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DEF CON Recon Village
Recon Village organisers
The reconnaissance and OSINT village at DEF CON: talks, workshops, a Jeopardy-style OSINT CTF, and a free archive of recorded talks back to 2017. Security-leaning; needs a DEF CON badge in person.
Recon Village runs every August at DEF CON in Las Vegas for people interested in reconnaissance, OSINT, and attack-surface discovery. It hosts talks, live demos, workshops, lightning talks, a tools track, and contests including an OSINT CTF, live recon, and a geolocation challenge. Past talks are archived with video on the village site, which is where most people will get value.
Worth it if
- You come from security and want OSINT as reconnaissance
- You want a competitive CTF against strong teams
- You will watch the archive and never attend
Skip it if
- You are a pure investigator; the framing is red-team
- You want a year-round community
What is inside
- 01
Talks and workshops
Reconnaissance, OSINT tooling, and attack-surface discovery; recent talks include AI agents for real-time OSINT.
- 02
Contests
A Jeopardy-style OSINT CTF on target organisations and employees, live recon, and a geolocation challenge.
- 03
Archive
Talks from 2017 to 2025 with video links on the village site.
What you will be able to do
- Learn attack-surface reconnaissance from the people who do it
- Test yourself in a competitive OSINT CTF
- Catch up on a decade of talks for free
How current it is
Active, with DEF CON 34 in August 2026 and the 2025 talks archived. Current organiser names are not on the about page.
- Updated
- DEF CON 34, August 2026; talks archived through 2025
- Maintained
- Actively maintained
How to get the most from it
- 01
Start with the archive
Pick three talks from the last two years before deciding whether to attend.
- 02
Form a CTF team early
The contest rewards preparation.
Strengths
- Free talk archive
- A real CTF
- The security side of OSINT
Limitations
- Red-team framing
- Event-only
- Needs a DEF CON badge
Pair it with
FAQ
Questions, answered
Can I watch without attending?
Yes. The village archives talks with video links on its site.
Is the CTF beginner-friendly?
It is competitive and security-leaning. Beginners can enter, but expect strong teams.
Learned the method? Practise it on real data
The resources above teach the craft. When you want to run real lookups across breach, people, domain, and crypto sources without opening a dozen vendor accounts, that is what SearchIn is for.
- Free account, no card
- Credits never expire
- Refund unused balance in 7 days