Defcon

Semen Smugglers, Spreadsheets, and Laughing to Death: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

It’s been a weird one this week at Gizmodo, folks: From hacking buttplugs and realizing our dog photos have personally identifiable information in them to smuggled boar semen and an Arctic weather station hitting nearly 95 degrees Fahrenheit, we’ve been hard at work churning out the content you crave and that makes our heads hurt.…

Tech News Tom McKay Aug 18

If You Value Your Photos, Here’s a Good Reason to Turn Off Your Camera’s Wifi

By now, most people who spend any time online know the importance of ensuring their software is up to date, using an antivirus app, and avoiding the darker corners of the internet to avoid getting infected by malware that locks your files until a ransom is paid. But don’t assume it’s just your computer being…

Privacy & Security Andrew Liszewski Aug 12

Teen Tells DEF CON How He Hacked Millions of Student Records From Popular Education Software [Update]

“Hello from Bill Demirkapi :)“ read the message sent to thousands of parents, students, and teachers in his school district after the aforementioned teenager hacked his school’s education software. It was one of many bugs Demirkapi discovered over the last three years—another exposed millions of student records—that he presented on at this year’s DEF CON, a…

Gadgets Alyse Stanley Aug 10

Watch Never-Before-Released Video From Cult of the Dead Cow’s Def Con 7 Reveal

When I was a little kid, there’s nothing I wanted more than to be a hacker. Of course, my 12-year-old brain’s perception of what it meant to be a hacker was horribly skewed by movies like The Lawnmower Man, Tron, and tabletop RPGs like Shadowrun. (If only, right?) Today is the release of what promises…

Privacy & Security Dell Cameron Jun 4

Virginia Is Getting Rid of Its Vulnerable Voting Machines

Virginia’s Board of Elections voted unanimously to decertify all of the state’s touchscreen voting machines, which are considered by cybersecurity experts to be vulnerable to manipulation by hackers. The race is now on to replace the machines, which are used in 22 counties, before Virginia’s elections in November. Industry experts and and the state’s elections…

Privacy & Security Kate Conger Sep 8

Personal Info of 650,000 Voters Discovered on Poll Machine Sold on Ebay

When 650 thousand Tennesseans voted in the Memphis area, they probably didn’t expect their personal information would eventually be picked apart at a hacker conference at Caesars Palace Las Vegas. The strength of the US voting system, according to former FBI director James Comey, is that it’s “clunky”—every state and often every district can choose…

Tech News Kevin Collier Aug 1

Every Voting Machine at This Hacking Conference Got Totally Pwned

A noisy cheer went up from the crowd of hackers clustered around the voting machine tucked into the back corner of a casino conference room—they’d just managed to load Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” onto the WinVote, effectively rickrolling democracy. The hack was easy to execute. Two of the hackers working on the…

Privacy & Security Kate Conger Jul 31

Facebook Shells Out $500,000 For Project to Fight Election Hacking

Facebook is sponsoring the efforts of former Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney campaign managers to combat hacking and disinformation campaigns designed to interfere with elections. Facebook’s chief security officer Alex Stamos announced the company’s $500,000 investment in the effort, called Defending Digital Democracy, today during a keynote at the security conference Black Hat. The project…

Social Media Kate Conger Jul 26

The Politics of Hacking in the Age of Trump

There are a lot of unusual things to do at DEF CON, the annual hacker conference that draws tens of thousands of security enthusiasts to Las Vegas in the depths of summer—you can learn to lockpick, go fed-spotting, or hack an internet-connected sex toy. But last year offered something new. Jeff Moss, the founder of…

Tech News Kate Conger Jul 25

A Hacker’s Tips for Overthrowing the Government

Chris Rock, an independent security researcher, is pissed that the Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, is more afraid of ISIS than hackers. He’s hoping to change that by teaching hackers how to overthrow governments. “I don’t want to live in a world where ISIS is scarier than hackers,” Rock began. Rock, who runs his…

Tech News William Turton Aug 6

Hacker Builds a QR Code Generator That Lets Him Into Fancy Airport Lounges

Nowhere is the distinction between the haves and have-nots more apparent than when waiting for a flight at the airport. But it turns out you might not need an actual first class ticket to get into a swanky airport lounge—just a custom Android app that spits out a boarding pass-spoofing QR code. Przemek Jaroszewski is…

Privacy & Security Andrew Liszewski Aug 5

$32 Worth of Electronics Can Open Almost Any Keyless Car Door or Garage

Here’s another great reason to lock your doors, hide under some sheets, and never leave your home again. Samy Kamkar, already well known for cracking Master combination locks, has built a $32 wireless device that can intercept and steal the wireless codes used to open keyless car doors and garages. At DefCon in Las Vegas,…

Privacy & Security Andrew Liszewski Aug 10

Hackers Can Hijack Electric Skateboards Now

At this point, it feels like everything that can be hacked, will be hacked: Computers, phones, industrial systems, cars, baby monitors, and now…electric skateboards. Security researchers Richo Healy and Mike Ryan developed an electric skateboard exploit they call, amusingly enough, FacePlant. The hack allows them to completely take control of a $1500 Boosted e-skateboard. They…

Privacy & Security Kate Knibbs Aug 7

Security Experts: Car Hacking Is Real and We Need To Prepare

Getting hacked, whether on a desktop or smartphone, pretty much sucks. In a way, your entire digital life is an open book and even the control of your devices can be wrenched away from you. But imagine it’s not a smartphone getting ripped from your hands but rather your car’s steering wheel. These are the…

Tech News Darren Orf Aug 10

DEFCON: A Documentary About the World’s Largest Hacking Conference

One thing that sort of irks me is when people mistake DEFCON 5 as worse and crazier and insane and severe than DEFCON 1. I know more always sounds better but it’s not. That has nothing to do with the world’s largest hacking conference, DEFCON, but I just wanted to put it out there. DEFCON:…

Tech News Casey Chan Aug 8

Can You Solve the Encryption Puzzle In the EFF’s Def Con T-Shirt? (Updated)

The annual hackers’ conference, DEF CON, wrapped up yesterday, but one of the weekend’s many great mysteries still persists. The images above are an encryption puzzle (“Encryption is Key”) that was printed on the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s fundraising t-shirts from the event. As of Sunday morning, no one had solved it, so here’s a hint,…

Privacy & Security Mario Aguilar Aug 5

The Great Geek Sexism Debate

Over the past few months, three of the most influential conventions in geekdom — Readercon (for science fiction writers), The Amazing Meeting (for skeptics), and DefCon (for hackers) — have been at the center of very public discussions about sexism and sexual harassment in their communities. After all three conventions in 2012, women spoke out…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 8

CDMA and 4G WiMax Supposedly Hacked at Defcon

A post on the Full Disclosure mailing list claims both CDMA and 4G WiMAX wireless networks were compromised using a man-in-the middle attack at Defcon earlier this week. Coderman, who posted the information, was a witness to the attack which gained access to Android smartphones and PCs on the local CDMA and 4G cellular network.…

Tech News Kelly Aug 10

What Happens When You Steal a Hacker’s Computer

Meet Melvin Guzman. He somehow ended up with a Mac stolen from Zoz, a rather crafty hacker who happens to love that computer “like his firstborn.” Here’s a hilarious account of what happened—complete with some poorly censored nudity. Note: The actual story starts around the 3:15 mark in the video, so you can skip to…

Privacy & Security Rosa Golijan Dec 23

Seven dangerous new computer hacks (and one silly one) that will change the future

Last week the high tech world got just a bit more dangerous – or a bit safer, depending on your perspective. And it was all because of research presented at computer security conferences Black Hat and Defcon. Here’s the lowdown. Dave Bullock/Wired” /> Every year computer security experts, from garage hackers to intelligence agents, descend…

io9 Annalee Newitz Aug 4

Defcon

Semen Smugglers, Spreadsheets, and Laughing to Death: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

If You Value Your Photos, Here’s a Good Reason to Turn Off Your Camera’s Wifi

Teen Tells DEF CON How He Hacked Millions of Student Records From Popular Education Software [Update]

Watch Never-Before-Released Video From Cult of the Dead Cow’s Def Con 7 Reveal

Virginia Is Getting Rid of Its Vulnerable Voting Machines

Personal Info of 650,000 Voters Discovered on Poll Machine Sold on Ebay

Every Voting Machine at This Hacking Conference Got Totally Pwned

Facebook Shells Out $500,000 For Project to Fight Election Hacking

The Politics of Hacking in the Age of Trump

A Hacker’s Tips for Overthrowing the Government

Hacker Builds a QR Code Generator That Lets Him Into Fancy Airport Lounges

$32 Worth of Electronics Can Open Almost Any Keyless Car Door or Garage

Hackers Can Hijack Electric Skateboards Now

Security Experts: Car Hacking Is Real and We Need To Prepare

DEFCON: A Documentary About the World’s Largest Hacking Conference

Can You Solve the Encryption Puzzle In the EFF’s Def Con T-Shirt? (Updated)

The Great Geek Sexism Debate

CDMA and 4G WiMax Supposedly Hacked at Defcon

What Happens When You Steal a Hacker’s Computer

Seven dangerous new computer hacks (and one silly one) that will change the future

Amazon Is Sticking With ‘Rings of Power’ to the End

Trump Is Reportedly Going Full Steam Ahead with the Golden Dome

‘Kamen Rider’ Is Ready to Take on the World

Twitter Just Can’t Stop Leaking Movies

The ‘Mass Effect’ Show is Getting Rewritten to Get Greenlit

See the Early Stages of How ‘Project Hail Mary’ Brought Rocky to Life

‘Cognitive Surrender’ Is a New and Useful Term for How AI Melts Brains

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

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AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

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Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

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