Welcome to the hacker's cache, the show that decrypts the secrets of cybersecurity one bite at a time. I'm your host Kyser Clark. And in this episode, we're going to be talking about DEF CON.

So I just got back from DEF CON and I honestly had the time of my life highlighted my year, two years in a row now, as has been my second DEF CON. And last DEF CON, I didn't really make a video talking about DEF CON. And a lot of people were talking about, they wanted a debrief and that's what this podcast is going to be.

So we're going to talk about, is DEF CON worth it? So for these people that's on the fence, like, is it worth it? Um, and then people who are, you know, how do you survive your first DEF CON for those who are looking to go next year or like, what can you expect to have at this conference and, and how to get the most out of the conference? So, um, for me, so this DEF CON was my second one, like I said, but this one, um, was more about networking more than like going to talk. So my first one, I attended a lot of talks. Um, but honestly, my first DEF CON, uh, and I walked around the villages a lot.

And I honestly don't remember much of the talks, if I'm honest with you and the things that I saw in the villages, in the workshops, but what I do remember the most with DEF CON was my first one was the networking and then meeting people when people come to me and asking me questions, because they watch my YouTube videos and tell me they helped them out. Um, so that's going to my next DEF CON. My focus was all on networking.

So I actually only attended two talks at this DEF CON and that's, that brings you to the most important part about DEF CON, like, you know, you're going to figure out why you're going. Um, because it's impossible to see everything. Cause it's, it's a fairly large conference and it's impossible to see every talk because there's multiple talks going on simultaneously.

Um, but I think the talks, most people agree that talks are a little overrated. No disrespect to the speakers. That's great.

And I want to be a speaker at DEF CON. Uh, myself, just, you know, look at the list of talks that you want to attend and only attend like a handful. Um, unless you really like talks and attended talks the whole time.

But I think the value in DEF CON for me, and I think for a lot of people is the people is a community because a community is a fantastic community. It's very wholesome. It's very positive.

It's very easy to make friends. And you're probably like thinking like, Oh, Kyser, you're like, you're, you know, you make these YouTube videos. You have a podcast, of course, easy for you to make friends.

And it's like, that's not the case at all. Like I meet people who's never watched a YouTube video of mine at all. And I make friends with them.

They're like, who are you? And I'm like, Oh, you know, I'm Kyser, you know? Um, and then I figured out that I have YouTube after the fact. So it's very easy to make friends at these conferences because you have a similar interest. And that's one of the reasons you should go.

And DEF CON isn't cheap. I think it's like almost $600 for a badge. You know, traveling to Vegas is expensive.

Buying or paying for a hotel or Airbnb is expensive, but I'm telling you right now, guys, it's absolutely worth it. Um, and you're going to get a lot out of it because you never know where these connections are going to go. And these memorize, you know, we've been talking about the job market here on this podcast for the past few episodes and how it's not that good.

And like how I got my last few jobs to referrals and it's like, you know, granted, I haven't gotten a job from a referral that I met at DEF CON. I've gotten them through referrals through LinkedIn, but DEF CON is a good way to get those types of referrals because you're building friendship with people. Um, and another thing is like, you know, I meet people on LinkedIn and this is, what's great about DEF CON is like, you meet people online, like in a discord server or on LinkedIn, or just like, you know, uh, you watch someone's YouTube, like for example, mine, if you, if you like watching and listening to my content, you go to DEF CON, you see me and like, like that's a connection that you're going to make now.

So I highly advise you guys, you have DEF CON. A lot of people, you know, I, I know there's some advice that they're like, don't go to conferences because like the networking is really not that, not that good. Um, no, I would agree with that with Black Hat.

Black Hat's very expensive because I didn't go to Black Hat. Um, well, I kind of went to Black Hat cause Black Hat and DEF CON crossover one day, but I didn't have a Black Hat badge, but I was like, I'm now a Black Hat, if that makes sense on the first day, because the first day of DEF CON, there's really not a whole lot going on, uh, if I'm honest. It's just badge pick up day and like wait in line for March day.

And then you can kind of get a familiarization of, of the conference that way. That's what I did my first DEF CON. Like I went there and I, by myself, by the way, got my badge, met with some friends and then like, um, well, I accidentally met with them, like I was like, they, like, they pulled me in line or like the guys are getting in line.

And so I got like a better, better spot in line because I was walking up and down to get my badge. And then after that, we got like tacos and he's like, well, we're going to go explore Vegas. I'm like, why? Like the conference is going on.

He's like, no, there's nothing going on. Like there's literally nothing that goes on Wednesday. It's almost better to just come on Thursday and get your badge on Thursday.

Uh, Wednesday's kind of, so if you're, if you. If you're truly looking to save money, I would avoid, um, I say Wednesday, I meant to say Thursday. So the first day of the conference is Thursday.

I got there on a Wednesday, the day before, but if you're looking to save money, like show up on Thursday instead of Wednesday and I'll save you, you know, a little bit on your, uh, your, your stay, your hotel, your Airbnb gets one last day because like I said, Thursday, there's not a whole lot going on. So my first DEF CON I went to, you know, all I did, I got my badge and then we ate food and my friends that I met were like, Hey, we're going to go explore Vegas. You want to come with us? And I'm like, no, I want to be at conference.

I guess why I came here for it. And they're like, oh, there's not that much going on. I was like, yeah, I'll find something to do.

And there's truly nothing to do. It's like, the only thing you could do is wait in line and get merch or like just walk around the conference and familiarize yourself with the conference. So like, like, oh, it's just take mental notes is what I did.

Like, oh, this is where a bug bounty villages. This is where the red team villages. Um, and even then, like, they don't even let you in on a conference floor actually.

So are in the, what do they call it? The halls. So on that first day, the halls aren't even open, but you can only walk around like, um, outside the halls. So you can kind of familiarize yourself with like the layout of, of the place, um, which was good, but kind of waste time if I'm honest.

Um, cause I walked around it so many times and just hoping to see, and I did run to be people that recognize me from YouTube, uh, which is nice. And I had some conversations, but the first day of cons, like really not a whole lot going on. So it's, it's kind of unfortunate.

Like, I don't think they should advertise it like, oh, the conferences, Thursday to Sunday. It really should say Friday to Sunday. Cause like, there's no talks or anything going on Thursday or anything.

It's just literally badge pickup day and you can get merged. That's it. And then the merch line, because that's all you can do.

Like I waited four hours to get a t-shirt, uh, last year and then it shrunk and now I can't even wear it. Uh, so cause too, too small now. So that's really annoying.

But this DEF CON going in, I knew that I didn't even show up actually on Thursday. I had some buddies pick up my badge, um, and they just gave it to me, which was really nice. So, um, full disclosure, by the way, like I say DEF CON is worth it.

Absolutely. But I did pay my full way to DEF CON last year, this year. Um, I will say full disclosure, like I didn't, I didn't pay for my badge this year and I didn't, uh, pay for my stay this year.

I stayed in a group, uh, Airbnb. Um, I would mention who they are, but I don't know how comfortable they are with that. I knew that they'd probably talk to you about that, but, um, but that's because of my networking, right.

Because, because of me being, uh, just networking, like I I'm getting into groups like that because of my networking, um, and my YouTube channel absolutely helps with that by the way. Um, so yeah, the, the YouTube channel definitely opened up a lot of doors cause it's easy to network. It's a good avenue to enter network.

And when I say YouTube, I also mean my podcast, um, because I've met, I have a lot of guests, um, and like, I don't want to throw out people's names, but you know, I stayed with, um, a couple of, I guess my podcast because I get to know people really well on when I invite them as guests on the podcast and I need to start getting back into inviting people on a podcast as guests, I know I haven't done that for a long time because it takes a lot of work to manage guests and like schedule dates and all this stuff and, and to interview them, quote unquote, that's very difficult to do, so that's why I haven't been doing it and plus you guys seem to watch my videos more when it's just me, but I do want to get more guests on because that is one way that I network and it's another way for you guys to get some exposure to some other people for yourselves people who watch us on the podcast, but yeah, I mean, networking is huge. You guys, like we always talk about this. Like not only is it going to open up doors for jobs, but it's also like, like for me and my case, like, um, you know, I got a badge.

I didn't have to pay for it. I did. I didn't have to pay for my stay.

Like all I had to do is pay for my flight ticket there, uh, pay for Uber's too, from the Airbnb and in my food. Um, so I saved a lot of money thanks to some friends and, you know, shout out to the friends who invited me out, you know, you are, I really do appreciate that I had a time in my life and just, you know, and then, you know, you meet friends of friends and like, it, it truly feels like I'm making lifelong friends because every year, like this is two years now, but like, you know, I met people for the first time and then now that the second time I meet them, the connection gets deeper. And then now that I have a deep connection with them, like now I'm starting to get, you know, the first interaction with their friends.

And then next year when I meet those guys, the connection is going to be deeper. So your network just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And I can see like this compounding over the years.

Right. Um, cause like I said, like the first time you meet someone, it's not a deep connection, it's just like, Hey, you know, you're planting the seed. And then the second time you meet them, now it grows.

Third time you meet, it just grows bigger and bigger. And then, you know, when you meet people, when you make a connection, uh, you're going to meet friends of friends. And then you're just, your, your circle gets a lot bigger.

You just never know what opportunities you're going to get. Um, and I have some interesting opportunities coming up. I don't want to mention it, um, too much more.

Uh, but, and honestly, if you look, if you look into me a lot, um, you can probably find out what the specific opportunity that I'm going to have. It's not, um, a job, but it's, it's an interesting opportunity that's that I'm really excited about. So it's just all from, you know, making videos, inviting guests on a podcast, getting to know them.

Cause I do talk to him for 15, 20 minutes before I hit record 15, 20 minutes. I've read reports sometimes an hour, it just depends on the person, how much time they have, how much time I have. But I do get to know people very well as guests.

And then when you, when I met on my DEF CON the first time, like I met like a lot of my podcast guests and I met a handful of my other podcast guests this DEF CON. Um, and it's just making those connections really are really nice. So that that's the true value of DEF CON.

I wouldn't really focus on the talks. I mean, you can, if that's your thing, like absolutely go, go and do that. Um, cause everyone has their thing.

For me, it's networking. Um, there's also the CTS people love, love to do those. They like the challenges they like to compete.

And that's not me, but if that's you, that absolutely go and do that. There's also people who just, you know, you want to go there and you just want to, um, hang out in the village all the time and just like, you know, talk to people when it's one particular village, like you can do that too. A lot of people hang out in the same village, like the whole conference or at least the bulk of the conference.

That is also a thing as well. Um, me, I'm like, I like to explore a little bit of everything and then, um, go to as many, uh, meetups as I can. Uh, I went to the simply cyber and hack smarter meetup, you know, who they are, Tyler Rainsby and Joe Rozier.

Um, I was, I meet up two times in a row now, and I'm not really a part of those communities, but I know Tyler Rainsby pretty well, uh, because he's, um, you know, he's been on the podcast here twice and I met with him, um, two DEF CONs now and while I was hacking fest and, and I probably messaged him privately a lot too. So like, I, I don't really, I'm not too involved with his discord community, but like, I just show up anyways, because, um, I like to support his community because he's a, he's a good person and nice to hang out. And then I get to meet, you know, his community and, and I get to meet a lot of people from like LinkedIn and stuff that I've was connected with before.

So those, those interactions are really good. Uh, and for me, like that, that means everything because, because this field, you know, we talk about it, burnout a lot, man, a handful episodes ago, or there's been a couple episodes, but that's been coming up a lot. Cause I recently went through this massive burnout, but like when you go DEF CON or any cybersecurity conference for that matter, but this is specifically DEF CON, like you're going to realize you're not alone because this is a lonely field, like most people in your real life and your local area, you know, they're not hackers, like it's, it's a very niche type of thing, or they're not cybersecurity professionals.

So when you go to DEF CON, you realize there are people out there like you. And it's, it's just so easy to make friends. So how do you make friends? Literally just start a conversation with them.

It's, I know most of us are introverted and I technically am introverted, but I, I do, so I did it actually, I did a personality test recently and I'm 51% introverted, so I'm like barely introverted. So that's why I can, I can, um, introverts will call me extroverted extroverts will call me introverted basically. Cause I, I truly am like right in the middle, but I'm, I am 51% introverted according to this one personality test.

Um, so, so I can still talk to people and I do do pretty well with it, but like literally like one of the, one thing I did, uh, um, I'll just give you some examples of how to start conversations with people. So I saw this one guy walking around, I'm connected with him on LinkedIn. If you're watching shout out to you.

Uh, and he just was checking his phone and just like to time or whatever, or maybe we've seen his notifications, but he unlocked his phone or not even unlock. He just had a lock screen on her. As he was walking past me and he had a cat and I love cats.

And, uh, I was like, that's a, that's a cute cat. He literally, he literally turned around and we had a conversation and I, it was a, it was a good, good, uh, conversation and a good connection that was made just because I just said, Hey, that's a cute cat. And another thing, like, I like to point out like, oh, that's a cool shirt.

Um, or like, Hey, that's a cool tattoo. Or if you just point out the obvious, I don't want to say the obvious, but you should just point out cool stuff that people have while they're walking around the con, like they will stop and talk to you. Like, it's not hard.

Um, because, because you have, you all have everyone there has something in common. So, and then like another thing with badges, like some people like, like, like the badge, like people, they have like a million badges. So I was like, I was like, that's a lot of badges or like, or you run into one guy.

Um, I was, he, I was sitting at the food court and he's, this guy comes to me and he's like, Hey, can I sit here? I'm like, yeah, absolutely. Cause I'm sitting there by myself. It's all, you know, four, four seats and there's three on three ones.

I was like, yeah, go ahead. And I was like, that's a really cool badge. He's like, oh, thanks.

And he wanted this big spill at this badge. And it's literally like a laser tag badge where she's lasers. And then you can like, like shoot other people with a laser tag badge.

And he went on this big thing and it was just cool to like, talk about. Talk about that. So like, it's so easy to start conversating.

Like if you find anything interesting about anybody, which you will, because there's a lot of interesting, um, outfits and accessories people have on. And it's just, there's a lot of interesting things going on at Def Con. I wish I can show you pictures, but there's a photo policy.

Like you can ask people for pictures. Uh, and I did get one, but for the most part, like I'm like, I'm not taking pictures. I don't want to be like a creep, you know? But there is, that's another thing that I've gone like, that's why I don't have a lot of photos and videos.

Cause like, you know, a lot of like, if you take a photo or video, like you have to have everybody's consent that's in that photo or video. So I just, I just avoid taking photos and videos for the most part. So that's why I'm not doing like a vlog style thing.

I'm just doing like a debrief, a podcast here. Uh, plus I just, I like to live in a moment, guys. Like, I'm not like a, I'm not a vlogger, man.

Like I like to just live in a moment. I'm not, I'm not much of a picture taker. Like I soak it all in.

Um, I, I have a little bit of a photo graphic memory so I can remember, you know, what I see and stuff and all this stuff, but, um, yeah, I mean, it's just a great time guys, and it's totally worth going, it is expensive, but I'm telling you, like, you never know what, what doors are going to open for you. And now that I'm 17 minutes into this podcast, um, hopefully my employees aren't listening. But I did have, uh, two, two potential job opportunities just through friends of friends, seriously.

Um, and will, will those lead anywhere? We don't know yet, but they seem like interesting jobs. So I'm going to, you know, entertain them if I'm honest, because, um, they just seem like interesting opportunities, but I wouldn't have got that if I didn't do the prior networking, you know what I mean? And yeah, if I didn't do the prior networking, so like, even if like a DEF CON connection doesn't work out one right away, like, like it could down the road, like for, like they use my second DEF CON and, and more connections open up and like, I would assume like when I go to my third one, like it's going to open up so like now I'm a DEF CON-er for life, like I'm going to go every year unless they seriously change the conference or like people start going for whatever reason, but I just don't see that happening because everyone has so much fun, everybody has so much fun. Um, and it's totally worth it.

It's worth, it's worth the expense because the connections you make and you might not even be there going for the connections you could be going for, you know, maybe you want to compete in the CTFs and you want to want to win some prizes or whatever, that's one thing you can do as well. And maybe you just want to learn about delays and grades and going to the talks or doing the workshops or, or maybe you're doing DEF CON training. So, um, just figure out what, what you'd like to do.

Uh, for me, that's networking and connecting with people. And that's why I go. The parties are really nice guys.

There's a lot of, a lot of partying after the conferences every day. And it's, it's just really fun. And like, just, just making those connections.

And I mean like really deep connections. Um, once you find a few people that are like you vibe with, like, they're just like take you around everywhere. And it's, it's just, it's really nice.

It's really nice experience. And I wouldn't, I don't see myself ever missing it again. And while I did get my badge and my stay, um, essentially paid for it for me, I would have no problem paying the full price, you know, in future years, because it's truly that worth it.

How do you survive the conference? Guys, Vegas is hot. So dress appropriately. Um, I would recommend wearing shorts and short sleeves t-shirt, although that not everybody follows that or deodorant guys, I never really, I didn't smell any BO too much.

So for, for the most part, people are taking care of their, their BO. So that's good. You wouldn't expect that type of conference, I guess, but I didn't really smell anything bad, which is good.

Make sure you're showering obviously. Um, and make sure you get in sleep guys. Cause like, uh, and there are some days where I'm like, I only slept three hours because I stayed up all night partying.

And, um, there's a lot of, you get a lot of free alcohol too. If you're a drinker, I didn't drink my first Defcon, but this one I did. And it's just fun, uh, overall.

So what else, what else? Chaps said, guys, it's one thing I wish I would have brought. Like, I, I don't, I don't live in a place where my lips get chap here in Ohio. So when I went to Defcon, it took really dry.

So my lips got chapped. Um, so I would bring in, definitely bring a lip balm with you, even if you don't normally need it. Um, bring more clothes than you think.

Uh, make sure you're showering. Uh, food is expensive guys. Um, and honestly, it's kind of unavoidable.

I mean, yeah, you can probably find cheap ways to get food, but you get to leave the convention center and leaving the convention center is a hassle because it's literally 110 degrees last year. It was like 115 degrees every day. Last year it was like 110, 105 to 110.

And it's just a desert. So it's like really dry. It's just, it's a, it's horrible.

Like you cannot walk more than five minutes comfortably. And that's, that's the reality. So, um, the food court foods, not very healthy, um, unfortunately.

So if you're on a diet, like that's just kind of sucks. Um, I wouldn't break your diet. Like if you're on a strict diet, like don't break your diet to eat the food court food.

But if you're not on a strict diet or if you're okay with cheating for a week, then, then I would recommend going to food court. It's, it's expensive there. Don't get me wrong, but the convenience, it's so easy to just get the food there and then eat at the table and then go right back to the conference.

Um, because when you leave the conference, it takes, it's going to take you like, you know, 10 to 20 minutes to go to a place, 10, 20 minutes to come back. And if you're walking, you're going to be sweating. So.

Um, I just prefer the food court because it's quick and I don't have to go outside. I can stay in the air conditioner. Um, it's expensive.

Yes. It's unhealthy. Yes.

But, um, I'm going to burn off the calories. When I come back, I'll just go back to the gym and start running again. So there's that.

But if you have a different philosophy, like if you want to walk through the heat, by all means, if you want to save a fuck or two, especially if you're on a budget. Um, by all means go, go do what you need to do to save, to save your, your budget or your diet, if you're on a strict diet too. Um, what else is there? Um, yeah, I mean, it's, it's a good conference.

Cause it's not, there is a vendor section, but you don't, it's very avoidable. Like most conferences, like the vendor section isn't avoidable. Um, so that's nice.

Um, it's really is like a place for like the, like the community. It's not, it's not to sell you stuff. And I do granted, there are people selling stuff everywhere that you can buy badges and swag everywhere, but there's a lot of free swag.

I got a lot of free swag. Uh, I, I personally like, you know, bug bounty village a lot because they give out a lot of free swag and they have some pretty good talks. So bug bounty village is a good place to hang out.

Even if you're not about buying, I'm not about, I'm not, I'm not about buying on her, although I have considered it, um, I just, I think that community is pretty, pretty cool. Right. Team village is also, um, pretty cool, but they, they sell swag though.

There's a difference. They didn't, they're not giving it out. Oh no.

I take that back. I did get a free bag and a free shirt, so that was nice. Um, so yeah, it's just, there's a lot of free swag and there's plenty to buy to if you want to buy, but you don't have to.

And my, in my opinion, I got plenty of free swag from the villages. But what else? Yeah. And like the whole goal is to have fun guys.

So like, there's no point in my opinion to plan it out. Like, Oh, we're going to do this talk at this time. Like, I don't want to do any of that.

I just go with the flow. Like I just go like, like, because I'm going there for the networking, like I just see what other people are doing and then, you know, if they invite me somewhere, cool. Or like, I would just say, Hey, can I tag along? And I'll be like, yeah, of course.

Like, like no one's going to tell you no. So if you want to be like, if you're there to hang out, people just like, you know, follow your group around and then see what happens. Um, and that's, that's kind of how it goes.

And like walking around, I form a network and it feels almost like a waste of time. Like, Oh, I'm not really doing anything productive. But if you walk around, um, you can meet interesting people, um, that way, you know, like, well, you're not going to, that's how you meet people just walking around and then just making comments to people as you're looking in the village, like talk to people at the villages.

It's, it's great. Um, and you talk to the villages and like, yeah, they might try to sell you something here and there, but usually not, they're just kind of throw it out there and like, they don't pressure you to buying anything. So that's really good there.

But I didn't get a black hat guys, so I don't have any tips for black hat and that black hat, I would say is probably not worth it because it's like, I think it's like 3,200 bucks for a black hat badge. So probably not worth it. Um, unless you can get, get that badge paid for somewhere.

Um, some companies will pay for that badge for you. If you have the right connections, which you can make those connections at Defcon, by the way. Um, Defcon is one of those ones where it's like, it's worth going to another one's Wallace hanging fest.

Like I'll be there as well. So if you guys want to go there, I, that was a much smaller conference, um, and it's more close knit. So that that's a really good conference.

Definitely go to Wallace hanging fest. I didn't go to Wallace hanging fest Denver last year, but I will go next year. Um, that was when I was taking my break.

So I didn't go, I didn't go to Wallace hanging fest Denver or what they call Wallace hanging fest mile high. Um, but I will be a Wallace hanging fest in Deadwood, South Dakota. That one's very good conference.

I had a great time. I can't wait to go back to that one. That's that's a top tier, probably, probably better than Defcon in a way because it's, because close knit it's more, it's, it's, it's smaller.

So it's easier to like get into the talks and the talks, I think, are higher quality, in my opinion. Um, not, not taking away from the Defcon speakers. Cause I do want to speak on Defcon one day, but, um, yeah, the talks are really nice and they're just easier to get into because Defcon talks are kind of hard to get into because there's like always a line that fill up cause a lot of people.

Uh, it does feel like this stuff kind of had less people. Cause I think, I don't know, cause they keep raising the price of the badge. I think it's kind of making people not want to go as much, but it's still worth it guys.

It's expensive, but it's still worth it. A hundred percent. If you care about your cybersecurity career or you just want to make friends in the community or you want to network it's, it pays for itself.

Um, it's a, it's an investment and, and even if it's not like you're going to have fun, like you're going to find something that you'd like a hundred percent if you're in this community. Uh, and it's a good exposure, especially if you're new people love to help out new people in this field. So if you say I'm new, there's even a whole village called new village or like, I think, yeah, it's a new village.

You're in a new village, very wholesome. Like they're, they're going to take you out of the way and they're going to talk to you. They're going to help you out.

Whatever you have. Um, and a lot of, a lot of the, some other influencers are at new village. I like hanging out at new village myself.

So that's a good place to be. Um, yeah, that's probably my top three villages, by the way. I would say bug bounty village is number one.

New village is probably two. Red team village is probably three for me. Um, didn't go into blue team village at all.

I should have, but, um, last year I walked around it and this year I was, but I just couldn't find it. And then I got distracted with something else. So I didn't, I wish I would went in a blue team village because I'm now technically a blue teamer.

Um, but yeah, it is a good time guys. Totally worth it. If you have any questions, feel free to drop, like if you, you feel like you listen to this and like you still have more questions or I didn't cover a topic that you want to hear about Defcon, go ahead and drop it down in the comments.

Cause I, um, I'm really, this is not scripted at all. I'm just like talking about Defcon and why you should go. Um, and how to, how to approach it.

And really don't worry about how to approach it because it's what you want to do. So just, just do what you want. Don't play anything out and you're going to have fun.

So that's, that's the main thing. So you don't want to make everything a plan. Like maybe a plan, a few things, maybe a plan, a few people here and there.

But for me, like, I think it's really cool to like accidentally running people rather than like, Hey, meet me here at this time when you can do that. There's people that you really, really, really, really want to meet. Absolutely do that.

But for the most part, it's like, Hey, I miss you. It's not a big deal. Or, you know, meeting people like just cause you'll, you'll, there is a lot of people, but like when you walk past them and you know, there's someone, you know, like they stick out like a sore thumb, you know what I mean? So.

And just approach them and say hi or whatever. And then, um, have a conversation and like me, like if you see me at Defcon and just say, Hey, you know, I love to talk to you all at one person. Um, and if you're listening, shout out to you, he was like, he's like, I'm taking up your time either and I got something to do.

I'm like, bro, I come to Defcon and network. Like I come here to talk to people. So like, you're not, I'm doing exactly what I want to do by talking to you right now.

So, um, yeah, that's why you should never be afraid to approach people. Cause like people love meeting new people. People love networking with people.

And like, I love talking to people. So never feel like you're wasting somebody's time by talking to them because they are there for the same reason. Now there are times where it's like, they are busy and they got something to do and you do need to respect your time, especially if they're more popular.

Uh, but for me, like I'll talk to you for an hour if you want it, you know what I mean? So it doesn't, um, I don't want that. I don't know about me at all. I love doing that.

So that's pretty much it guys. This has been a little bit of a short episode, not planned, but I just wanted to give a Defcon briefing because, um, I just got back and a lot of people wonder if it's worth it. And a lot of people asked me for a Defcon briefing video last year.

I never really did. And I know this isn't, this isn't covering everything Defcon has to offer. Um, because I didn't, I didn't do everything in Defcon and that's the point.

Like you're not going to be able to do anything. Like you cannot do everything in Defcon. It's impossible.

And there's things I wanted to do, but I was there the majority of the time. Like I would show up, you know, just after nine o'clock. And I would not, I would stay there the entire time.

And I would, uh, you know, really make the most of it. So there was only a few times where like, you know, I'm eating or like, um, I did do like an hour phone call with somebody, um, while walking around a conference. But other than that, I was really in there just walking around meeting as many people as I could and going into a talk every now and again, and then just hanging out with the friends that I already had that I made previously, because that's, it's just a good time, good environment, great community.

And hopefully I don't get sick this year. Last year, I got really sick and you're going to get a sore throat. Cause someone said like, you know, when you go in and out of, uh, air conditioning to extreme heat, like it hurts your throat apparently.

Um, my throat feels fine now, but there was a time where I was like, man, I feel like I'm starting to get a little sick and hopefully I don't get sick, but we'll see what happens. Um, it's already been like two days since the conferences since I've been back. So I'm feeling pretty good.

Last year I felt miserable after Def Con. I felt very sick, but, uh, we'll see what happens. That's the only thing I worry about, I guess.

Make sure to wash your hands. Don't touch your face after you, uh, you know, touch stuff, shake people's hands. Like just, you know, it's okay to shake people's hands, but don't touch your face after work is, you know, see the spread germs that way.

Anyways, guys, that's pretty much it guys. If you have any questions about Def Con, uh, absolutely drop them down in the comments and, um, totally worth going. I can't stress that enough.

If you were on a fence, if this is your sign to go, then just go next year. Totally worth it. Can't wait to see you guys at next Def Con and other conferences.

I'll be at Wallace Hacking Fest this year and I'll be at B-Sides Columbus this year. And then maybe some other B-Sides. And if you follow me on social media on LinkedIn, I don't know.

Anyways, guys, thanks for watching. Thanks for listening. Hopefully you enjoyed the show.

Ready to show five stars if you're on audio. And if you're on YouTube, hit the like button and hit the subscribe button. Hope to see you in the next episode.

Until then, this is Kyser signing off.