Building the Hacker Tracker

The presentation discusses the challenges faced in creating a scheduling application for DEF CON and the wider security community. The speakers highlight the importance of community feedback and open source contributions in improving the application.

• The speakers faced challenges in collecting and formatting data for the scheduling application
• The application was met with skepticism and trust issues from the community
• Bug fixes and updates were difficult to push to the App Store
• The app review process for iOS was strict and limited certain language
• The speakers emphasize the importance of community feedback and open source contributions in improving the application

The speakers spent hundreds of hours manually collecting and formatting data for the scheduling application due to the lack of a standardized format. The app was met with skepticism and trust issues from the community, with some users believing that it contained rootkits and would steal their data. The app review process for iOS was strict and limited certain language, causing the speakers to struggle with getting bug fixes and updates approved. Despite these challenges, the speakers emphasize the importance of community feedback and open source contributions in improving the application.

In 2012, back when DEF CON still fit in the Riviera (RIP), I recognized a gap to fill. I wanted to create a mobile version of the paper DEF CON booklet that everyone could use at the con. I was unable to attend the conference that year. I was 8 months pregnant with my first child, and because I couldn't be there in person, I spent a lot of time wishing I was. So I built it. I spent countless hours pouring my heart into what became the Hacker Tracker, shiny graphics and all, and was committing code up until the minute I went into labor. Fast forward a few years: Seth was frustrated with the lack of a mobile app for iOS while attending DEF CON. Subsequently, he found the Android version of Hacker Tracker and reached out to me about creating an iOS version. I was thrilled that someone wanted to join me and help grow the project. Not long after that, I recruited Chris to work on the app as well. Now, 6 years since its inception, a small team supports the app development across iOS and Android and the apps are being used by half a dozen different conferences, representing several thousand users. From nothing to something, we've experienced quite a bit in 6 years. Join us as we share our moments of joy, fear, and panic,"things not to do", and more.