SK Shielders announced on the 19th that it successfully concluded its internal hacking competition "Hack the Real" for company employees.
The competition was planned and organized by EQST, SK Shielders' white-hat hacker group, the largest in Korea. As the importance of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing grows across government and industry sectors, SK Shielders organized this event to strengthen capabilities in threat analysis from an attacker's perspective and develop response strategies.
Unlike typical hacking competitions that focus on puzzle-type problem-solving using vulnerabilities, this event designed missions around practical skills required of penetration testing consultants in the field. Problems reflected real security issues including analysis of recent breach incidents, financial sector security inspection techniques, mobile security solution bypasses, and AI/LLM service vulnerability analysis, allowing participants to assess their practical abilities.
Approximately 300 employees participated, demonstrating strong interest. The competition covered seven categories: web hacking, mobile hacking, AI/LLM, system hacking (Pwnable), browser security, IoT, and ransomware/reversing, with a total of 18 missions.
Participants performed missions by analyzing vulnerabilities and identifying attack techniques in each category before developing countermeasures, and were evaluated on comprehensive problem-solving abilities essential for security professionals.
Senior Associate Jeong-seop So from ICT Business Team 1 won the grand prize. So was highly recognized for demonstrating exceptional capabilities by participating across all categories and effectively developing sophisticated vulnerability analyses and hacking response strategies. "Category Excellence Awards" were given to employees who achieved outstanding results in each field, while a separate "Junior Award" was presented to new hires who recorded high scores.
Grand prize winner So said, "Through this competition, I was able to directly analyze the latest attack techniques, examine vulnerabilities from an attacker's perspective, and experience security blind spots firsthand. I will continue to consider how to provide secure services from a security standpoint and grow as an expert capable of effectively responding to cyber threats."
Kim Byung-moo, Executive Vice President and Head of Cybersecurity Division at SK Shielders, said, "This internal hacking competition went beyond verifying our employees' technical capabilities—it was a valuable opportunity for the entire organization to solidify the 'field-based security leadership' that SK Shielders pursues amid rapidly evolving threat environments. As AI and automation technologies are quickly being applied to security threats, we will continue research and practical training to proactively respond to changes and do our best to protect customer safety as an industry-leading company."