Chris Brook

One of the more interesting trends is the way hacking culture is starting to trickle down from the technology cognoscenti to a far broader and equally receptive audience. Hackid is a great example of that. In its first year
ever, Hackid is a conference specifically targeted at kids aged 5 to
17. The show is the brainchild of Cisco cloud specialist Christopher Hoff, who says the idea occurred to him after he brought his own children to the Source Boston show, expecting them to be bored out of their minds, only to watch them have a great time.

A mainstay for the Latin American security
community, Ekoparty burst into the limelight this year with a presentation (reported first by
Threatpost.com) on a hole in Microsoft’s ASP.NET technology that could render
the security on millions of Web sites obsolete.  Now in its sixth year,
the annual event is held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and features training
sessions, a two day conference, lock picking, war driving and other hacker
fare. Ekoparty is well worth the trip south of the Equator.

Washington D.C., U.S.

Dayton, Ohio

When I
say “Dayton,Ohio,” what image comes to mind? Hacking, right? If not, then
you’ve never been to Day-Con, the annual Ohio-based hacker con now in its
fourth year. This year’s Day-Con is scheduled for October 22^nd and 23^rd, with three days
of training preceding the main conference.

New York City, New York, U.S.

A production of 2600: The Hacker
Quarterly, Hackers on Planet Earth (or HOPE) is in its 18^th year
(give or take a couple) and offers an utterly unique blend of technology, culture and media.
Previous HOPE events have seen speakers (like private investigator Steve Rambam) dragged from the
stage by FBI agents, and featured keynotes by the likes of Kevin Mitnick and
former Dead Kennedy’s singer and Green Party activist Jello Biafra.
 

http://thenexthope.org/

Various Cities

Springing up in the shadow of larger, fatter, richer security
shows like RSA and Black Hat, the Security B-Sides is more like a
security-focused salon than a traditional conference. A movable feast of some
of the top security minds, it combines rapid fire presentations on threats and
exploits with a loose, flexible organization and venues that range from high tech (Microsoft’s New England Research and Development (NERD) Center in Boston) to “direct to DVD”  (an unoccupied mansion on the outskirts of ‘Vegas).

Berlin, Germany