Summercon is one of the oldest hacker conventions, and America's oldest and longest-running information security conference. It helped set a precedent for more modern "cons" such as H.O.P.E. and DEF CON, although it has remained smaller and more personal.^{[citation needed]} Summercon has been hosted in cities such as Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Atlanta, Washington, D.C., New York City, Austin, Las Vegas, and Amsterdam. Originally run by Phrack, the underground ezine, and held annually in St. Louis, the organizational responsibilities of running Summercon were transferred to clovis in 1998 and the convention took place in Atlanta, dubbed 'Summercon X'.

In its modern incarnation, it is currently organized by redpantz and shmeck, who emphasize the importance of face-to-face interaction as technology increasingly mediates relationships between members of the information security community. Summercon is open to everyone, including "hackers, phreakers, phrackers, feds, 2600 kids, cops, security professionals, U4EA, r00t kids club, press, groupies, chicks, conference whores, k0d3 kids, convicted felons, and concerned parents."^[1]