The hunt for hackers continues. But, what do you do when a conference at the heart of the Sin City circles around the topic of hacking security breaches, awards the premier hacker and rewards still innovative ways to breach security?  Defcon 2011 has just ended and people are still babbling about the highlights of the gathering. More than a place for mere hacking, Defcon served as a platform for knowledge sharing and acquiring that “ounce of prevention” for government employees and security professionals. The event also sheds light on the nature of hacking, noting that the word “hack” is not tantamount to the term crime. Some feel that hackers are often misunderstood.

Special agent in NASA’s computer crimes division, Ahmed Saleh said, “I think you just need to be a geek who knows how to talk to people. We have a little bit of both. We have a little bit of the geeks who became cops and the cops who became geeks, or nerds or whatever words you want to use.”

What was a celebration for adults became a geeky playground for the children. Kids age 8 to 12 years old were also entertained at Defcon via various workshops that stimulate them to think and be creative in the art of hacking early on. Classes on teaching the little ones how to solve a simple cipher message and how to create your own secret ciphers, and how to use Google to dig into sensitive information are just some offerings.  A Californian kid was able to crack a way on how to hack different mobile phone and tablet-based games by way of fiddling with the clock. Give him more time to ripen, and this young whiz can turn into a big deal someday.

Defcon is not only about molding the young minds to rip off security lines. Some of the stunning developments at the event clearly showed the flaws and vulnerabilities of aging computer systems that run complex industries such as power plants, chemicals, water distribution and other industrial facilities. There’s the possibility of prison doors being hacked, for instance. In July, what was deemed as one of the most secured structures in the planet, the Pentagon admitted that their database suffered the worst cyber-attack in the history of the organization.  Over 24,000 files had been lost to foreign culprits.

There have been other startling exposés that Defcon revealed to the public. These include how a hacker can bring an unimaginable amount of rapture through broadband power lines, and an Android Network toolkit that will allow you to take advantage of local machines in just one click.  There’s also WASP, A fully-functional remote-controlled drone that can take over your Wi-Fi or cellular communications, which gained loud applause at Defcon.

Defcon ran from August 4^th until 7^th. A four-day streak of hacking and security breaches. When hacking is fortified, you have to admit that this conference is weirdly cool and very timely.