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Las Vegas — US Two university hacker teams have won the "Capture the Flag" championship, a competition called the "Olympics of Hacking" that brings together the world's top hackers in this field.
In his carpeted ballroom at one of Las Vegas' largest casinos, dozens of hackers competed in this challenge Friday through Sunday during the DEF CON security conference hosting the event. I was sitting on my laptop.
The winning team included participants from Carnegie Mellon University, alumni and British Columbia University.
This contest involves breaking into bespoke software designed by tournament organizers. Participants must not only find bugs in the program, but also protect themselves from hacking by other competitors.
The hackers were mostly young men and women, and included visitors from China, India, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea. Some worked for their respective governments, some worked for private companies, and some were college students.
Nations may be cyber spying on each other, but the DEF CON CTF competition allows elite hackers to come together in the spirit of sport.
The reward is fame, not money. “There is no competition more influential than this one,” said participant Giovanni Vigna, who teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "And everyone leaves politics at home."
You can easily find people going to and saying, 'You did a great job, unbelievable hack.'"
The game has taken on new meaning in recent years as it has been elevated as a national security priority. Over the past decade, the value of the cybersecurity industry has skyrocketed as hacking techniques have evolved.
Participant Aaditya Purani, who works as an engineer for electric car maker Tesla, said winning the title was a mark of his lifelong honor.
This year's contest will come with live commentary on YouTube, in style of the televised sport.
His DEF CON itself, which began as a gathering of hundreds of hackers in the late 1990s, this year he has been held at four casinos and, according to organizers, he has attracted more than 30,000 spectators. Collected.
On Saturday afternoon, participants in the "Capture the Flag" contest were typing on their laptops as they watched meeting participants enter and leave the room. . Some participants ate at tables and ate hamburgers and fries pinned to the screen. said it was her first time participating in the competition and was honored to qualify.
The competition was fierce, and sitting eight hours a day wasn't easy. They took a bathroom break, he said with a laugh. (Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui, Las Vegas Editing by Matthew Lewis)
