DEF CON is headquartered in Las Vegas, United States, in the North America region.
How does DEF CON make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Conference Tickets are the primary driver. The others are training Courses, merchandise Sales and vendor/Exhibitor Fees.
Who are DEF CON's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are RSA Conference, CanSecWest, ShmooCon, BSides, Hack In The Box (HITB) and Black Hat. Nullcon is listed as a regional player. Emerging players are GreHack and TROOPERS. SANS Institute Events is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does DEF CON have an API?
No public API is recorded for DEF CON.
What industry is DEF CON in?
DEF CON's product category is Cybersecurity Conferences and Events. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGAGAE, Technology & Developer Conferences, with a secondary code of THAHACAM, Virtual/Hybrid Conference Production & Platform Management. Its NAICS code is 561920.