Businesses compete in nuclear-themed global hacking contest by Hack The Box to fight against the surge in corporate cybercrime

Firms seeking to protect themselves from the rise in cyberattacks are being urged to go nuclear – by entering a fallout-style competition designed to sharpen corporate security skills and test them against business rivals. 

The CTF event, created by Hack The Box, the Cyber Performance Center with the mission to provide a human-first platform to create and maintain high-performing cybersecurity individuals and organizations, will see teams from organizations across the world take part in a series of online challenges in the hope of outsmarting other competitors and winning a share of a $50,000+ prize pool. It is a Capture The Flag (CTF) contest, meaning teams will receive points for each puzzle they finish and a virtual flag to prove they completed it. Hack The Box conducted research in 2023 that shows that over 70% of cybersecurity managers consider competitions such as CTFs to be highly effective strategies for raising employee engagement and measuring skills development. 

More than 1,000 companies are expected to enter this year’s competition, The Vault of Hope, which will run from May 18 to 22. It is designed to showcase the current cyber threats the world faces and comes as new researches show an increase in the number of cyberattacks conducted against businesses.  

The UK Government’s latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey revealed half of British businesses (50%) had experienced a cyber incident in the last 12 months, with three in four (74%) of large companies affected. Meanwhile, last month The International Monetary Fund reported that cyberattacks on the global financial sector had doubled since the pandemic. 

The Vault of Hope, which is set in a post-apocalyptic world, will include 51 challenges across a range of different categories like forensics – being able to recover a digital trail left on a computer – as well as coding. It is the fourth annual CTF that Hack The Box has run for the business community.  

Last year’s event featured teams from 90 different countries and entrants from companies including Toyota, Siemens, Puma, Lufthansa, and Accenture. 

Haris Pylarinos, CEO and Founder at Hack The Box, says: “With cyberattacks on businesses increasing and growing more complicated and diverse, the challenges facing their security teams have never been greater. So they can stand toe to toe with criminals, it’s vital for them to not only be familiar with the latest threats but also to be proactive, assessing their company’s vulnerabilities and ability to deal with incidents, while ensuring any skill shortages they have are addressed.    

“This competition is a great opportunity for organizations to really put their cyber readiness under the spotlight, allowing their teams to engage directly with real-world scenarios, work under pressure, and experience the camaraderie and confidence that comes with solving problems together.”  

To join HTB’s Business CTF 2024: The Vault of Hope, corporate teams can register for free and participate from anywhere in the world here.   

In addition, Hack The Box is hosting a webinar exploring the positive effect of Capture The Flag events on cybersecurity workforce development and the organizations these professionals protect on May 9th, 2024. Details can be found here. 

Hack The Box's Business CTF 2024 Diamond Sponsor is Bugcrowd.