Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) in collaboration with the Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) and Digital Policy Office of the HKSAR Government, successfully hosted the “HKCERT Capture the Flag Challenge 2024” (CTF Challenge) on 20-21 January. The event attracted over record-making 1,300 participants from renowned teams across the Chinese Mainland, other parts of Asia, Europe and the United States setting. Since 2020, HKCERT has organised the CTF Challenge for five consecutive years, expanding its scale annually and becoming one of the most influential cyber security events in Hong Kong.
Mr. Edmond LAI, Chief Digital Officer of HKPC said, “The CTF Challenge aims to provide an international platform for exchange, enhancing participants’ cyber security skills comprehensively and nurturing future cyber security talent for Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. With the rise of emerging technologies such as AI and big data, cyber security has become a critical issue. These emerging technologies could potentially be used by hackers, making the cultivation of ‘ethical hackers’ increasingly important. We look forward to seeing more emerging cyber security stars shine on the CTF stage and become the backbone of the cyber security field, further solidifying the foundation for the city’s digital transformation.”
Mr. Daniel CHEUNG, JP, Deputy Commissioner (Digital Infrastructure), Digital Policy Office, presented the awards jointly with Mr. Lai to the winners and said, “The CTF Challenge not only recognises the participants’ remarkable achievements and talent in both offensive and defensive cyber security but also provides a platform for collaboration, knowledge sharing and networking. The Digital Policy Office will continue to encourage the information technology sector to actively support cyber security talent development, with a view to addressing the increasingly complex cyber landscape, and collectively promoting Hong Kong’s development as an international innovation and technology hub.”
Elites Showdown to Advance Global Cyber Security Collaboration
This year, the CTF Challenge saw over 1,000 participants for the third consecutive year, with 149 overseas teams registering, including two guest teams from the Chinese Mainland and two teams known as the “United Nations Team”, competing on the same stage, further strengthening talent exchange and collaboration in cyber security. One international team is ranked among the world’s top 50 and another has claimed seven global CTF championships. The CTF Challenge has received industry acclaim for five consecutive years, with its rating on the internationally renowned CTF competition platform CTFTime steadily rising for four years, proving its increasing recognition and influence in the global CTF community.
Three local teams and one team from the Chinese Mainland won the finals, capturing gold in the secondary school, tertiary, open and international categories. The “Best School Award” was won by Diocesan Boys’ School in Hong Kong. For the full list of winners and more information about the event and competition details, please visit the CTF Challenge 2024 website.
The international champion team, r4kapig, stated, “This competition provided us with valuable learning and practical opportunities, exposing us to many new knowledge areas and attack-defense techniques. It was our first time competing in Hong Kong, with members from Guangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Chengdu. The event adopted a hybrid model, offering an excellent exchange platform, allowing us to engage in in-depth technical exchanges and share experiences with Hong Kong and international players. In the future, we will consider pursuing careers in the cyber security industry and continue to delve into this field.”
Diverse Activities to Nurture Local Cyber Security Talent
Following the CTF Challenge, a seminar was held, inviting several cyber security experts to discuss hot topics such as how cyber defense exercises can complement traditional security testing, security risks and considerations in AI applications, and the latest trends in cyber threats. They also provided career advice for young people aspiring to enter the IT industry. The event was sponsored by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and OffSec, offering participants the chance to win online cyber security courses sponsored by OffSec, the course covers basic offensive and defensive techniques, networking, scripting, application and operating system security and business-related skills.
Note: The CTF Challenge has four categories: secondary school, tertiary, open and international. The top five teams in each category from the preliminary round held in November last year advanced to the finals, making a total of 20 elite teams, including 15 local secondary school, tertiary and open teams, and five internationally renowned CTF teams from Asia, Europe and the Americas.
