I was happy to help host our fourth annual DEF CON contest with the CMD+CTRL Cyber Range. As always the competition was fierce, but this year even more so! We had over 200 teams and players play over the weekend - many of them dedicating large chunks of their conference time to the contest. With so many talks, villages, and contests vying for attendees’ time it’s awesome to have so many people focused on our Cyber Range.
This year we unveiled two vulnerable applications. Our new LetSee website, which is a cool React.js site backed by a Ruby on Rails API that lets you buy and sell your handmade items, and Runstoppable, an Android fitness application that lets you track runs to show off to your friends!
Straight out of the gates the teams tore into the two applications. We recognized the top three repeat teams early on: Savage Submarine, 8BitBrandon, and BAH Humbug as they quickly established top spots.
Throughout the conference, these three teams vied for the top spots on the leaderboard, but some great highlights came from new players.
We had a father-son team attack the sites. They said it was their first time at DEF CON and their first time participating in a contest. I love that CMD+CTRL was accessible enough they felt like they could dive in, learn some attacks and score some points. As a father myself it was exciting to imagine bringing my sons to DEF CON in future years!
Security Innovation has had a long history of supporting the security ecosystem through sponsorships of various organizations and groups. We are dedicated to helping more women and underrepresented minorities enter into STEM and particularly AppSec careers. This year we sponsored 15 women to attend DEF CON. Quite a few of those women stopped by to play the CMD+CTRL Cyber Range. It was awesome to see them, some of which are first-time attendees, quickly work their way up the leaderboards.
Overall this was a great year at DEF CON, not just for us but for the community as a whole.
Thanks for attending and we’ll see you next year!
