DistrictCon 2026 (Year 1)
DistrictCon Year 1 in Washington, DC: offensive security research on a Pixel 9 0-click chain, BMC and firmware trust bypasses, Bluetooth chip reverse engineering, USB DFU, Windows minifilters, mainframes, Meshtastic, maritime security and AI-assisted binary analysis.
→ See editor’s top picks at DistrictCon 2026 (Year 1)
- From protecting a country to security guard in a bookshop — Ian Levy
In his DistrictCon keynote, "From protecting a country to security guard in a bookshop," Ian Levy delivers a provocative and deeply critical "rant" about the state of the cybersecurity industry…
- Auths Gone Wild: When ‘Authenticated’ Means Anyone — Danielle Aminov
In "Auths Gone Wild: When ‘Authenticated’ Means Anyone," Danielle Aminov, a threat researcher at Wiz, unveils a pervasive and often overlooked security blind spot in cloud environments…
- A 0-click exploit chain for the Pixel 9 — Natalie Silvanovich, Seth Jenkins
This talk, presented by Google Project Zero's Natalie Silvanovich and Seth Jenkins, meticulously details a zero-click exploit chain targeting the Google Pixel 9. The presentation unveils two…
- Shelter from the Typhoon: Last-resort comms with Meshtastic and SLIM — Caleb Queern, Slava Maslennikov
In "Shelter from the Typhoon," Caleb Queern and Slava Maslennikov address a critical gap in modern communication infrastructure: the lack of robust, resilient systems for delivering vital…
- No Heatsinks Allowed — Trey Keown
In his DistrictCon talk, "No Heatsinks Allowed," Trey Keown, a Security Researcher at Crystal Peak Security, delves into the often-overlooked world of low-resource devices. Keown affectionately…
- Broken Trust: Firmware Bypass Chains, BMC Persistence, and EDR Evasion — Alex Matrosov, Fabio Pagani
This talk, "Broken Trust: Firmware Bypass Chains, BMC Persistence, and EDR Evasion," delivered by Binarly's CEO and Founder Alex Matrosov and Vulnerability Research Lead Fabio Pagani, delves into…
- Dendrite: An Evolving, Decentralized Bot Swarm — Michael Grube
In an era increasingly defined by digital surveillance and the consolidation of technological power, Michael Grube, a seasoned malware researcher and co-founder of VX Underground, presented a…
- When Security Products Become the Target — Aviv Yahav
In this insightful talk titled "When Security Products Become the Target," Aviv Yahav, a Vulnerability Researcher at NGO Research, delves into the critical and often overlooked area of attacking…
- Attacking File System Minifilters - A Case Study of cldflt.sys — Ali Ahmad
In this insightful talk, Ali Ahmad, a Security Researcher at Margin Research, delves into the intricacies of attacking Windows file system minifilters, with a particular focus on cldflt.sys, the…
- Reverse engineering RTL8761B* Bluetooth chips, to make better Bluetooth security tools & classes — Xeno Kovah
In a revealing talk at DistrictCon, Xeno Kovah, founder of Dark Mentor LLC and Open Security Training, unveiled the intricate journey of reverse engineering Realtek RTL8761B series Bluetooth chips…
- Paging all radio curious hackers! — Paul Tagliamonte
In "Paging all radio curious hackers," Paul Tagliamonte delivers an engaging and highly accessible talk demonstrating how to reverse engineer a common, off-the-shelf restaurant pager using readily…
- Control the Variables and You Control the Code: Language-Level Vulnerabilities in Adobe ColdFusion — Brian Reilly
In this DistrictCon presentation, security researcher Brian Reilly delivers a deep dive into several language-level vulnerabilities he discovered within Adobe ColdFusion, culminating in multiple…
- Beyond Static: Augmenting Static Analysis with Dynamic Traces and Statistical Insights — John Cipriati, Joe Dussault
In the realm of cybersecurity, reverse engineering (RE) remains a critical yet profoundly challenging discipline. The process is inherently tedious and manual, often hampered by factors such as…
- Making Myself at Chrome: Stealthy Local Backdoors for Signal, 1Password, Slack, and more — Darius Houle
In this DistrictCon talk, Darius Houle, a Senior Application Security Engineer at Trail of Bits, unveils a critical vulnerability he discovered within the Electron framework. The presentation…
- Exploring USB DFU — Travis Goodspeed
In this insightful talk from DistrictCon, renowned reverse engineer Travis Goodspeed delves into the intricacies and pervasive vulnerabilities of the USB Device Firmware Update (DFU) protocol…
- Your AI Is Only as Smart as Your Decompiler: Binary Hacking in the Age of LLMs — Zion Leonahenahe Basque
In the rapidly evolving landscape of cybersecurity, Large Language Models (LLMs) are demonstrating unprecedented capabilities in code analysis and vulnerability remediation. However, their true…
- Neither: The space between bug and feature — Daniel Ridge
In his thought-provoking DistrictCon keynote, Daniel Ridge, a seasoned hacker with a deep history in computing, challenges the conventional binary understanding of software behaviors as either…
- Android WLAN: A Journey From QCACLD to SCSC — Steven Salerno
In this DistrictCon talk, "Android WLAN: A Journey From QCACLD to SCSC," Steven Salerno, an Android Security Researcher formerly of Qualcomm, delves into the often-overlooked and consistently…
- Why does my battery have Bluetooth? — Marc Newlin
In a compelling presentation at DistrictCon, Marc Newlin, a Principal Reverse Engineer at SkySafe, delved into the unexpected presence of Bluetooth connectivity in modern portable power banks…
- IMDS Abused: Hunting Rare Behaviors to Uncover Exploits — Hila Ramati
In the dynamic landscape of cloud security, traditional signature-based detection often lags behind the pace of attacker innovation. This talk by Hila Ramati, a Threat Researcher at Wiz, in…
- One bit (on the mainframe) to rule them all — Jake Labelle
In this insightful talk from DistrictCon, Jake Labelle, a Security Researcher at Broadcom, delves into the intricate world of mainframe security, specifically focusing on the z/OS operating system…
- Poison in the Wires: Interactive Network Visualization of Data Poisoning Attacks — Maria Khodak
In an era where machine learning models are increasingly integrated into critical software applications, understanding and mitigating their unique vulnerabilities is paramount. Maria Khodak's talk…
- Hacking the High Seas — Making Maritime Cybersecurity Accessible to all — James Campbell
In his compelling DistrictCon presentation, "Hacking the High Seas — Making Maritime Cybersecurity Accessible to all," James Campbell, a Red Team Operator for the US Coast Guard, sheds light on the…
- There I FIPS'd It - misadventures in federal cryptography — Natalie Somersall
In "There I FIPS'd It - misadventures in federal cryptography," Natalie Somersall, a Principal Field Engineer for the Public Sector at Chainguard, delves into the complex and often misunderstood…