Saudi Arabia Sets Guinness World Record in CTF IT Security Competition at Black Hat MEA

Many participants praised the event as a valuable platform for practical training and skill development in cybersecurity. - SPA
Many participants praised the event as a valuable platform for practical training and skill development in cybersecurity. - SPA
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Saudi Arabia Sets Guinness World Record in CTF IT Security Competition at Black Hat MEA

Many participants praised the event as a valuable platform for practical training and skill development in cybersecurity. - SPA
Many participants praised the event as a valuable platform for practical training and skill development in cybersecurity. - SPA

Saudi Arabia has earned a Guinness World Record for hosting the world's largest Capture The Flag (CTF) computer security competition during the Black Hat Middle East and Africa (MEA) cybersecurity event.
The competition tasked participants with solving simulated cybersecurity challenges in a virtual environment.

These tasks were categorized into risk-based, attack and defense, and hybrid scenarios, reflecting real-world cybersecurity threats, SPA reported.
Many participants praised the event as a valuable platform for practical training and skill development in cybersecurity.
The CTF competition, one of the largest events at Black Hat MEA, provided participants an opportunity to demonstrate their ethical hacking expertise while honing their skills in protecting systems and data. This initiative aligns with the Saudi Vision 2030 goal of advancing the Kingdom as a global leader in cybersecurity innovation and resilience.



Customers at this Starbucks Can Sip Coffee and Observe a Quiet North Korean Village

Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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Customers at this Starbucks Can Sip Coffee and Observe a Quiet North Korean Village

Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Visitors at a newly opened Starbucks store as North Korea’s Kaephung county is seen in the background at the observatory of the Aegibong Peace Ecopark in Gimpo, South Korea, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Coffee drinkers can sip their beverages and view a quiet North Korean mountain village from a new Starbucks at a South Korean border observatory.
Customers have to pass a military checkpoint before entering the observatory at Aegibong Peace Ecopark, which is less than a mile from North Korean territory and overlooks North Korea’s Songaksan mountain and a nearby village in Kaephung county, The Associated Press said.
The tables and windows face North Korea at the Starbucks, where about 40 people, a few of them foreigners, came to the opening Friday.
The South Korean city of Gimpo said hosting Starbucks was part of efforts to develop its border facilities as a tourist destination and said the shop symbolizes “robust security on the Korean Peninsula through the presence of this iconic capitalist brand.”
The observatory is the key facility at Aegibong park, which was built on a hill that was a fierce battle site during the 1950-53 Korean War. The park also has gardens, exhibition and conference halls and a war memorial dedicated to fallen marines.
Gimpo and other South Korean border cities like Paju have been trying to develop their border sites as tourist assets, even as tensions grow between the war-divided Koreas.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been trying to raise pressure on South Korea and threatening to attack his rival with nuclear weapons if provoked. North Korea has also engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against South Korea, such as flying trash-laden balloons into the South and disrupting GPS signals from border areas near the South’s biggest airport.
Kaephung county is believed to be one of the possible sites from where North Korea has launched thousands of balloons over several months.
South Korea’s military said Friday that the North flew dozens more balloons overnight and that some trash and leaflets landed around the capital Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi province.