Taiwan hackers win 2nd prize in Las Vegas

2014-08-13

Hacks in Taiwan (Hitcon) won second prize in the Capture the Flag competition Aug. 10 at Defcon 22, the mecca of the world’s top hackers, in Las Vegas.

It was the first time Taiwan had competed at the event, and follows the team’s victory on its entry into the first Baidu Capture the Flag contest in May in Nanjing, mainland China.

Managed by Lee Lun-chuan, eight-member Hitcon is composed mostly of students from National Taiwan University, National Chiao Tung University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, with an average age of 23.

Each of the 20 teams was assigned its own server with a predesigned system. The aim of the competition is to identify weaknesses in the systems of rival teams while running diagnostics and strengthening defenses against attacks.

Hitcon ranked only No. 24 in the world before they joined the competition, but they beat hot favorites Dragon Sector from Poland, the world’s top-ranked hackers, and Blue Lotus from mainland China.

The Taiwan team lost to U.S.-based Plaid Parliament of Pwning in the final. One of PPP’s members, known as Geohot, is famous for having cracked the software installed on the iPhone and PlayStation 3, and having single-handedly beat nine other teams at a contest in South Korea.

Lee said on Facebook that the key to success was the full cooperation among all members and the leadership shown by captain Orange and vice captain Sean.

Team sponsor Matt Huang, founder of Internet security firm Amorize Technologies Inc., said that long-term preparation is crucial to a hacking group’s success.

“Taiwan’s software industry lacks international name recognition, and there are deficiencies in the online security industry,” Huang said. “I hope one day Taiwan will be associated with computer security the way Italy is linked to Ferrari.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=220538&CtNode=413)