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RC18 Save The Dates!
Posted on: 04.29.24
RC18 Save The Dates!

What’s up Hacker Fam!

Countdown to ROOTCON 18 is officially on! and we are zooming ahead at full throttle, buckle up and get ready for an adrenaline-fueled ride through the world of hackery!

We are thrilled to unveil some notable dates that will shape this epic event!

May 1 - Call For Papers
May 8 - Registration Opening
May 13 - Call For Sponsors

Keep your radars up for more announcements!



Partial RC17 Archives
Posted on: 10.12.23
Partial RC17 Archives

With immense gratitude, we can now put ROOTCON 17 to the books, leaving us with unforgettable memories, experiences, and of course, a wealth of knowledge to carry forward. Our sincerest thanks to all con-goers, sponsors, speakers, and staff who made ROOTCON 17 a resounding success.

Today we are excited to announce that our extensive archives are now partially processed and now available for viewing and download.

Check out ROOTCON 17 Archives page for details, if you want to indulge in watching the talks visit our YouTube ROOTCON 17 Playlist.

Village Track videos are underway stay tuned.

Taal Volcanic Smog
Posted on: 09.22.23
Taal Volcanic Smog

We have been receiving calls, texts, and emails regarding the situation of the Taal Volcanic Smog. To clear things up, here is an official statement from both ROOTCON and Taal Vista Hotel.



Quote from Taal Vista Hotel Operations
“As of September 21, 2023 at 4:00PM per the advisory of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, there is a presence of volcanic smog caused by the Taal Volcano. Taal Vista Hotel is situated in Tagaytay City, Cavite, which is about 27 kilometers away from the Taal Volcano. While there is no immediate or direct hazard expected to affect Taal Vista Hotel at this time, the management continues to monitor the situation through constant coordination with the local authorities.”

We are working closely with Taal Vista Hotel to monitor the situation and come up with a contingency plan should this situation worsen. The organizers are scheduling an ocular visit to our venue so we can assess the situation. The safety of our crew, con-goers, speakers, and sponsors is our utmost priority.

Keep your radars open on our social media channels for announcements.

RC17 Schedule Is Now Live!
Posted on: 09.22.23
RC17 Schedule Is Now Live!

The ROOTCON 17 Schedule LIVE! You may now starting planning your conference experience, parties to attend, villages to visit and of course sponsors to talk to.

ROOTCON 17 is almost here, we are just six days away from ROOTCON 17 and we are officially getting psyched.

Visit the RC17 Schedule Page, you can also download the handy RC17 Pocket Guide.



The Parties Are live!
Posted on: 09.07.23
The Parties Are live!

Are you ready to party? Cuz we are, the largest hacker party in the country by far is back this year!

Here’s the whole shenanigans

Right after the Day 1 session, After-Dark Party will kick in drinks and a little pica is on us (limited while supply lasts). Aside from all the party drinking that we will be having, the After-Dark Party will be hosting the first ROOTCON Beer Pong Championship (hacker style), Our friends from Emerson who happened to be the sponsor for this party will also be hosting a networking session.

On the second day, we will be having our after-con party AKA Zerø-Hour together with the infamous Hacker Jeopardy.

You may register via Eventbrite and choose Zer0-Hour Party, limited seats only! Your registration will cover your drinks (while supply lasts), pica and we will be having a live band!

We don’t want to be a party pooper so have Taal Vista Mobile Bar on standby and ready to serve some beverages both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks but of course, this will be paid at your own expense.

Now that’s one hell of a party, prepare those dance moves, splendid voice (if you are into singing) and of course those liver!

Can’t wait to party with old and new friends! See you there!

Special mention to Taal Vista Hotel for allowing us to extend our party until 2:00AM! Yes you read that right!

Village Updates!
Posted on: 09.01.23
Village Updates!

We are days away from ROOTCON 17, and our villages are taking shape! Here is the initial line-up of village talks, more are underway.

Car Hacking Village Talks
Analysis of an In-vehicular network: From CAN bus to infotainment by Div0 CSQ
Present-day vehicles such as the Connected vehicles (CV) include wireless and external functionalities that improve drivers’ experiences. CV will continue to play a huge role in our daily lives despite mass adoptions on Electric Vehicles (EV) and testing on Autonomous Vehicles (AV). This talk will feature CSQ’s test bench 3 as we explore more features on Connected vehicles. We will talk more about Infotainment systems and the difficulties we face with setting up bench 3 and go through the vehicular architectural differences between test bench 2 and 3. Finally, we will point out some learning points and challenges.

Blue Team Tricks - An overview of Automotive Defensive Engineering By Scott Sheahan
Sun Tzu said, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” This talk is for car hackers to learn about modern defense measures being added to ECUs and Vehicle Architectures.

Cellular Assault Village Talks
Uncovering Cellphone Risks: Interception and Other Mobile Attacks
In this talk, we’ll explore the world of mobile security. We’ll dive into how our everyday mobile devices and the communication system connect. We’ll uncover different ways that hackers can attack mobiles, from intercepting calls to faking sender names in texts. We’ll also dig into how these attacks work, like reading SMS over-the-air. We’ll cover both passive and active ways that hackers intercept data. Passive ones quietly gather info transmitted between devices and cell towers. Active methods, on the other hand, pretend to be real cell towers to mess with communications. As we wrap up, you’ll walk away armed with insights into the potential risks that our beloved mobile devices face and equipped with knowledge on safeguarding yourself against these digital threats.

Lockpick Village Talks
Safe Cracking 101: manipulating mechanical Group 2 safe locks
Mechanical safe locks have been around for a very very long time, and with good reason, many have no idea how they work. With the obscurity of this safety mechanism, we achieve security. In this talk, we explore the working mechanisms of Group 2 Safe locks, debunk some Hollywood myths and learn to exploit it’s inherent weaknesses.



More details a the RC17 Villages

Official Contests Now Live!
Posted on: 08.14.23
Official Contests Now Live!

We are thrilled to unveil our highly anticipated and mind-boggling series of gruelling contests that are packed to challenge, inspire, and reward the brightest minds within our community!

Capture The Flag
All our ovens are fired up for this year’s ROOTCON CTF! This year, we are bringing you the most grueling ROOTCON CTF to date—all to achieve our goal of highlighting the best and the brightest talents that our local hacking community has to offer! As always, Pwn De Manila stands by its commitment to making intellectually-rewarding and painfully-meaningful CTF challenges that aim to meet ROOTCON’s reputation and tradition of bringing organized chaos to con-goers every year.

Hacker Jeopardy
ROOTCON’s signature post-Con party game is back this year with more challengjng trivias and alcoholic drinks! Unique this year are the special cocktails prepared by our creative Goons 😁 Think you’re still smart enough after several shots and despite plenty of distractions from our lovely Hacker Jeopardy Babes? Then this game is for YOU!

The Mystery Challenge
An immersive challenge that will test your deductive skills, critical thinking, and ability to unravel a cryptic puzzle shrouded in intrigue and of course your hack-fu skills. Prepare to step into the shoes of an amateur sleuth as you navigate through the enigmatic twists and turns of The Mystery Challenge.

Talks and Speakers Update
Posted on: 07.31.23
Talks and Speakers Update

After deliberating all of our CFP submissions, today we are thrilled to share the final list of talks and speakers! Here are the additional talks and speakers who made the cut for ROOTCON 17.

RC17 First Round of Talks!
Posted on: 05.31.23
RC17 First Round of Talks!

RC17 Website is starting to beef up its contents, today we are thrilled to announce the first round of talks. Whether you are an industry professional, a student, a security researcher, or simply curious about hacking conference, we welcome you to join us in this enriching experience.

Here are the first round of talks.

More details at https://www.rootcon.org/html/rc17/talks