{"684118":{"#nid":"684118","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Leads the Way \u2013 Again \u2013 at Premier Global Hacking Competition","body":[{"value":"\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEvery year, the world\u2019s best hackers, programmers, side-channel exploiters, and cyber practitioners gather in Las Vegas to put their skills to the test at DefCon, the community\u2019s largest annual convention.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe biggest challenge of the competition is Capture the Flag (CTF), often referred to as the \u201cOlympics of hacking,\u201d and once again, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/digital-olympics-how-georgia-tech-participates-worlds-biggest-hacking-contest\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech was represented\u003C\/a\u003E among the top teams.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPlayers spent three days searching for strings of text known as \u0022flags\u0022 hidden in vulnerable programs or websites. They would also defend against attacks from other teams looking to gain additional flags.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHere are the top teams and their Georgia Tech affiliated members:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFirst place, Maple Mallard Magistrates (MMM)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYechan Bae\u003C\/strong\u003E, Ph.D. student\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EYonghwi Jin\u003C\/strong\u003E, Ph.D. student\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJungwon Lim\u003C\/strong\u003E, Ph.D. student\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESecond place, Blue Water\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELuna Tong \u003C\/strong\u003E(CS 2021)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJalen Chuang\u003C\/strong\u003E, Ph.D. student\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EKevin Stevens\u003C\/strong\u003E, Ph.D. student\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThird place, SuperDiceCode\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDaniel Lu\u003C\/strong\u003E, (CS 2024)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDarin Mao\u003C\/strong\u003E, 3rd year\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EJosh Wang\u003C\/strong\u003E, 2nd year\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI participated in DEFCON CTF because it\u0027s one of the most well-known CTFs and all of the best teams fight every year to qualify and compete in it,\u201d said Wang of SuperDiceCode.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cFor our team, it\u0027s special because many of us met and became friends while playing CTFs in high school and college years ago.\u0026nbsp;The attack\/defense format of the CTF brings many interesting aspects to the game not seen in the more common jeopardy format, such as rewarding good competitor infrastructure and tooling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe competitors spend most, if not all, of their time at DefCon outside the actual convention. It\u2019s become a tradition, with many teams having played together for years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI have participated in DEF CON CTF since 2012 and have advanced to the finals every year since 2014,\u201d said MMM\u2019s Lim. \u201cI have always enjoyed solving challenging binary exploitation problems, and DEF CON CTF consistently provided them.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWorking on these challenges in such an intense, competitive environment can sometimes be stressful, but I see them as valuable opportunities to test and improve my skills.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESecond-place team Blue Water shook up the competition this year when one of the competitors brought an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-leads-way-again-premier-global-hacking-competition\u0022\u003EAI-powered tool \u003C\/a\u003Ethat completed a challenge in record time.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe were initially surprised the tool worked so well, and it\u0027s exciting what these tools could achieve in the future,\u201d said team member Luna Tong.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe act impressed DefCon organizers who recognized the team\u2019s effort at the event\u2019s closing ceremonies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile it was in the news most recently as the host venue for the DARPA AI Cyber Challenge (AIxCC), DefCon has drawn crowds of hackers of all skillsets to the Mojave Desert for over 30 years.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEvery year, the world\u2019s best hackers, programmers, side-channel exploiters, and cyber practitioners gather in Las Vegas to put their skills to the test at DefCon, the community\u2019s largest annual convention.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe biggest challenge of the competition is Capture the Flag (CTF), often referred to as the \u201cOlympics of hacking,\u201d and once again, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/digital-olympics-how-georgia-tech-participates-worlds-biggest-hacking-contest\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech was represented\u003C\/a\u003E among the top teams.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Every year, the world\u2019s best hackers, programmers, side-channel exploiters, and cyber practitioners gather in Las Vegas to put their skills to the test at DefCon, the community\u2019s largest annual convention. "}],"uid":"36253","created_gmt":"2025-08-25 13:47:48","changed_gmt":"2025-08-25 13:53:45","author":"John Popham","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-08-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"677778":{"id":"677778","type":"image","title":"Capture the Flag Hacker.jpg","body":null,"created":"1756129765","gmt_created":"2025-08-25 13:49:25","changed":"1756129765","gmt_changed":"2025-08-25 13:49:25","alt":"A photo from behind a man as he participates in the capture the flag hacking competition. ","file":{"fid":"261716","name":"IMG_1202-2-copy.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/25\/IMG_1202-2-copy.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/08\/25\/IMG_1202-2-copy.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1211223,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/08\/25\/IMG_1202-2-copy.jpg?itok=LJ9-wsE6"}}},"media_ids":["677778"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/georgia-tech-makes-history-wins-darpa-challenge","title":"Georgia Tech Makes History, Wins DARPA Challenge"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.cc.gatech.edu\/news\/digital-olympics-how-georgia-tech-participates-worlds-biggest-hacking-contest","title":"Digital Olympics: How Georgia Tech Participates in the World\u2019s Biggest Hacking Contest"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TYn38VfmDRU\u0026list=PLmnqtYqOCF7-LIoYJ61MdTSW1n82uPQxj\u0026index=4\u0026t=15358s","title":"CTF Live: Team Blue Water AI Solve Discovery"}],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"660367","name":"School of Cybersecurity and Privacy"}],"categories":[{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"193158","name":"Student Competition Winners (academic, innovation, and research)"},{"id":"193157","name":"Student Honors and Achievements"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"145171","name":"Cybersecurity"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EJohn Popham\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer II | School of Cybersecurity and Privacy\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jpopham3@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}