International Cyberbattle Champions Crowned at Hack Fest in Moscow
The third iteration of the annual Positive Hack Days (PHDays Fest) festival came to a close on Saturday, wrapping up a three-day extravaganza that drew thousands of visitors from Russia and over 40 countries across Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Held at the iconic Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow, the event showcased the growing role of technology in daily life, with a packed program featuring more than 500 speakers, including top Russian officials and senior figures from domestic tech and infrastructure firms.
One of the main highlights of the festival was the Standoff 15 competition for cybersecurity professionals. This annual challenge pitted over 40 teams from 18 countries against each other, with a prize pool of $50,000 up for grabs. The competition saw Red Teams – expert white hackers who use their skills to identify security vulnerabilities in hardware, software, or networks – score points by breaching the infrastructure of a simulated virtual country across various sectors such as metallurgy, energy, oil and gas, banking, urban environment, aviation, and logistics.
The Blue Teams – cybersecurity specialists tasked with investigating and mitigating those hacks – were put to the test. The stakes were high, with the main prize of $20,000 on the line for the team that scored the most points. After three days of intense competition, one team emerged victorious: DreamTeam.
DreamTeam, a multinational team of cybersecurity experts from around the world, took home the top prize of $20,000 with an impressive 195,388 points. Their victory marks the seventh time the team has won the Standoff championship since its inception in 2019. The competition was fierce, with FR13NDS & RHACKERS coming in second with 127,466 points and Dataeli&only_f4st taking third place with 103,870 points.
The organizers of the PHDays Fest were thrilled to see DreamTeam take home the top prize once again. "The teams will be able to apply the experience gained in the cyberbattle to protect their companies in their daily work," they said in a statement. The Standoff competition is an invaluable resource for cybersecurity professionals, providing them with valuable training and experience that can be applied in real-world scenarios.
The success of the PHDays Fest and the Standoff competition highlights the growing importance of cybersecurity in today's digital age. As technology continues to play an increasingly large role in our daily lives, it's more crucial than ever for experts to stay ahead of the curve and protect us from cyber threats. The Positive Hack Days festival has once again proven itself to be a premier event for cybersecurity professionals, providing a platform for them to showcase their skills and compete in some of the most challenging competitions in the industry.