PwC Vietnam holds Hack A Day 2024 to nurture IT and cybersecurity talents

The event featured a capture-the-flag (CTF) competition for undergraduates, alongside a cybersecurity conference.

This year, 12 teams from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City represented Vietnam in the CTF competition, among a total of 72 teams from across Asia-Pacific. Each team consisted of students from leading technology universities such as Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, RMIT University, and FPT University.

The competition took the teams through seven hacking challenges, including identity, AI, cloud, red team and blue team, threat intelligence and incident response, web, and binary and reverse engineering. Students had the opportunity to showcase their skills as they researched, identified, and executed strategic attacks to capture as many flags as possible.

The champion of this year’s competition was the cipis042402k team from the University of Information Technology in Ho Chi Minh City, while the 404_Not_Found team from the Vietnam Academy Of Cryptography Techniques had the highest score in Hanoi. Additionally, cipis042402k and the blackpinker team from the University of Science - Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City secured two spots in the top 10 regionally. The winning teams will receive internship opportunities at PwC alongside attractive prizes, demonstrating the company’s commitment to nurturing young talents, thereby contributing to the development of the IT and cybersecurity sector in Vietnam.

In parallel with the CTF competition, PwC Vietnam also hosted a cybersecurity conference during Hack A Day 2024, which included contributions from Fortinet, Alibaba Cloud International, Proofpoint, Cloud Ace-Google Cloud, and Netpoleon-Recorded Future. The conference brought together cybersecurity, IT, and cloud professionals, with the goal of enhancing businesses’ awareness about the importance of securing their digital identity, and updating the latest technologies and solutions to deal with related sophisticated cyber risks.

The conference offered a platform for industry experts to deliver insightful presentations on today's crucial cybersecurity topics, including zero-trust frameworks, identity governance, and threat detection and defence.

Pho Duc Giang, a partner of cybersecurity and data privacy services at PwC Vietnam, said, “In today's interconnected digital world, safeguarding identities is imperative to mitigate potential risks and vulnerabilities. Through Hack A Day, we aim to not only address pressing challenges but also drive innovation and foster a collaborative ecosystem that accelerates advancements in the cybersecurity sector in Vietnam.

"Moreover, to ensure a sustainable cybersecurity future, it is essential to develop meaningful cyber playgrounds for the next generation of cybersecurity professionals to practise their knowledge and skills. We believe that by participating in the competition, students will gain valuable experience that will help prepare them for rewarding careers in IT and cybersecurity.”

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