Badge Challenge
Your Badge Is More Than a Badge
Every year, BSides Tampa hides a challenge inside the conference badge itself. Solve the puzzle. Earn the bragging rights.
The 2026 badge challenge is intentionally vague and we cannot provide hints.
Look closely at your badge for clues. And the other things hanging around your neck.
Be careful using AI on this one. It may hurt more than it helps.
Think you've solved it? Find any Krewe member and ask them to bring you to Joshua Grose.
Want to know the moment it's solved? Install the PWA from this site and turn on notifications.
We can't provide hints, and it's possible we won't have a winner this year.
What is the badge challenge?
At most security conferences, your badge is just an entry pass. At BSides Tampa, the badge is part of the experience. We started building challenges into our badges a few years ago, and it's become a tradition participants look forward to.
Badge challenges can involve anything from hidden circuits and soldering puzzles to encoded messages, crypto challenges, or multi-step scavenger hunts across the venue. The goal is always the same: look closer, think harder, figure out what's hidden in plain sight.
The Uber Badge, awarded to badge challenge winners. See all awardees
Why we do this
Badge challenges are a BSides tradition across the movement. They reward curiosity, the same curiosity that drives people into security in the first place. You don't need to be an expert. You just need to pay attention and be willing to tinker.
Past badge challenges at BSides Tampa have brought strangers together working on the same puzzle, sparked conversations between tracks, and given people a reason to look at their badge a little differently.
What you win
Solve the badge challenge and you earn an Uber Badge.
If a team solves it together, we can still only award one Uber Badge, and the team has to decide who gets it. The remaining team members get free admission to next year's BSides Tampa.
Second place (individual or team) also gets free admission to next year's BSides Tampa.
See what it looks like
Curious what a badge challenge actually involves? One of our 2025 participants wrote about their experience solving it, covering everything from base64 decoding and ROT-13 ciphers to image forensics and nested ZIP files.
2025 badge challenge winner
“The badge quest was really fun.”
- BSides Tampa 2025 participant
Get Your Badge. Solve the Puzzle.
Badge challenges are included with your admission. All you need is your badge and your brain.