The New Defcon Badges Pack a Unique Open Source Chip That Doubles as a Security Key
The Defcon hacker conference is introducing a new badge featuring an open-source chip called the Baochip-1x. Designed by Andrew 'bunnie' Huang, the chip allows for verifiable security and can be repurposed as a hardware security token after the event.
Why it matters
This represents a significant step toward transparent, auditable hardware, challenging the 'black-box' nature of traditional computer chips.
It’s been a longtime feature of the annual Defcon hacker conference that attendees come away not only with knowledge of new software vulnerabilities and hacking techniques but also an elaborately designed conference badge—often electronic masterpieces embedded with intricate puzzles, complex crypto challenges, hidden Easter eggs, and even the mechanical gear trains of a watch.
Each year’s badge creator endeavors to top previous designs and blow the minds of hard-to-impress hackers. But this year’s badges take a different tack. Instead of the badge designs being the star, it’s what is inside the hardware that will really stand out.
This year, Defcon asked legendary hardware hacker Andrew “bunnie” Huang to create the badges—revealed here for the first time—and they include an innovative open source chip that Huang designed and that aims to do no less than advance the state of security, transparency, and trustworthiness in computing.
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