Get ready for our 16th birthday (0x10)
It will be at TheHall Zürich/Stettbach
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Established in 2010 under the original name hashdays, Area41 is Switzerland's most well-known technical information security conference. Every two years, international speakers present cutting-edge research from a variety of fields, ranging from software vulnerabilities and malware research to threat hunting and offensive security practices. Area41 attracts a diverse crowd of information security professionals, technical managers, as well as students and enthusiasts interested in the field.
Area41 actively curates a lineup consisting of international speakers as well as promising rising stars. Our talk selection focuses on content first. Our speakers, while compensated for their travel expenses, choose to share their knowledge without further compensation.
Our YouTube channel is here.
Since our first sold out event in 2016, we have chosen to cap Area41 at a 400 attendees maximum to ensure that the atmosphere and the ability to connect with other attendees and speakers alike remains intact. Get your tickets early or you might end up on the waitlist.
Since 2010, Area41 is a community-driven, non-profit event by the Swiss DEF CON group chapter DC4131. It is made possible by the countless hours of volunteers and the sponsors believing in our platform to make great technical content available to everyone.
The ticket sale will start on Friday 17th of April at 16:00 CEST at https://pretix.eu/DC4131tickets/A41-26
As a heads-up: CFP will be from March 1st, 2026 till April 12th, 2026
First batch of tickets will go on sale Friday April 17th, 2026
Submit here: https://cfp.a41con.ch/2026/cfp
We will be growing to give more people a chance to attend - new location is TheHall in Zurich (thehall.ch)
Over the years, we had the pleasure to host many great speakers from all over the world. For the 2026 edition, we strive to live up to the expectations we established in previous years by presenting you with the best line up we can muster.
Below is a selection of some of the speakers who have already been selected for 2026.
This year, there will be one main track featuring 30-minute talks in English. At the same time, there will be hands-on villages covering various topics. These areas allow you to talk with experts in their respective fields and experiment directly with hardware. For example, we plan to have a DFIR village, a lockpicking village, an OSINT playground, soldering stations, a car hacking area, and more to be announced.
In addition, we’ll offer a variety of networking opportunities, such as the BBQ, to help attendees make the most of their time at Area41.
Agenda will be published in early May 2026.
We are proud to present TheHall as our 2026 conference location partner.
https://thehall.ch/
Hoffnigstrasse 1, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
TheHall is located near Bahnhof Stettbach, just 10 minutes away from Zurich Main Station HB,
and can be easily reached by train when arriving from Zurich Airport (ZRH).
We recommend using public transport since parking is sparse and expensive.
Nearest Parking are Parkhaus Stettbacher-Hof, SBB P+Rail Stettbach, Parking Migros Stettbach
Nearest bus/tram/S-Bahn station is: Bahnhof Stettbach
There are many hotels in Zurich near HB station. Some hotels are nearby the venue:
We could not dream of putting on an event like Area41 without our generous sponsors, some of which have been with us for the past decade.
If you are interested in supporting AREA41 2026, please get in touch (sponsoring@defcon-switzerland.org) to receive our current sponsorship opportunities.
We are thankful for our 2026 sponsors and their trust in us!
We are committed to providing a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all participants. All attendees, speakers, sponsors, and staff are expected to act professionally and treat others with respect, regardless of background, identity, or experience level. The full Code of conduct is here
Call For Paper (CFP) opens March 1, 2026 (sunday) - CFP closes April 12, 2026 23:59 CET (sunday)
If you have a suggestion for a workshop, then send us details at committee @ defcon-switzerland.org. We are currently not actively searching workshops.
We already have quite a few helpers, but get in contact with us and we see if there is anything we can do. candid (at) defcon-switzerland.org
You can find more videos in our YouTube channel.
