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Busan to Host “2026 HACKSIUM Busan,” a Scenario-Based Cyber Defense Competition for Specialized Industries in the Southeastern Region

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, will host “2026 HACKSIUM Busan,” a cyber defense competition based on scenarios involving specialized industries in the southeastern region, for two days from September 11 to 12 at P.ARK Art Hall in Yeongdo-gu.

The competition is hosted by Busan Metropolitan City, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency, and organized by the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency and the Southeast Information Security Cluster.

First launched last year and now in its second year, the competition was established to discover local cybersecurity talent, strengthen participants’ capabilities, and foster practice-ready white-hat hackers.

The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students nationwide and is conducted in teams of four. Following an online preliminary round held on August 8, a total of 25 teams comprising 100 participants advanced to the finals.

In the preliminary round, participants competed by solving vulnerability challenges in a problem-solving, or Jeopardy, format across a variety of cybersecurity fields, including web security, program analysis, data recovery, and decryption.

Based on the preliminary results, a total of 25 teams—20 from across the country and five from the region—advanced to the finals for the final competition.

The finals will use a Live Fire format, a hands-on simulation training method in which participants defend against real-time attacks in actual system and network environments.

• ●Live Fire: A hands-on simulation training method in which participants defend against real-time attacks in actual system and network environments.

In particular, the competition will recreate practical defense scenarios based on strategic industries in the southeastern region, including shipbuilding, ports, manufacturing, and logistics. Participants will carry out hacking and defense missions modeled on actual industrial environments.

A total of five teams will be selected based on the competition results and awarded certificates and cash prizes.

The Grand Prize-winning team will receive the Minister of Science and ICT Award and KRW 5 million in prize money. The Top Excellence Award-winning team will receive the Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City Award and KRW 3 million, while the Excellence Award-winning team will receive the President of the Korea Internet & Security Agency Award and KRW 1 million.

Two teams receiving Encouragement Awards will be presented with the President of the Busan IT Industry Promotion Agency Award and the President of Gyeongnam Technopark Award, respectively, and each team will receive KRW 500,000 in prize money.

During the competition, a public experience zone will also be operated for both members of the public and finalists.

Located near the exit of ARTE MUSEUM, the experience zone will offer a variety of activities through which visitors can directly experience the importance of cybersecurity, including identifying phishing emails, checking password security, and hands-on lockpicking.

• ●Lockpicking: A technique for unlocking a lock without a key by using tools to manipulate its internal pins and other components.

Kim Dong-hyun, Director-General of the Future Technology Strategy Bureau at Busan Metropolitan City, said, “We hope that ‘2026 HACKSIUM Busan’ will provide a valuable opportunity to identify security vulnerability scenarios in specialized industries across the southeastern region and foster practice-ready white-hat hackers capable of responding proactively to them.”

He added, “We will continue to provide support so that Busan can host an even larger cyber defense competition in the future.”