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Thotcon™️ (stylized THOTCON) is the trademarked name[1] of 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.,[2] 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.[3] 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,[4][5] the "Hacker Jeopardy" game show,[6][7] 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.[8] It is expected to operate similarly to recent offerings.

History

[edit]
The conference had approximately 216 attendees and 12 talks.[10]
  • 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.[11]
  • 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.[12]
  • THOTCON 0x4 was held on April 26, 2013,[13] 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.[14]
  • 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.[15]
  • 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.[16]
  • 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.[17]
  • THOTCON 0x8 was held on May 4-5, 2017, at the Ravenswood Event Center, 4025 N Ravenswood, Chicago, IL.
The conference had approximately 1357 attendees and hosted 13 full-length talks and 17 "Turbo" talks. A "Track X" was added for long-form talks and workshops which featured 5 2-hour technical demos.[18][5]
The conference had approximately 1492 attendees and hosted 14 full-length talks and 25 "Turbo" talks as well as 5 2-hour presentation sessions.[19]
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.[21]
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.[22]
The conference had approximately 1873 attendees and hosted 11 full-length talks and 15 "Turbo" talks as well as 4 2-hour presentation sessions.[23] Later this year the conference announced it would be moving to a biannual cycle.[24]

Notable Speakers

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Past speakers of THOTCON events have included:

References

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  1. ^ "USPTO - THOTCON Trademark". USPTO TSDR Case Viewer. US Patent and Trademark Office.
  2. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  3. ^ "DEFCON 312 Local Group". DC312. Archived from the original on 2011-02-27. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  4. ^ "Hacking The Thotcon 0x8 Badge". Hackaday.
  5. ^ a b "THOTCON 0x8". Hackernoon. Mike Fettis.
  6. ^ "X - @Thotcon". X.
  7. ^ "Hacker Jeopardy". Hacker Jeopardy.
  8. ^ "X - @Thotcon". X - @Thotcon.
  9. ^ "[Interview] c7five - "THOTCON co-creator and "". Digital Soapbox - Down the Security Rabbithole!. 2010-04-02. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-12-31.
  10. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  11. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  12. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  13. ^ a b "Hacker Conferences Come To Bloom In Chicago". Dark Reading.
  14. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  15. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  16. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  17. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  18. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  19. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  20. ^ "THOTCON". infosec-conferences.com. 19 April 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  21. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  22. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  23. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  24. ^ https://x.com/thotcon/status/1696214403236933881
  25. ^ Dissecting the hack: The F0rb1dd3n Network
  26. ^ "Following the White Rabbit". Archived from the original on 2011-09-04. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  27. ^ Dave Marcus, McAfee Labs Team>
  28. ^ G. Mark Hardy
  29. ^ "Cory Doctorow". Electronic Frontier Foundation. 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2018-07-16.
  30. ^ "Dustin Heywood: The Evil Hacker Using his Neurodivergent Mind for Good". IBM.
  31. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  32. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  33. ^ Corbella, Licia (3 November 2017). "Calgary's ethical hacker with the monkey tattoo".
  34. ^ Reevely, David. "Preparing for the 'boom' at Ottawa's new cyber range".
  35. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  36. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
  37. ^ "THOTCON - Chicago's Hacking Conference".
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