Korean Ethical Hackers 'MMM Team' ... 3 Consecutive Wins at International Hacking Competition

A team composed of participants from a domestic ethical hacker training program took first place at the Defcon International Hacking Conference, known as the so-called 'Hacking Olympics.'

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 12th, the MMM team, mainly consisting of mentors and graduates from the 'Next-Generation Security Leader Training Program (BoB),' won first place at this year's Defcon International Hacking Conference.

The Defcon International Hacking Conference, established in 1993 by the famous hacker Jeff Moss, is the world's largest festival for hackers. It is the top hacking competition held during the Defcon event, a U.S. cybersecurity conference.

The ranking is determined by finding and patching vulnerabilities in servers provided to each team and earning points by successfully attacking other teams. This year, 263 teams participated in the preliminary round, and 12 teams advanced to the finals.

The finals were held from the 8th to the 11th of this year in Las Vegas, USA. The winning team of the Defcon International Hacking Conference gains the status of the world's top hackers.

All five domestic teams that advanced to the finals were composed of graduates and mentors from BoB, the nation's top ethical hacker training program.

BoB involves mentors who are top experts in information security providing customized education and team projects over approximately nine months. Participants in this program have achieved results such as winning the U.S. Defcon five times (2015, 2018, 2022?2024).

The MMM team consists of 50 members, including domestic team The Duck (29 members) made up of BoB lead mentor CEO Park Se-jun and graduates, as well as teams from the U.S. (PPP) and Canada (Maple Bacon). They have achieved three consecutive wins since 2022.

Ryu Je-myung, Director of the Network Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, "We will systematically implement the 'Cyber 100,000 Talent Development Plan,' actively nurturing elite white-hat hackers who operate on the front lines of cyberspace."