If you're actually serious about security, the answer could be simply: don't attend DEFCON. The quality is laughable, and in my opinion it is more of an "alter

If you're actually serious about security, the answer could be simply: don't attend DEFCON. The quality is laughable, and in my opinion it is more of an "alternative lifestyle" conference than a "hacker" conference. The joke around my friends is "Wait....DEFCON has talks?" The best (or only good in my opinion) piece of DEFCON is CTF, though, which I would highly encourage everyone to try out. It's an incredible learning experience and a lot of fun. Infiltrate in Miami is probably the best conference. Black Hat can be very good too. Personally I'm planning on going to DerbyCon this fall.