Once they scared off the people running the Sky Talks, which were always awesome, and messed with groups like the lockpicking folks ability to fundraise, I think the idea of it being a hacker con really died and it turned into just another corporate convention.
Skytalks happened this year and was better attended than ever. Getting a seat was extremely competitive, people lined up for several hours for a single talk token. I would have loved to go to some, but unfortunately there was a ton of other stuff I wanted to see so I didn't have time to stand in line.
They were a side conference to a side conference, but the structure let them run things the way they wanted, which is important.
There is literally no way a new technology can be "secure" until it has existed in the public zeitgeist for long enough that the general public has an intuitive feel for its capabilities and limitations.
Yes, when you release a new product, you can ensure that its functionality aligns with expectations from other products in the industry, or analogous products that people are already using. You can make design choices where a user has to slowly expose themselves to more functionality as they understand the technology deeper, but each step of the way is going to expose them to additional threats that they might not fully understand.
Security is that journey. You can just release a product using a brand new technology that's "secure" right out of the gate.