[Events] Hack the DRONE Festival 2023

By Dain Oh, The Readable
Oct. 30, 2023 11:56PM GMT+9

The Korea Drone Security Association (KDSA) will host a drone hacking competition on December 1 at Kyung Hee University, Seoul.

To encourage preparedness in the race to defend drone systems against attacks from malicious actors, the KDSA will host its “Hack the DRONE Festival” this year.

The competition will give security experts the opportunity to prove their skills in identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities specific to the hacking of drones.

The preliminary round of the competition will run from November 1 through November 17, during which time participants will be challenged to complete a series of missions with the objective of reversing and analyzing drone systems. Participants will be awarded points for this task not solely on completing the missions, however. They must also detail the steps that led them to their results in a written report, with the most detailed reports receiving the highest scores.

The top five teams from the preliminary competition will qualify to compete in the final round, which will take place on December 1. In this challenge, participants will be tasked with engaging with and hacking into actual drones in full operation.

A total of 8,000,000 won (approximately $6,000) will be awarded to the top three teams in the name of the Minister of Science and ICT, the Director of the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), and the President of the Korea Information Security Industry Association.

“Our aim in holding this competition is to enhance our defensive capabilities in connection to the specific vulnerabilities of drones,” said Yu Young-yl, President of the KDSA and CEO of Teruten. “The KDSA strives to encourage drone security and related research by supporting experts working in the field, and we will continue to do so,” added Yu.

This event is co-organized by the cybersecurity company Teruten and the Graduate School of Security Convergence at Kyung Hee University.

ohdain@thereadable.co

The cover image of this article was designed by Areum Hwang. This article was copyedited by Arthur Gregory Willers.

Dain Oh is a distinguished journalist based in South Korea, recognized for her exceptional contributions to the field. As the founder and editor-in-chief of The Readable, she has demonstrated her expertise in leading media outlets to success. Prior to establishing The Readable, Dain was a journalist for The Electronic Times, a prestigious IT newspaper in Korea. During her tenure, she extensively covered the cybersecurity industry, delivering groundbreaking reports. Her work included exclusive stories, such as the revelation of incident response information sharing by the National Intelligence Service. These accomplishments led to her receiving the Journalist of the Year Award in 2021 by the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology, a well-deserved accolade bestowed upon her through a unanimous decision. Dain has been invited to speak at several global conferences, including the APEC Women in STEM Principles and Actions, which was funded by the U.S. State Department. Additionally, she is an active member of the Asian American Journalists Association, further exhibiting her commitment to journalism.