NTU hackers win Blue-Lotus competition

2015-03-27

Taiwan hacker group 217 beat out 1,770 teams from 89 countries and territories to win the Blue-Lotus Capture the Flag competition March 23 in mainland China.

Comprising students from Taipei City-based National Taiwan University, 217 solved 17 tasks in 48 hours to amass 5,027 points. The group trumped world No.1 Plaid Parliament of Pwning from Carnegie Mellon University in the U.S. and Tomcr00se led by legendary American hacker George Francis Hotz, aka Geohot.

The “Jeopardy” format competition comprises a series of information war games in which contestants are rewarded for finding creative solutions to web security and related application issues.

Taiwan outfit Bamboofox from Hsinchu City-based National Chiao Tung University finished 13th. Both 217 and Bamboofox are affiliated with Hacks in Taiwan (Hitcon)—currently fourth in global rankings and one of the 15 teams contesting the Defcon finals scheduled for August in Las Vegas.

“Our plan is for 217 and Bamboofox to compete separately in regional tournaments,” Hitcon team leader Lee Lun-chuan said. “But we will join forces for major events like Defcon and beef up our chances of defeating rivals from around the globe.”

The victory for 217 continued the group’s unbeaten record at the mainland Chinese event. Last year, it claimed first with a score exceeding the accumulated points of the next six runners-up.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=228737&CtNode=413)