Get Involved

Volunteer with the Physical Security Village!

We’re so glad you’re interested in being part of the PSV community! Check out our suggestions for how to get involved below:

If you have a great idea that doesn’t fit into any of the below, e-mail us at info@physsec.org – we’d love to hear it!

Call for Proposals

Do you have interesting new research, enthralling war stories, or unorthodox new worldviews about physical redteaming? Why not tell the world about it by giving a talk at PSV!

To propose a talk, please send us an email at talks@physsec.org with the following information:

The names or handles of all speakers / panellists:

Bios of all speakers / panellists. This is optional for a talk, although we'll ask you for it should your talk be accepted. If you are proposing a panel where the primary content will be based on the experience of panellists, please include bios with the application:

Talk Abstract:

Talk Outline:

Preferred talk length. PSV does not have rigid speaking time slot lengths, so indicate the best length for your talk:

Preferred contact information, if different from the e-mail submitting the proposal:

Please list any previous occasions on which you have given this, or a substantially similar talk:

For giving this talk in an online format, please indicate your preference between a pre-recorded talk with live Q&A after, or a live talk. Indicate if there is any other media or special requirements you have for your talk:

Feel free to attach or link to any additional material that you think will help us get a sense for what your talk will bring to the table. We will begin making selections on July 1st, 2023, so to have the best chance of success, please get us your proposal by then.

Call for Exhibits

Have a cool online activity or demonstration for lock bypass? Or an idea for one you’d like to pitch, that you’re interested in being included in the village?

Let us know at exhibits@physsec.org!

There isn’t a structured form for the CFE, since the ideas could be broad and innovative. Try to give us a sense, as appropriate, of the following things:

  • What your idea / exhibit would look like to participants
  • What lock bypass or physical security skill / concept does it teach?
  • What it will take behind the scenes to pull it off
  • How scalable is it to many participants?
  • What support do you need from us to make it happen?

The exhibit process for PSV is a collaborative one – we don’t do an “accept/reject” review process; instead we will reach out and work with you to make the idea a reality.

While we rarely outright reject ideas or exhibits, we may feel that an exhibit isn’t well suited to PSV because it is outside of our mandate: in particular, exhibits that would fit better in another village, or that are not related to hacking. We also cannot accommodate exhibits that aim to sell or promote a particular product – we are not a trade show, and any security product we include in exhibits is to hack it, not to sell it.

Feel free to attach or link to any additional material that you think will help us get a sense of your exhibit or activity idea.

Call for Volunteers

Interested in spreading awareness of physical security vulnerabilities? Joining a community of dedicated security educators and researchers? Building hands-on displays for the in-person village at DEF CON? Working on online content?

We would love to have you as a member of the team!

Email info@physsec.org with the following information to get on board:

Name or handle

Have you attended DEF CON before? How many years?

Have you attended Physical Security Village Before?

Your time zone:

What makes you interested in physical security? Do you envision a specific role at the village or are you open to helping out in general?

Optional - tell us a little bit about yourself - feel free to put whatever you want to share, but some suggestions are where you work, how you got into hacking, your experiences with physical hacking, you hobbies, etc:

We will reach out to all volunteers personally. Although the PSV is a year round production, we usually take a one month break following DEF CON.

Call for Sponsors

Putting on a DEF CON village is an expensive endeavor! This includes the cost of hundreds of pieces of locking hardware, custom-built mini-doors, alarm systems, and all sorts of other equipment. On top of this is the cost of shipping this all down from Toronto, Canada, where our team is based out of, to DEF CON in Las Vegas, as well as schlepping dozens of volunteers there.

DEF CON is done for 2022, however we work year round to upgrade and improve the village, and we’ve already started working on all the in-person demonstrations we’ll display in 2023. This entails repair costs, research and development of new displays, and costs associated with other conferences we make an appearence in over the year. For this reason, we are still seeking sponsors for this year, or well in advance for next year.

We’ll be putting out our formal sponsorship package soon – in the meantime, email sponsors@physsec.org if you are interested!