CRL Cognitive Research Labs, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Hideto Tomabechi) will again sponsor the category of the high school hacking contest picoCTF, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, which ranks number one worldwide in the fields of cybersecurity and AI. Following last year’s great success, we will offer Japan-specific team awards for this year’s contest, picoCTF 2023, held in March 2023.
Cognitive Research Lab Hosts Student White Hat Hacker Competition CognitiveHack Japan 2023 ~ Establishing a Special Award Division for Japanese Participants in the picoCTF 2023 Organized by Carnegie Mellon University CyLab~
Cognitive Research Lab, Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo, CEO: Hideto Tomabechi) will again sponsor the category of the high school hacking contest picoCTF, developed by Carnegie Mellon University, which ranks number one worldwide in the fields of cybersecurity and AI. Following last year’s great success, we will offer Japan-specific team awards for this year’s contest, picoCTF 2023, held in March 2023.
In 2022, approximately 30 schools participated, including Kaisei Junior High School, Tsukuba University Junior High School, Nada Junior High School, Musashi Junior High School, Oin Junior High School, Shibuya Education Academy Makuhari Junior High School, and Gakugei University Senior High School.
Increasing Cybersecurity Threats and the Need for Advanced Security Talent with the increasing complexity of cybersecurity threats, the societal demand for discovering and nurturing cybersecurity talent is rising. Students participating in picoCTF can develop practical cybersecurity skills by tackling challenges set by top- level hackers in a gamified format.
The contest, held from March 15 to 29, is open to a wide range of students, from those already learning programming and looking to test their skills to those who want to learn hacking techniques from scratch. Participation is possible individually or as a team from school clubs or programming classes.
By expanding this contest domestically, Cognitive Research Lab aims to increase the number of young cybersecurity professionals in Japan and enhance their skills.
Twitter Account: @japanCTF
Rising Cyber Threats and the Key to Developing Advanced Security Personnel: “Hacking Contest CTF”
With the increasing sophistication of cyber threats, national-level military cyber terrorism, cybercrimes targeting cryptocurrencies, and hacking of government institutions are on the rise. There have also been cyber attacks on Japan, possibly linked to the current unrest in Ukraine. The cultivation of highly skilled cybersecurity personnel is becoming a national imperative to address national security and critical economic security issues.
In this societal context, Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions are gaining attention for discovering and nurturing cybersecurity talent. CTF is an abbreviation for “Capture-the-Flag,” a computer security competition also referred to as a “hacking contest” or “hacker contest.” Participants use computer science knowledge and techniques such as reverse engineering and cryptanalysis to find flags hidden by the organizers within computers. In recent years, CTF has become a global educational method for learning both cyber defense and cyber attack techniques.
Carnegie Mellon University, Ranked #1 in Cybersecurity and AI, Develops “picoCTF” to Discover and Nurture the Next Generation of Hackers
Carnegie Mellon University, ranked number one in cybersecurity and AI by U.S. News & World Report, has been running picoCTF, a hacking contest for middle and high school students, since 2013. The contest incorporates gamification principles, allowing participants to enjoy solving challenges set by top-level hackers while learning about security technologies, resulting in high learning efficacy.
CognitiveHack Japan: Diverse Team Awards for Japanese Participants
Cognitive Research Labs, Inc. has a category sponsor agreement with Carnegie Mellon University and promotes picoCTF within Japan. For the 2023 contest in March, we will establish “CognitiveHack Japan 2023” to recognize participants from Japan.
CognitiveHack Japan Awards
- Overall Winner: 50,000 JPY
Awarded to the team with the highest points among the winners of the middle school, high school, and university divisions. Combining division victories can result in a total of 100,000 JPY, with female winners potentially receiving up to 150,000 JPY. - Middle School Division Winner: 50,000 JPY
- High School Division Winner: 50,000 JPY
- University Division Winner: 50,000 JPY
- Female Division Winner: 50,000 JPY
- School Awards (Middle School, High School): Certificate of Achievement
For Students Who Want to Test Their Skills or Learn from Scratch:
Entry Methods To participate in the contest, teams must register on the special Japanese site “CognitiveHack Japan” and create an account on the Carnegie Mellon University site “picoCTF-CMU Cybersecurity Competition” to complete the contest challenges.
Registration Process
- Register Username on picoCTF: https://play.picoctf.org/login
- Register for picoCTF 2023
- Register on CognitiveHack Japan Google Form (team leader registers all team members): https://forms.gle/2ms4vKobbMT7w1A87
- To register for School Awards, the team leader (student) registers the team: https://forms.gle/nJrWGsVD1PqxWy6K8
Official Site: https://cognitivehack-jp.cognitivectf.com/ Eligibility for Awards
- Target: Students enrolled in Japanese middle schools, high schools, technical colleges, junior colleges, or universities (as of the end of March 2023). Students graduating this spring can also participate.
- Team Composition: 1-5 members per team. Team members do not have to be from the same school.
- Participation Fee: Free
- Others: Graduate students and professionals can also participate, but are not eligible for awards.
Contest Schedule
CognitiveHack Japan Registration Starts: Wednesday, February 8, 2023
PicoCTF Registration Starts: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 (Registration possible until the end of the contest period)
picoCTF/CognitiveHack Japan Contest Period: March 15-29, 2023 (Japan time)
For the latest information, follow the Twitter account @japanCTF.
Company Overview:
Cognitive Research Lab, Inc. Cognitive Research Lab, Inc. was established in 1988, at a time when terms like “cognitive science” and “cognitive computing” were not widely known, as one of the few foundational research institutes in Japan. The company focuses on “real” foundational research (science) and developing platforms that will shape society 50 years into the future (engineering).
CEO Hideto Tomabechi studied under Roger Schank, known as the father of artificial intelligence, during his Fulbright scholarship at Yale University Graduate School. He later transferred to the doctoral program in computational linguistics at Carnegie Mellon University, regarded as one of the world’s top institutions in computer science, where he became the first Japanese person to earn a PhD in computational linguistics, and only the fourth person in the U.S. to do so. Since 2008, he has been a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University’s CyLab and a visiting professor at George Mason University’s C4I and Cyber Research Center, a major hub for U.S. cyber defense research. He is also a visiting professor at Waseda University’s Nano-Life Innovation Research Institute, focusing on applied research in next-generation cyber resilience.
Corporate Page: https://www.crl.co.jp/
Wantedly Page: https://www.wantedly.com/companies/crl
We are also recruiting engineers, so please contact us if you are interested.