Top 'good guy' hackers to tackle biggest cyber challenges yet

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.timesofisrael.com/top-good-guy-hackers-to-tackle-biggest-cyber-challenges-yet/

By David Shamah
The Times of Israel
January 20, 2014

Hackers -- even the "good guy" breed -- tend to be a shadowy bunch, 
keeping their identities as secret as they can. But on January 28, the 
identities of some of the best hackers in Israel will be unveiled, as they 
try to win an all-expense paid trip to the U.S., to see how security giant 
Symantec does cyber-defense

The hackers, 50 of them, will be participating in the biggest-ever 
simulated "hack attack," in the Israeli version of the Symantec Cyber 
Readiness Challenge - a worldwide and ongoing event in which "white hat 
hackers" (those who use their hacking powers to help, not hinder) will 
attempt to get to the bottom of a simulated "industrial espionage" attack 
against a large corporation.

By putting participants in the hacker's shoes, said Symantec, it enables 
them to understand their targets, technology and thought processes so they 
can ultimately better protect their organization and themselves. Symantec, 
which makes anti-virus and security software, works in countries around 
the world, where it holds similar challenges, seeking out the best 
white-hat hackers, sometimes hiring them as well, the company said.

A hacker contest is like any other one, in that it has goals, rules, 
milestones, and points awarded. In the contest, hackers must conduct a 
cyber-investigation of an attack against a company's site, figuring out 
who hacked them and how they did it, by counter-hacking shady Internet 
sites and servers. Points will be given for degree of success in hacking 
into the suspects’ servers, and for achieving 40 milestones (such as 
getting access to passwords, installing spyware, etc.). The winner of the 
contest will get an opportunity to talk to and work with top Symantec 
security personnel at the company’s headquarters in the U.S., all expenses 
paid.

[...]

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