The Standoff at PHDays VII: hello IoT and hackable objects, goodbye flags

Last year's PHDays was host to a spirited contest between hackers and defenders at PHDays VI СityF: The Standoff. The field of battle was a virtual city: the hackers attacked the city with all available methods, while teams of defenders and security operations centers (SOCs) tried to thwart them. This shakeup in contest format captured the participants' imaginations, so we have taken things even further this year. At PHDays VII, the main contest will be The Standoff, and the overall theme for PHDays is The Standoff: Enemy Inside. The organizers promise more attack vectors, more objects to defend and attack, and no more flags to capture.

We invite hackers, defenders, and SOCs to take part—although who's to say that there are only three sides to this story? Events will unfold in the same virtual place as last year, but the city itself has been significantly expanded. Hackers and defenders can run wild with a telecom company, сombined heat and power plant, office complex, and—new to this year—a large number of IoT devices. Even PHDays visitors will be involved in the game.

During the game, teams will be able to do anything that is not forbidden by the rules. The rules themselves have been changed as well: defenders now are restricted by a budget. Each team of defenders is given the same amount of game currency, with which they can purchase security solutions from a local distributor or procure SOC monitoring services. Detailed rules for The Standoff have been published by the organizers.

If you're interested in joining in on the fun at The Standoff, write us at phd@ptsecurity.com. The application deadline is April 3, 2017. Don't forget that participation in The Standoff is open to PHDays guests, Internet users attending via PHDays Everywhere, and those who would like to try out particular assignments (such as hacking an office complex).

The forum's partners are Microsoft, IBM, Infotecs, R-Vision, Solar Security and Axoft; the business partners is MONT; among technology partners are Cisco, CompTek, ARinteg, Qrator, and Wallarm; the Standoff partners are PaloAlto, ICL System technologies, Beyond Security; the Standoff participants are Informzaschita, Advanced Monitoring, Jet Infosystems and CROC; the general information partner is the news agency TASS.