Hack The Box Meetups: Everything you need to know

How it all started

Back in 2019 Julio Urena, an HTB Community member back then and an HTB employee today, reached out to us about hosting a local hacking Meetup in his location with the support of Hack The Box. Straight away we agreed to support this initiative with a community-first mindset as a driver. Therefore, we started reaching out to loyal HTB Members to host their own hacking sessions globally by supporting them however we could.

Today, less than 3 years later, we count 48 Meetup Groups over 32 countries supporting them to spread the hacking knowledge across Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. 

What are Hack the box Meetup Groups?

HTB Meetup Groups are local hacking communities that gather together to connect with like-minded people, share knowledge, learn from each other, and evolve into cyber-ready humans. Our ultimate goal is to be able to upskill everyone globally through these sessions. 

Join a Hack The Box Meetup group in your area here.

What are Hack The Box Meetup Events?

Depending on each group's skill level and needs, we choose together with the organizer different forms of events, such as:

• HTB Machine Walkthroughs

• General Technical/Security Workshops 

• Guest speakers on a specific security topics

HTB Meetup Events started as an on-site activity back in 2019. However after the Covid outbreak we decided to move everything to virtual till restrictions would allow us to go back on-site. That skyrocketed all groups! During the pandemic, people from all around the world used Meetups to connect with other hackers virtually, learn and upskill regardless of their location and local restrictions. This resulted in 410 Events with 10,578 members from 32 countries globally. 

Today, Meetup Events might take place on-site or virtual and can be hosted bi-weekly, bi-monthly, or quarterly depending on the needs of each group.

Join the upcoming Hack The Box Meetup event in your area here.

Who is organizing Hack The Box Meetups?

The Meetup groups are led and organized by one or more HTB Community members with the support of Hack The Box. Perks we provide include:

• Meetup.com platform to notify everyone that a local group is created, book and announce future events and agenda, gather interest and people and kick-off interaction with each other

• Dedicated Labs, our Enterprise Service free for the purpose of the event, with all HTB machines avalaible

• Private Discord Channel for all organizers to connect, share ideas and get inspired from other organizers

• Enterprise service free for the event purposes

• Swag and Service vouchers for the attendees

Event presenters may vary depending on the form of the event. It may be the group organizer, a guest speaker, or any community member that has something awesome to share with their group.

But don’t just take our word for it! Read below the testimonials of the organizers and ambassadors to get an insight of the program from the leaders themselves!

HTB Meetup Organizers and Ambassadors Testimonials

Julio Ureña - Training Developer at Hack The Box

Santo Domingo HTB Meetup Ambassador and Organizer for 2 yrs 6 mos

“I'm passionate about Cybersecurity and applying the "Hacking mindset" in everything I do. I love hacking and sharing my knowledge with people around me.

We host onsite and virtual meetups. Onsite meetups are focused on learning from a speaker, a panel (group of speakers), or a live hacking demo. Virtual meetups are more hands-on for everyone to connect and hack with us. Everyone who joins our community can expect to learn something new and connect with people who enjoy hacking and cybersecurity.

What I enjoy most in organizing Hack The Box Meetups is the people, their stories, and how our meetups help them learn, achieve their dream jobs, attain a goal, or pass a certification. I think we are having an impact on people's lives, and that's what I love the most about our meetups :)”

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Savannah Lazzara - Senior Security Consultant at Optiv

Tampa HTB Meetup Ambassador and Organizer for 2 yrs 5 mos

“I am a Senior Security Consultant in Optiv’s Threat Management practice on the Attack & Penetration team with multiple years of experience in security consulting working with many Fortune 500 corporations.

The structure of our events typically focuses on walking through a Hack The Box machine or diving into technical topics that relate to offensive security. We meet every other month with the meetup group virtually. 

I love hosting the meetups throughout the year because it helps foster learning amongst students interested in offensive security or already in the field. In our industry, you have to be consistently learning, and Hack The Box provides the platform to do just that. The more meetups created, the more learning opportunities are available for students to learn around the world.”

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Arjen Wiersma - Chief lecturer Cyber Security at NOVI Hogeschool

Netherlands HTB Meetup Ambassador and Organizer for 2 yrs

“I am Arjen, lecturer at NOVI Hogeschool in The Netherlands. I have been in the cyber security community for over 10 years.

We host our Meetup every 3rd Wednesday of the month. We have not yet skipped a single one. The community communication goes through the meetup platform and we use Discord to hang out and host our virtual meetups. Our community is currently over 1100 people strong. Our meetups generally focus on a learning aspect; be it a walk-through or a presentation. When you first join the community you will notice that we open up with just some chatting, then we have an "official" section where we do a presentation or walkthrough, afterwards we go back to chatting and sharing. Our meetups are about 3 hours long.

The community is the most amazing thing about the meetups. Most people have joined at least 12 meetup events, so there are many regulars. If you want to get in touch and make friends in the community, hosting a meetup will be one of the greatest steps you can make.”

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Nicholas Camp (TOKO) Penetration Tester

South Africa HTB Meetup Ambassador and Organizer for 1 yrs 8 mo

“Finding my way through cybersecurity by adapting and learning.

The South Africa Hack The Box Meetup happens on the first Tuesday of every month and encourages every skill level to attend. The meetups vary and have already covered a wide range of interesting topics from Active Directory, privilege escalation techniques, MS Defender evasion, and much more! The meetups occasionally have presentations however they are focused on "hands-on keyboard" lab exercises provided by the HTB platform. New members can expect a welcoming community and the opportunity to learn in an interactive monthly meetup.

The HTB meetups are an opportunity for everyone to learn including the organizers. The fantastic people that join the meetups motivate the organizers to keep hosting monthly meetups and with the resources provided by HTB, hosting is uncomplicated. I encourage everyone who is thinking about hosting to take the leap!”

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Trevor Stevado  - CEO at Loudmouth Security

Ottawa HTB Meetup Ambassador and Organizer for 8 mos

“Software Dev turned hacker. I love the challenge of making things do what they shouldn't. 

We have tried a few different formats of events from presented walkthroughs, the group solves, and even just social hangouts.

I like meeting and learning from new people in the community.  Even though I've been working in this field for a long time I know I can always learn new things, and learning through my peers has been an effective and enjoyable way to learn.”

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Matthieu Billaux Cyber Trainer at Seela

France HTB Meetup Ambassador and Organizer for 6 mos

“I've been working 16 years in IT and infosec. I love CTFs. I discovered HTB back in 2017 and immediately fell in love with it. I reached Omniscient Rank in early 2020. I love solving puzzles, teaching, and mentoring people.

We now meet twice a month for 3 hours on Thursday evenings.

We usually do 3 machine walkthroughs per session, describing what we are doing, why we are doing it, etc. We mostly focus on OSCP-like machines to help people currently preparing or willing to take this exam. We have 2 to 3 guests per session (including famous ones like Shutdown, WakedXY, ProcessusThief, or Hamza Kondah). 

Everyone is welcome in the community. We usually open 70 seats per meetup event. We're presenting 1 or 2 easy boxes per session, and usually, the last one is either medium, hard or insane. This way everyone can learn something. We also have people grouping together in order to try to root one of the machines on their own with no hints.

It's all about love for the community. Sharing is caring as we say, and every second I spend preparing or animating these meetups is 100% well spent. Having people DMing us saying that they had an incredible evening, that they learned something new and will be back for the next one is an energy booster. I love teaching and mentoring. Meetups are definitely a nice way to find new mentees around you, but also you will meet amazing people!

Meetups made a lot of security enthusiasts and professionals meet each other. I even have cool stories about people finding a job by being on our Discord server.”

How to become a Hack The Box Meetup Organizer?

We will continue growing and spreading this awesome initiative across the globe focusing on new locations.

The HTB team reviews all the applications on a monthly basis and reaches out to arrange an interview with applicants who meet the Meetup criteria. 

The next step is an onboarding session followed by the kick-off of your local Meetup group.

If you want to Lead, Teach, Hack, and Interact apply here.