The backbone of the Defcon network consists of a Cisco fiber switch (second box from top). The firewall (bottom server) is a quad-core Xeon running OpenBSD and employing pf to filter and shape traffic.

LAS VEGAS – Over 9,000 hackers, freaks, feds and geeks are gathered in Las Vegas for Defcon, the world's largest computer security convention. The temporary wireless network that serves the Defcon attendees is the most hostile on the planet.

Defcon's network is put together and run by a group of dedicated volunteers, known as Goons. These red badge-sporting Network Goons work hard to make the network robust enough to handle the endless stream of dangerous traffic.

Threat Level got the first ever photo tour of the Defcon Network Operations Center. Here are the photos for your viewing pleasure.

Defcon's 20 megabit internet connection runs over a point-to-point wireless link to another hotel that has a point-of-presence in the basement. This year's connection was the fastest so far, twice as fast as Defcon 15.

Defcon uses around 40 of these Aruba AP-70 wireless access points. The AP-70s have very little network functionality other than being a radio. When powered on they connect to the main management system to pull their configuration. This makes them very easy to update remotely.

The router and firewall is kept physically secure by a combination of a locked chain-link fence and an armed guard posted 24 hours a day.

Network Goon David Bryan watches over his systems in the demarcation point. Like all other Defcon Goons he volunteers his time and energy to keep Defcon running smoothly.

*A Cacti traffic graph shows the 20 megabit internet link being saturated multiple times each day. At the time this photo was taken the Defcon network had transfered over 57 gigabytes in from the internet. *

A heat map shows the estimated wireless coverage at Defcon. Each access point assigns a user to one of 50 virtual LANs. As the user moves from one coverage area to another, they remain on the same virtual LAN.

Heather and David Bryan along with their dog Tomoe, an 18-month-old live scent rescue dog in training, stand in front of a larger-than-life sized cutout of Derek Anderson, the creator of Defcon TV. Anderson was unable to make it to Defcon this year due to his current battle with cancer. Heather is co-chair of NOC management and helps run the wireless network, David runs the firewall and Tomoe runs the NOC.

Photos: Dave Bullock (eecue)/Wired.com