Whether you go to hone your black hat hacker skills, white hat hacker skills, or just to get on the good side of some of the world’s most powerful system security experts, hacker events are where it’s hat… errr at. Hacker events provide hackers a chance to gather, learn, and compete with each other. Events often include lectures from world renowned hackers, break off groups, and hacker games such as Capture the Flag where teams hack and defend systems or Hackathons– 24 hours of collecting hacked systems. Word to the wise, undercover FBI agents attend hacker events by the drove, trying to recognize creative code and learn new faces in the hacker world. Even with the Fed presence, hacker events are notorious for extracurricular hacker pranks outside of the scheduled rubric. A quick synopsis of such pranks include hijacked hotel wifi, gaining access to hotel billing systems, and even an instance of hacking an ATM in the hotel lobby. Here’s a list of hacker events to look forward to in 2012.