The Hacks in Taiwan Conference (HITCON) is prepping to kick off in October—with the aim of awarding someone $10,000 for the best hacking effort.
The global preliminary contest for the 2016 HITCON will take place online on October 8 and 9. The top 10 winners at the preliminary will go to Taiwan for the final in early December. The champion team will then be entitled to the prize money and be qualified for DEF CON in the US in August.
The Taiwan government has thrown its hat in for the contest, in an effort to develop information security professionals and speed up the growth of the cyber-industry. The Industrial Development Bureau (IDB), under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), has helped the event expand from online-only into having both online and physical elements.
The 2015 HITCON had 969 teams consisting of more than 1,500 people from China, Russia, South Korea, Vietnam and the US, in addition to Taiwan. This year, the hackers will contend for prize money totaling $18,000; second place will draw a $5,000 prize, and third place will command $2,000.
According to the organizers, Taiwan has a predominance of hacker-level cybersecurity experts, while a quarter of malware around the world is first found in Taiwan. Taiwan seems highly susceptible to cyberattacks, but this potential vulnerability also offers Taiwan a vantage point as it helps create a wealth of cybersecurity data and a talent pool of hackers,” the organization noted.
Photo © happymay