CSA ups the ante on virtual hackathon

The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) today announced that it has upped the ante, as no one has yet been able to hack the Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) network since the contest began on Monday.

For the virtual hackathon, registered participants from all over the world have been given the IP addresses of the target file server as well as the SDP components protecting them. This in effect simulates an ‘”insider attack” – modeled after a real world environment – on both private cloud and public cloud infrastructure.

Participants also have access to a reference SDP system to learn how the system works to plan their attack. The hackathon is built on a public cloud without any special protection except those provided by the Software Defined Perimeter. It helps validate the concept that software components can provide as much protection against network attacks as physical systems.

The first participant to successfully capture the target information on the protected server will receive an expenses paid trip to Black Hat USA 2014 as well as to DEF CON 22 conference (initially it was just DEF CON), including air and hotel, held in Las Vegas August 6-10, 2014.

“We believe the SDP is a fundamental change in how we approach securing networks, and are encouraged that no one has been able to hack the prototype yet,” said Bob Flores, judge of the event, former CTO of the CIA, and President and CEO at Applicology Incorporated. “We want to challenge any interested party, anywhere in the world, to test the security of an SDP network.”

The Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) Initiative is a CSA project aimed at developing an architecture for securing consumer devices, cloud infrastructure as well as the “Internet of Things”, using the cloud to create highly secure and trusted end-to-end networks between any IP addressable entities.

Full contest rules and registration are available at here. The hackaton will last until 3pm PST on February 27.