London, UK: MWR InfoSecurity has confirmed that it has designed this year’s HackFu to allow an additional 100 players – from all walks of life, to participate. These remote delegates can take part virtually from anywhere around the world, providing additional support to the 100 delegates on the ground, helping teams crack puzzles and solve clues to complete the quest.
Having previously incarcerated participants in a decommissioned prison, and converted a gothic mansion in Gloucestershire into Wild West town, this year HackFu will be hosted at the fictional hapless cyber academy – The Cyber Corps!
Martyn Ruks, Technical Director at MWR expands, “HackFu is more than just a series of hacking challenges – it’s an immersive experience and attendees don’t just take part but become the characters in the story. While the main emphasis is learning the vital skills needed to deflect the blended cyber-attacks that organisations face daily, we also want it to be an enjoyable experience. This year we're hoping to have a bit of fun with our theme and to use it to illustrate different teaching and training styles. There will also be a few twists and turns along the way and the scenario will help us with our storytelling, but we'll be keeping those secret until the event itself."
To ensure HackFu delivers on the events key objectives, participation at the event itself has to be restricted to 100 people. However, MWR is keen to expand beyond the physical limitations of the site hence the recruitment of remote players. Similarly to the physical event, challengers will need to compete in a series of online games and puzzles to help the teams accomplish their mission. To secure their spot on one of the remote teams all people need to do is apply, with applicants being accepted on a first come first served basis.
Martyn confirms, “The challenge to win physical places at HackFu closed this week and we’ve had an overwhelming response, with applicants twice that of last year. Having the ability to offer an additional 100 places, by introducing the new remote participation component, will mean we can include players from around the world and from all walks of life - students, those in parallel industries and generally anyone wanting to break into the industry. Those competing remotely will be organised into teams and given access to some puzzles and challenges to solve remotely. These will range from non-technical through to those with heavy technical aspects so a range of skills and capabilities will be tested and a wide range of participants can take part. Both physical and virtual players will need to collaborate and work together as a team to be successful.”