HackFu brings together the brightest minds in cyber security for a weekend of hacking challenges
LONDON, UK: In a bid to close the cyber security skills gap, MWR InfoSecurity - the global research-led security consultancy, is bringing back its highly anticipated and prestigious HackFu event for the eighth year running. HackFu 2015 aims to test and improve existing cyber security and team work skills amongst the industry’s best emerging talent, through a series of tasks and challenges that push participants to explore beyond their comfort zones. Prior to the event, MWR is running a global competition to find the most gifted security minds of the world, as well as a local competition for budding infosec enthusiasts, who’ll win a place at this invite-only event. Deadline for entrants is 30 April.
Not only does HackFu serve to teach and inspire a new generation of security professionals, but it also encourages individuals to actively consider and develop new approaches and alternative thinking skills in an innovative and fun way. The two day event sees contestants face a variety of activities designed around hacking, scripting, tinkering, lock-picking, crypto, and generally thinking outside the box. The challenges that the teams will face include, but are not limited to: network infrastructure, web applications, hardware reversing, radio frequencies, operating systems, logic puzzles all the way through to bespoke systems like message queues and SAP.
As usual the event is surrounded with a cloud of mystery and secrecy, as any top secret mission should be, but for those who simply can’t wait MWR has published a dedicated HackFu microsite where teasers will be revealed over the next few weeks. While the exact destination will remain classified to those invited until the very last moment, previous locations have included a nuclear bunker in Essex, the Norfolk RAF Air Defence Radar Museum and a Gloucestershire mansion that was converted into a Wild West town especially for the event. There’s no doubt that this year’s HackFu event will be one of the highlights of the cyber security industry calendar.
"The first and most critical element that makes HackFu a success is that it starts out from a scenario or construct. You can think of this as a theme, but one with its own world attached to it," said Martyn Ruks, technical director at MWR InfoSecurity. "This enables the event to factor in one key aspect of the challenges we face in our industry and that is ‘geo-political drivers and market forces’. Only by understanding motivations and drivers can you begin to map out what the solutions need to look like. Fail to do this and everything thereafter may be flawed and built on incorrect assumptions. Taking this into account enables us to take HackFu from a simple technical training event to a cyber-security assault course of greater sophistication than anything else we know of."
Whilst the event is invitation only, interested parties need not despair as they can win their way to an invite and join the elite by applying their minds and proving they deserve a spot at HackFu 2015. The scenario for the global competition is that the contestant has been sent on a mission to save the planet from total annihilation by hunting down “Baron Yapster”, the sworn enemy of The Intergalactic Federation of Planets: ‘The anarchist Baron Yapster was taken into custody this morning, after he baffled authorities by turning himself in ranting about ’death from above’ and ’planetary annihilation’. Contestants will be asked to use their hackery skills to follow the clues and find a way to save the planet before it’s too late with more details revealed throughout the mission briefing transcript.’ Full details of the global competition can be found on the website.
A second challenge has been designed for those not already employed within the industry and resident in the rough vicinity of this year’s event – within 30 miles of Rutland. Contestants will need to complete a short story scenario investigating a cyber security incident for a large corporation. The aim for this local challenge is to attract people from outside the industry, but who possess the right problem solving skills. One person will be invited to attend HackFu 2015, offering them a taste of the industry so they can see if it’s for them - a key part of what the HackFu event is all about. Full details of this challenge can be found here.
"MWR strongly believes that the shortage of cyber security skills can only be addressed properly by allowing individuals to find their passion for it and be provided with the opportunity to grow their interest and further develop their talent," said Ruks. "These competitions will help us not only find the brightest technical minds, but also the creative thinkers and problem solvers that this industry so desperately needs and demands."