The Hacker News - Cybersecurity News and Analysis: Capture The Flag

Why we can't detect all security loopholes and patch them before hackers exploit them? Because... we know that humans are too slow at finding and fixing security bugs, which is why vulnerabilities like Heartbleed , POODLE and GHOST remained undetected for decades and rendered almost half of the Internet vulnerable to theft by the time patches were rolled out. Now to solve this hurdle, DARPA has come up with an idea: To build a smart Artificial Intelligence System that will automatically detect and even patch security flaws in a system. Isn't it a revolutionary idea for Internet Security? The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected seven teams of finalists who will face off in a historic battle, as each tries to defend themselves and find out flaws without any human control. The DARPA Cyber Grand Challenge will be held at the annual DEF CON hacking conference in Las Vegas next month. Must Read : Artificial Intelligence System that can detec

Hacking into computer, networks and websites could easily land you in jail. But what if you could freely test and practice your hacking skills in a legally safe environment? Facebook just open-sourced its Capture The Flag (CTF) platform to encourage students as well as developers to learn about cyber security and secure coding practices. Capture the Flag hacking competitions are conducted at various cyber security events and conferences, including Def Con, in order to highlight the real-world exploits and cyber attacks. The CTF program is an effective way of identifying young people with exceptional computer skills, as well as teaching beginners about common and advanced exploitation techniques to ensure they develop secure programs that cannot be easily compromised. Facebook  CTF Video Demo: Since 2013, Facebook has itself hosted CTF competitions at events across the world and now, it is opening the platform to masses by releasing its source code on GitHub. "

Update: ' Hack The Pentagon ' has opened registration for its pilot bug bounty program of $150,000 for hackers in return for the vulnerabilities they find in its public facing websites. The Defense Department has enlisted the bug bounty startup HackerOne to manage the pilot program. Interested hackers can Register Now to participate in the Bug Bounty program. The United States Department of Defense (DoD) has the plan to boost their internal and network security by announcing what it calls "the first cyber Bug Bounty Program in the history of the federal government," officially inviting hackers to take up the challenge. Dubbed " Hack the Pentagon ," the bug bounty program invites the hackers and security researchers only from the United States to target its networks as well as the public faced websites which are registered under DoD. The bug bounty program will begin in April 2016, and the participants could win money (cash rewards)

When it comes to Information Security, there's a great way to learn, train and keep sharp your skills. This can be done using gamification mechanics to speed up the learning curve and improve retention rate. Capture The Flag competitions use gamification mechanics and represent one of the best ways to learn security hands on. The Infosec team behind Capture The Flag platform  CTF365  has created a place for hackers to play weekend CTFs with great prizes, called  Hacker's Dome . In order to access the Hacker's Dome, you need is a registered and confirmed CTF365 account.  At Hacker's Dome CTF Platform users can deploy their own CTFs and can invite web developers, system administrators and security professionals to take hard challenges. Think RackSpace, of CTF Competitions. Hacker's Dome - First Blood:  First Blood is the first CTF and will start on May 17 2014 15:00 UTC and winners will win more than $6000 in prizes . If Information Security  gamific

For years, the Capture the Flag platform has been a common and very popular part of the hacker convention scene. Teams come from all over the world to show their skill and technique in various competitions. The CTF365 team took that interest, passion and excitement and went to a new level in their platform. That original capture the flag environment is now available to anyone from the safety and comfort of their own home. Not only is the original and fun capture the flag platform available, but the CTF365 team is bringing in red verses blue competitions, as well as an entire exploitable virtual world! While still in alpha, the development team is working tirelessly to bring a brand new approach to an original favorite to the hacker and information security community. What is CTF365? CTF365 is a revolution in the world of capture the flag, simulated attacks and Information security as a whole. Capture the flag is always a fan favorite at hacker conventions, online and

The Fourth Edition of an International Information Security Conference hosted in Romania , The DefCamp 2013  is now open for Call for Papers . Over 300 Security experts, Researchers, and Enthusiasts from Romania and neighboring countries are expected to take part in the event in Bucharest, at the Crystal Palace Ballroom on November 29-30, 2013 . The Crystal Palace Ballroom is hosting one of the most mesmerizing event of Hacking & Information security in Romania, Defcamp.  In its Fourth year, The conference aims - continues to impress its audience with IT knowledge sharing, competition with varying levels of difficulty, Romanian and foreign speakers, surprises and fun. " We have awaited the 48 hours of DefCamp 2013 since the closing moment of the last edition.  It is hypnotizing to exchange ideas, to compete, to expand your knowledge and to meet people  who you know only from the virtual world. DCTF (DefCamp Capture the Flag) - our main  competition of the co

E-HACK is an Information Security Workshop, organized by infySEC . The workshop aims at creating awareness about INFORMATION SECURITY by showing in what all ways information or data can be stolen. Meddle in cyber-warfare, battle with our machine master mind who will throw challenges on web application security, network security, algorithms, reverse engineering and decryption.  The team which cracks the final level will attain the glory of being Winner at our E-HACK Guinness record attempt with tons of prizes waiting. Be simple but not simpler is quote by Einstein, that's secret of success for E-HACK. Be there to witness the epic battle of brains. It's planned to be done in a more fun way, through a game called CTF (Capture the Flag) . The only way to know how to protect our information is by knowing the ways in which it can be stolen. So, we'll be having wide range of discussions on what all ways a HACKER can get his hands on your information and in what all ways you can thwart him

The Hacker Conference partnered up with CTF365 to provide the best CTF experience during the conference. While trying to find out more about their product and also about their CTF surprise, I got an interview with Marius Corici Co-founder and CEO for CTF365. Q: November 2012 was when you first announced about this project which was supposed to start at the begin-ning of 2013. What happened that made you delay the starting date? A: Well, we're definitely enthusiastic about making CTF365 the greatest CTF platform out there, and this proves to be much more difficult than initially anticipated. I won't get into detail, because, as it happens, the story is like something pulled out from the theater of the absurd. If we would ever get a chance to make a making-of- CTF365 movie, I'm sure it would be amusing and tragic at the same time. What I will say [and repeat], is that we are putting our best efforts into making CTF365 work, we are a small and committed team, which is a problem [for

Prepare your tools, build your team, defend your country and conquer the World. It is well known that the best way to learn security is hands on. It's the kind of experience you earn in pentest labs or CTF competitions based on challenges or defensive and offensive security and it's aimed at improving your security skills. Every important Information Security conference has a CTF competition, the most prestigious universities host CTF competitions and major companies organize CTFs now and then. Just take a look at Stripe or Mozilla. CTF is everywhere and not just in the InfoSec Industry. The World is changing rapidly, and so is the InfoSec industry along with CTFs. It looks like CTF365 took this task seriously and they promise a brand new approach to CTF competitions that will change everything we know about those competitions. Is not a challenge nor scenario based game. They simply promise to build and internet within The Internet and replicate everything that ex