SK shieldus's white-hat hacker group EQST advanced to the finals of an international hacking competition as part of a global alliance team that includes Naver Cloud and security researchers from Finland and Japan.
SK shieldus said on the 23rd that the alliance team "The Seoul Sauna Shogunate," which includes EQST, passed the online qualifiers of "Defconn 34 CTF," where 686 teams worldwide competed, to make the list of 12 finalists.
Defconn CTF is a technical proving ground where the latest attack techniques and defense strategies are pitted against each other in real-world scenarios. This year's qualifiers applied new rules reflecting the spread of generative artificial intelligence (AI). Teams that solved problems using only AI were penalized in evaluation, putting greater weight on analysis from an actual attacker's perspective and real-world capabilities.
EQST is Korea's largest white-hat hacker group, about 200 members strong, active across vulnerability research, penetration testing, AI red teaming, Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), ransomware response, and more. The alliance team includes domestic corporations such as EQST as well as researchers from Finland and Japan.
The finals will require teams to attack and defend simultaneously, defending their own systems while finding and exploiting opponents' vulnerabilities. In addition to domestic corporations in the alliance, teams that advanced to the finals include those with researchers from Samsung Research, Theori Inc., Toss, ENKI Whitehat, Raonsecurity, KR Security, Korea University, POSTECH, and KAIST, among domestic corporations and universities.
On the 21st, at the Naver Green Factory in Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, a send-off ceremony brought together researchers from the alliance team, including EQST, to reaffirm their commitment to prepare for the competition. Attendees agreed to expand the global security network and continue sustained technology exchanges and joint research.
Meanwhile, this year's competition will be held for three days from Aug. 7 to 9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.