The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is committed to strengthening joint cybersecurity defense capabilities between academic institutions and businesses operating within Taiwan’s science parks. In addition, the NSTC is committed to supporting Tainan Shalun Cyber Security Hub further develop an ecosystem for cybersecurity businesses. The National Applied Research Laboratories (NARLabs) National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) is responsible for executing NSTC policies, collaborating with NDS（Next Digital Security Cluster）, jointly holding the 2023 Cyber Guardian Grand Challenge, and promoting cybersecurity capacity within the Tainan Shalun Cyber Security Hub. Through these activities, the NSTC will be able to transfer more cybersecurity resources and defense expertise to academic institutions as well as businesses operating in Taiwan’s science parks. This will spur the development of Taiwan’s local private sector cybersecurity ecosystem while having a positive impact upon the entire cybersecurity field throughout the country.

The 2023 Cyber Guardian Grand Challenge (CGGC) served as a platform to celebrate the unsung heroes of cybersecurity. This competition was open to cybersecurity specialists of academic institutions as well as businesses operating in Taiwan’s science parks. In the end, Team “We Hope We Can Win” distinguished themselves from the rest of the competition’s cybersecurity talent and took home the grand prize of NT$100,000.

The CGGC included an online preliminary competition and an in-person final. The online preliminary was held on the NARLabs NCHC Cyber Defense Exercise Platform (CDX), which included a 36 hour Capture the Flag (CTF) contest. The finals were held at Floor A of Tainan Shalun NSTC Cybersecurity & Smart Technology R&D Building. This real-life test of cybersecurity defense capacities utilized the facilities and service platforms of NARLabs NCHC. For the competition, contestants had to be up to date on the latest cybersecurity defense techniques to protect their base’s servers from being compromised while showcasing their overall cybersecurity skills. In addition, the competition also jointly enhanced Taiwan’s cybersecurity capabilities by encouraging contestants to work together and stressing the concept of regional joint-defense and the sharing of cybersecurity intelligence.

In addition to the spirited competition, the CGGC also included a series of forums and activities called “Looking Out from Shalun Cyber Security Hub into The Future of Cybersecurity in 2024”. This series included successful cybersecurity startups such as ZUSO Generation CTO Ho Yi-Lin discussing the pros and cons of the latest cybersecurity red-team drills, renowned white hat hacker and Funny Systems Founder Mr. Kuon offering his reflections on zero-trust cybersecurity, and OWASP Taiwan Chapter Leader Henry Hu sharing OWASP views on cybersecurity software for supply chains.

NARLabs NCHC Director General Chau-lyan Chang stated that cybersecurity work is very challenging. As such, Director General Chang stated that NCHC is committed to training cybersecurity talent. These real-life competitions pROVide a platform to showcase the technical capacities of the academic and research community while bringing together experts dedicated to cybersecurity excellence. NCHC Network and Cyber Security Division Director Lee Boyi stated that NCHC hopes that this competition can become Taiwan’s first platform to facilitate progress in cybersecurity capacities and cybersecurity defense training. In addition, NCHC hopes that the competition will enhance Taiwan’s overall cybersecurity defense capabilities and competitive advantages in the private sector by inspiring business, academic, and research institutions to further invest in cybersecurity. NCHC will continue to organize these types of cybersecurity competitions to strengthen Taiwan’s overall defensive capacity in cybersecurity by promoting cooperation and innovation between industry, academia, and research.

2023 CGGC Final Results