Young White-Hat Hackers from Across the Country Gather in Busan to Counter Cyberattacks on Shipbuilding and Ports

[Financial News] Young white-hat hackers from across the country will gather in Busan to compete in their ability to defend against cyberattacks targeting shipbuilding, ports, logistics, and manufacturing, key industries in the southeastern region.
Busan Metropolitan City Government announced on the 9th that it will host ‘2026 HACKSIUM Busan,’ a hacking defense competition based on scenarios involving the southeastern region’s specialized industries, at PIARK Art Hall in Yeongdo-gu for two days starting on the 11th.
The event is jointly hosted by Busan Metropolitan City Government, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), and organized by the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency and the Southeast Regional Information Security Cluster.
Now in its second year, the competition was organized to identify local information security talent, strengthen their capabilities, and train practical white-hat hackers.
The competition is open to university and graduate students nationwide, who compete in teams of four. Following an online preliminary round held on the 8th of last month, 100 participants from 25 teams advanced to the finals.
The finals will be conducted as a live-fire exercise, a practical simulation in which participants defend against real-time attacks in actual system and network environments.
In particular, the competition will recreate real-world defense scenarios involving strategic industries in the southeastern region, including shipbuilding, ports, manufacturing, and logistics. Participants will carry out hacking and defense missions based on assumed conditions at actual industrial sites.
A total of five teams will be selected based on the results and awarded certificates and prize money.
During the competition, a public experience zone will also operate, offering activities that both citizens and finalists can join, including finding phishing emails, checking password security, and practical lock-picking.
Kim Dong-hyun, Director of the Future Technology Strategy Bureau at the city government, said, "I hope this competition will serve as a valuable opportunity to identify security-vulnerability scenarios in the southeastern region’s specialized industries and train practical white-hat hackers capable of responding to them."

[email protected] Kwon Byung-seok Reporter