Hello IVU!

Another great showing for our pre-meet up as well as the actual meet up! The group seems to be getting larger and larger every time. This month’s meetup covered a few topics: Epic Role, Tamper Evident, and Badge Life.

Our special guest Pappy stopped by to show off his board game Epic Role. Epic Roll is a quick-playing, dice-based, fantasy board game that is portable and simple to learn while also providing players with numerous strategic decisions and gambles.

Pappy described his thoughts behind the game and how the primary goal behind Epic Role was to merge ideas and thoughts of other games to make something that was quicker and easier to play.

The conversation quickly turned to logistics behind game making. The discussion of marketing, manufacturing became quite interesting as we learned of some of the difficulties behind making and shipping the product as well as how shelf space works for the retailer. Some deals could garner you space with the front of the box showing, where other deals may only allow the spine to be visible from the store shelf.

Because of this fantastic artwork was crucial. Having box artwork that looked enticing from the spines as well as the cover was greatly needed. Also with this great artwork was needed for the cards! Pappy also mentioned that finding good artists is valuable. Artists can be like magicians and disappear if you’re not careful!

After Pappy finished his talk we had smaller discussions at the other end of the table around the Tamper Evident village and Badge Life at DC5. Sloth, Yaxis, and Tuesday brought in some of the leftovers from Tamper Evident and spoke briefly with those curious about the Tamper Evident Village. They also brought in some of the new and shiny badges from DC25 to talk about the latest trend of Badge Life. This included the Bender badge and talks about the interconnectivity of the badges at the conference.

At our September meet up, we will be hearing from our very own JonathanWash. JonathaWash will provide an overview of password managers, what’s out there, and some best practices of use. It looks like it will be a fun discussion.

Next IVU meet up is September 8th 2017. Hope to see you there!

Hello IVU!

Another great turn out this month even with DEFCON 25 just around the corner.

Our very own trash1e presenting his whiteboard talk on the importance of keeping and sharing threat intelligence:

• With automating threat intelligence, it can make security all the more manageable, workable, and centralized.
• Why keeping threat intelligence is important for an organization to maintain their systems security integrity well tuned
• By sharing intelligence cross trusted organizations can help improve everyone’s network security
• And the importance of keeping a web of trust between organizations

Other group discussions included on the pros and cons of setting up a non-profit for possible future growth of our beloved org and some pre DEFCON 25 planning

We hope the people going to DEFCON this year have a safe and fun trip and that everyone can join us again next month, August 11th, at 8PM upstairs at IHOP.

Hello IVU!

What a great meet-up!

This was a huge turnout and everyone was getting involved with our soldering activity from beginners to experts. No burns (that I heard of at least…) so all is good! After arriving we had soldering stations set up and had groups of three or so getting together to work on the Jack badge. According to one local witness it even looked like a hacker space!

Thanks to all the experienced folks for sticking it out and helping the noobs with fix errors and helping with the eyes. Thanks to all that stuck around until the very end to make sure everyone got their badge completed and helped with the clean up!

Lots of learning and lots of teaching. Docendo Discimus!

See you next meet-up to continue the conversations, discuss security automation, and talk about DEFCON coming up in a few weeks.

DEFCON 25 is soon! July 27 – 30. It’s at Caesar’s Palace this year.

Wait no… you’re holding it wrong.

This months IVU meetup (June 2017) we will be spending time soldering the DEFCON Jack! Currently being sold on the DEFCON Communications store (here). Pick up yours before the meeting if you can.

We will have a few soldering kits available and a few extra DEFCON Jack kits for a few lucky folks. Come join us and help the noobs hold the soldering iron right or come learn how to hold the soldering iron right by listening to the not so nooby people!

Here’s a sample of the before and after from Israel.

All skill levels welcome.

If you have any questions come find us and ask!

Make IVU great again!

It’s been awhile since we followed up with our meetings and had presentations. Well, we’re going to try our best to get things going for IVU, thus we want to MIGA – Make IVU Great Again! We are working on getting more presenters of all levels and getting more workshops going at our meetups.

We had a small group for a pre-IVU meet up at Gulliver’s for some cigars, scotch, whiskey, and beer at Gulliver’s. Fun and relaxation were had by all who attended.

The IVU meet up was busier than has been in a while with around 20 people or so. Maybe it’s a May thing; maybe it’s amazing. Penguino came and had a great presentation on Bitcoin. The presentation covered the general overview of bitcoin transactions, different bitcoin wallet providers, and even generated a side discussion of bitcoin and economics.

The lock pick board was brought out, but mysteriously floated away for another presentation elsewhere. We also discussed next month’s meet up in which we will take a stab at soldering a DEFCON Jack (available on Ebay at the DEFCON Store).

Upcoming Conferences
Layer One May 26 – 28.
DEFCON 25 is coming up soon July 27 – 30. It’s at Caesar’s Palace this year. Book your rooms soon!

Hello IVUer’s,

We had a nice sized group of people, about 15 or so.  Brandon Cholodenko treated us all by bringing a piece of legendary technology, a functional Apple I he’s been working on, thats soon to be heading to the Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum in Floyd, VA. If you missed seeing this awesome piece of equipment in person check out the photos, and just pretend like you were actually there. 

Longstanding member of Irvine Underground and constant presence at Def Con, Frazier Cunningham gave a riveting presentation that delved into the immense possibilities and ethical dangers of biohacking. We’ve made a pdf of the PowerPoint slides available for all interested parties. BioHacking PowerPoint Slides

LayerOne is security conference focused on hacking and security. This years conference will be held May 24-25 2014 in Monrovia. Amongst the talks there are also a few featured events worth mentioning including the Lock pick village, hardware hacking village, HAM testing (Get your HAM license), tamper-evident contest and the infamous capture the flag event.

Many of the Irvine Underground folks will be present at LayerOne. Come support this local conference memorial day weekend! More information at LayerOne.org

Hello IVUer’s

Thanks for coming to IVU the Friday before Easter (or Bunny & Eggs Day) . There were a whole 11 people there and you still missed out one some good fun. We talked about a slue of things and brought a new member up to speed on how things are intended to be run. Certainly not an impressive showing for new members, but in the end even they left the evening laughing and learning.

Israel, your cryptographic wonders and postings have mused yet another sole. Please keep up the good showing and maybe one day someone will be able to solve your challenge.

Until next month. Talk to you all soon. Please do not forget to join our mailing list.

>Bartender

Irvine Underground’s September meeting was held at iHOP. For those who remember the early years of IVU this was the fourth meeting location we migrated to and we have come back for more pancakes! (more…)

This months IVU had a great crowd and great turnout. There were some new faces and some old friends who came out of the woodwork (OK jigsaw isn’t that old). The lock pick board was brought out and a handful of people brushed up on their picking skill sets throughout the evening. (more…)

The meeting went very well. HTMLTron demonstrated his Apple TV what its capabilities were and how to upgrade the hard disk by taking it apart. lei demonstrated his coil gun using an old disposable camera and magnet wire (solid copper wire insulated with an enamel coating). Pizza and soda (and buffalo wings)… I had too many energy drinks (energy drinks + no food = bad deal). (more…)

Minutes coming Soon (more…)

Welcome to the November Minutes page. We met this 2nd Friday at Extreme Pizza in Irvine.For those of you who were there, thanks for coming, and for those of you following in spirit, thanks for doing so. (more…)

Welcome to the minutes page. At this meeting we scared the hell out of people who were willing to look over shoulders. It all started with me (Bartender) wondering why my Internet connection went away and came back. It was very frustrating and then I caught a glimpse of Kallahar smirking. (more…)

Welcome to September 06. Thank you to the regulars who attended and the two new faces. Hope to see you two again. (more…)

Welcome to August. The events of Defcon were outstanding as always. For those of you who had the pleasure of visiting the event know exactly what happened. Those of you who didn’t, let’s put forth the glamor of the event. (more…)