Wired: Gallery: Images From the 16th Annual DefCon

: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comLAS VEGAS -- Last weekend, more than 9,000 hackers, freaks, feds and geeks gathered for the 16th annual DefCon, the world's largest computer security convention.

Wired.com brought you live coverage of the most newsworthy events at DefCon 16. Here are some photos from the lighter side of the conference.

Left: South Korean hackers compete in the Capture the Flag competition. The goal is to hack into and keep control of targeted servers.
: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comMr. Sinister and Dragon Cracker battle it out in a round of Guitar Hero -- one of DefCon's newest competitions.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comBringing-your-own-booze supply ensures optimal buzz at DefCon. Shortly after this picture was taken, hotel security escorted this backpack-hacker to his room.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comComputer geeks from the National Institute of Standards and Technology set up a network secured with quantum encryption in a conference room at DefCon. The quantum-entangled photons are being used to encrypt a video stream across a line-of-site network.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comA compact optical bench and an atomic clock (left) are used to secure a network with quantum encryption. : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comIn the Lock Pick Pavilion, DefCon attendees Dustin, Jennalynn and Kunfoozball practice their lock-picking skills. : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comDefCon founder and organizer Jeff Moss, aka Dark Tangent, at the conference's closing ceremony Sunday.

: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comA collection of black badges awaits the winners of the various competitions. These badges give their holders lifetime entry to DefCon.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comOne of DefCon's logos, the smiley-faced skull and crossbones, is welded inside a yellow sphere. The sphere is the primary stage of one of the most difficult competitions at DefCon: The Mystery Challenge. : Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comUnbeknownst to attendees, this laptop is sniffing RFID tags and taking photos of their owners when they pass in front of the detectors. RFID tags are used in everything from building access to some credit cards.: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.comAt the closing ceremony, DefCon organizers turn off the lights while the attendees wave their high-tech badges back and forth.