JALANDHAR_
CAMPUS_
VENUE_
[VENUE TO CONFIRM]
STORY_
[STORY BEING REBUILT]
ARCHIVE PHOTO TO COME_TBC_
ABOUT_
IT STARTED WITH
A COMMUNITY_
Around 2012, a group of young cybersecurity enthusiasts — many of them just out of college — connected online through a community called Hindustan Cyber Force.
They were researchers, hackers, cybersecurity practitioners and curious minds learning from one another.
THE ORIGIN
BEFORE HATCON, THERE WAS
HINDUSTAN CYBER FORCE_
A group of young people connected online over cybersecurity, and the community grew organically from there.
ONLINE GROUP_
Hindustan Cyber Force
COMMUNITY_
It grew organically
RESEARCHERS + HACKERS_
Peer to peer
KNOWLEDGE SHARING_
Research, demos, questions
REAL-WORLD GATHERINGS_
Online moved offline
HATCON_
That became HATCon
WHAT WAS HATCON?
NOT A MEETUP.
NOT QUITE A CONFERENCE.
Researchers sharing what they knew — not a conference, but research, demos, cybersecurity and learning together.
THAT BECAME HATCON_
2012 — 2013
FROM AN ONLINE COMMUNITY
TO CAMPUSES ACROSS INDIA_
JHANSI_
CAMPUS_
VENUE_
[VENUE TO CONFIRM]
STORY_
[STORY BEING REBUILT]
ARCHIVE PHOTO TO COME_TBC_
KANPUR_
CAMPUS_
VENUE_
[VENUE TO CONFIRM]
STORY_
[STORY BEING REBUILT]
ARCHIVE PHOTO TO COME_TBC_
NASHIK_
CAMPUS_
VENUE_
[VENUE TO CONFIRM]
STORY_
[STORY BEING REBUILT]
ARCHIVE PHOTO TO COME_TBC_
THE ARCHIVE IS
BEING REBUILT_
We are reconnecting with the people who were there and rebuilding the HATCon archive — one photograph, story and memory at a time.
YOUNG. CURIOUS. BUILDING.
WE WERE FIGURING IT OUT AS WE WENT.
The people organising HATCon were themselves very young. Many were just beginning their careers.
There was curiosity, research, cybersecurity, knowledge sharing — and the desire to meet people who cared about the same things.
CURIOSITY_
Question everything, especially the assumptions.
RESEARCH_
Dig until you actually understand how it works.
CYBERSECURITY_
Break it first, carefully, so no one else has to.
KNOWLEDGE_
What you learn is worth more once it's shared.
MILESTONE_
EST.
0
HCF INFOSEC PRIVATE LIMITED_
HCF INFOSECTHE COMMUNITY
THE COMMUNITY
STARTED TAKING SHAPE_
The Hindustan Cyber Force community eventually evolved into a formal organisation. In 2012, HCF Infosec Private Limited was incorporated. Around this ecosystem, HATCon became a platform for gatherings, knowledge sharing and relationship building across the cybersecurity community.
THE COMMUNITY REMAINED THE PROTAGONIST_
THEN LIFE HAPPENED
EVERYONE STARTED BUILDING
THEIR OWN JOURNEY_
Careers Started
WHERE EVERYONE WENT_
Early HATCon people were young — careers, companies, and moves into tech, cybersecurity.
HATCon Went Quiet
THE GATHERINGS PAUSED_
HATCon became quiet.
The Community Stayed
RELATIONSHIPS ENDURED_
But the community did not disappear. The people simply moved forward.
LOOKING BACK
THE REAL OUTCOME
WAS NEVER THE EVENT_
Years later, when we look back at the people who were part of those early gatherings, many are now established professionals, researchers, founders and leaders across the industry. What HATCon helped create was not simply a series of events. It was a network.
- PROFESSIONALS
- RESEARCHERS
- FOUNDERS
- LEADERS
- NETWORK
PEOPLE WHO LEARNED TOGETHER.
People met to share what they actually knew.
GREW TOGETHER.
An audience formed around those conversations.
AND WENT ON TO BUILD.
Now professionals, researchers, founders and leaders.
THE COMMUNITY
THERE MAY BE THOUSANDS OF STORIES
WE HAVEN'T FOUND YET_
We believe thousands of people may have been directly or indirectly connected to the Hindustan Cyber Force and HATCon ecosystem over the years. The exact number is still being reconstructed.
≈ 5,000
POTENTIAL COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS_
Community estimate. Archive verification in progress.
HATCON CHAMPS
BUILT BY MORE THAN
A HANDFUL OF NAMES_
HATCon was built by a community. People organised. People researched. People spoke. People volunteered. People connected others. People showed up with something worth sharing.
Hitesh Malviya
[YEARS TO CONFIRM]
[CONTRIBUTION TO BE ADDED]
Rajeshwar Anand
[YEARS TO CONFIRM]
[CONTRIBUTION TO BE ADDED]
[NAME TO BE RECOVERED]
[YEARS TO CONFIRM]
[CONTRIBUTION TO BE ADDED]
[NAME TO BE RECOVERED]
[YEARS TO CONFIRM]
[CONTRIBUTION TO BE ADDED]
[NAME TO BE RECOVERED]
[YEARS TO CONFIRM]
[CONTRIBUTION TO BE ADDED]
THE LIST IS GROWING_
Rediscovering the people who built this is part of the comeback.
WHY NOW?
WE ARE NOT REBUILDING THE PAST_
WE ARE BUILDING WHAT COMES NEXT_
The opportunity today is not to recreate the events of 2012. It is to rebuild the community behind them. Technology has changed. Cybersecurity has changed. AI is reshaping every industry. DeepTech communities are becoming increasingly important.
Finding the right people.
Learning from them.
Sharing what you know.
And building together.VERSION 5
HATCON, REINVENTED_
HATCon Version 5 is being rebuilt around a much clearer idea. It is not about which event you attended.
01
Who you are
Not your job title or which company you work for.
02
What you know
The skills you've actually built, not what's on a resume.
03
What you can contribute
What you're willing to teach, share and put into the room.
04
What you are actually building
The real work in progress, not the pitch-deck version of it.
GO DEEP
DEPTH OVER
SCALE_
We are not trying to build the biggest room. We want to build the most meaningful one.
01
DEEP TECHNOLOGY.
Research, cybersecurity and the frontier work shaping what comes next.
02
DEEP KNOWLEDGE.
Sharing what you actually know, not what fits on a slide.
03
DEEP CONVERSATIONS.
Talks that keep going long after the session ends.
04
DEEP CONNECTIONS.
Finding the right people, and staying connected to them.
05
DEEP IMPACT.
Working on meaningful problems, with people who care about the same things.
01
DEEP TECHNOLOGY.
Research, cybersecurity and the frontier work shaping what comes next.
02
DEEP KNOWLEDGE.
Sharing what you actually know, not what fits on a slide.
03
DEEP CONVERSATIONS.
Talks that keep going long after the session ends.
04
DEEP CONNECTIONS.
Finding the right people, and staying connected to them.
05
DEEP IMPACT.
Working on meaningful problems, with people who care about the same things.
When we started, we were very young.
We weren't trying to build a big conference. We were researchers and hackers trying to meet people like ourselves, share what we knew and learn from each other.
Years later, when I look at where many of those people are today, I realise the real value was never the event. It was the community.
HATCon Version 5 is our attempt to bring that community back — and build it properly for the next generation.”
WHAT MATTERS
HATCON IS NOT ABOUT
YOUR TITLE_
Not your job title or your company. It's what you know, what you can do, and what you're building.
IT'S ABOUT WHO YOU ARE.
Not your job title or which company you work for. It's what you actually stand for.
WHAT YOU KNOW.
The skills you've actually built, not what's on a resume. Things you can actually do, not just claim.
WHAT YOU CAN DO.
What you're willing to teach, share and put into the room, even when no one's watching.
AND WHAT YOU'RE BUILDING.
The real work in progress, not the pitch-deck version of it, messy edges and all.
THE NEXT CHAPTER
What started with a handful of people
can now be built by thousands_
01
Bengaluru_02
Mumbai_03
Chandigarh_04
New Delhi_Local communities.
One global HATCon network.