Hack in the Box (HITB), a platform for technical talks and trainings in cyber security knowledge, has launched HITB+CyberWeek 2019 – the biggest global HITB event, which will run from 12-17 October 2019 in Abu Dhabi
The week-long program of competitions, presentations, trainings, and demonstrations will seek to identify the next generation of cyber warriors.
“(UAE) presents a large pool of young and next generation talents that we believe holds the key to solving future challenges, especially in the cyber and digital spaces. With the launch of HITB+CyberWeek, our core focus is to enrich the UAE’s talent pipeline by equipping aspiring cyber security stars with the knowledge and skills to overcome challenges in our increasingly sophisticated cyber threat landscape,” said Dhillon Kannabhiran, Founder and CEO of HITB.
Rabih Dabboussi, senior vice president of business development, sales and marketing at DarkMatter Group – the local partner and a Platinum sponsor of the event – added that accelerating cyber defence education and training will deliver next generation ideas for next generation problems.
“The digital footprint of nations, companies, and individuals continue to expand at an unprecedented rate, we therefore see bigger need to build cyber talent and capacity to help defend our digital assets against cyber criminals,” said Dabboussi.
“As such, we at DarkMatter Group believe that an event like HITB+CyberWeek brings highly effective and valuable training and workshops to the UAE. We are proud to sponsor the landmark event and to play an active role throughout HITB+CyberWeek. The training classes, workshops, competitions and other programs during HITB+CyberWeek will leave behind lasting positive impact for participants, partners and our clients.”
Featuring cyber professionals as well as students, teachers and families, HITB+CyberWeek will host 5000 visitors during the duration of the week-long event, with over 100 activities to choose from as well as a series of training labs.
At the heart of the HITB+CyberWeek, a large drawcard will be the Cyber Battle of the Emirates (CBOE) – a training program and hacking competition for high school and university students based in the UAE. This competition will see the winners of Belgium and Germany’s Cyber Security Challenge battling it out against the UAE’s competitors.
The winners from the CBOE will win a trip to the HITB Amsterdam in 2020 and will also be eligible to compete with the professional teams in the Pro Capture the Flag (PROCTF), the hacking competition for professionals at HITB+CyberWeek, to be in the running to win US$100,000 in cash.
In total, there will be a US$2 million prize pool up for grabs across a range of competitions including Driven2Pwn, UAE’s first bug bounty event, and an AI Challenge, which calls upon participants to develop future cyber security tools using machine learning.
