The DEFCON 27 Badge was created for DEFCON, the largest and oldest continuously running hacker and computer security convention in the world. It features active electronics combined with an artistically designed printed circuit board and handcrafted Brazilian quartz gemstone.

The badge’s primary function is to serve as a game that encompasses the DEFCON experience. Attendees participate in certain tasks during the conference in order to progress through their “badge quest.”

The badge is based on an NXP KL27 ARM-Cortex M0+ microcontroller, NXP NXH2261 near field magnetic induction (NFMI) transceiver, and a Texas Instruments LP5569 LED driver. A single CR2032 3V Lithium coin cell provides the required power.

A total of 28,600 badges were manufactured with unique silkscreen and gemstone colors to denote the different types of DEFCON attendee: Human, Speaker, Vendor, Press, Village, Contest, Artist, Goon, CFP Review, and Uber.

All designs are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Portions of the source code are subject to the Clear BSD License.

Documentation:

• Block Diagram
• Schematic
• Bill-of-Materials
• Assembly Drawing
• PCB: Gerber Plots and Altium Designer
• Test Procedure and Video (YouTube)
• Programming Script (Windows)
• Source Code (NXP MCUXpresso IDE 10.2.1 + FRDM-KL27Z SDK 2.4.1)
• Slides: Behind the Scenes of the DEFCON 27 Badge (Expanded)
• Video: Behind the Scenes of the DEFCON 27 Badge (YouTube)
• Video: A Look at the DEFCON 27 Badge (YouTube)
• Video: Badge Demonstration (YouTube)

Selected Badge Hacking Resources:

• Blog: Defcon 27 Badge Hacking for Beginners (Reddit)
• Blog: Defcon 27 Badge Firmware Hacking for Beginners (Reddit)
• Blog: DEFCON 27: Badge Writeup
• Project Files: Jackp0t (GitHub)
• Project Files: dc27-firmware-newlib (GitHub)
• Project Files: defcon27_badge (GitHub)
• Project Files: DC27-badge-CFW (GitHub)
• Over the Air Remote Code Execution on the DEF CON 27 Badge via NFMI (Seth Kintigh): Slides and GitHub

Social Distancing Reminder:

The DEFCON 27 Badge is not intended for use in the mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

• Video: DEFCON 27 Badge Social Distancing Reminder (YouTube)
• Source Code (NXP MCUXpresso IDE 10.2.1 + FRDM-KL27Z SDK 2.4.1)

Additional Resources:

• Design Files: Programming/Functional Test Fixture
• Design Files: Sticker to Gem Fixture
• Design Files: Gem to Badge Fixture