When hacking competitions go wrong [ and right ]

A hacking contest that promised $100,000 as first prize appears to have been weighted so heavily against competitors that some decided to hack the competition rather than the target server

What do you do when you enter a hacking competition only to discover that the target server is running a cut-down operating system running with almost all services switched off so that it does not resemble a "real-world situation"?

Simple. You hack the competition itself.

Read the article HERE.

Cybersecurity contests go national

It has all the makings of a B-movie plot: A corporate network targeted by hackers and a half dozen high-school students as the company's only defense.

Yet, teams of students from ten different Iowa high schools faced exactly that scenario during a single night in late May in the High School Cyber Defense Competition. The contest tasked the teenagers with building a network in the three weeks leading up to the competition with only their teachers, and mentoring volunteers from local technology firms, as their guides.

The competitions give students and professionals the opportunity to get hands-on experience responding to attacks, without serious consequences.

Read the article HERE.