On Monday 30 September 2024, the municipality of The Hague will be organizing the hacking competition Hâck The Hague for the sixth time in the Atrium City Hall. This year it will be a special edition with a focus on operational technology. 

In the Atrium City Hall specialized honest hackers will be challenged to find vulnerabilities in the physical resources of the municipality.

As the international city of Peace & Justice, cybersecurity is an important prerequisite for the municipality of The Hague. With regular internal checks, they continuously work on our digital security and resilience against cyber-attacks.

Operational technology
During this unique edition of the hacking competition, honest hackers will search for vulnerabilities in operational technology and related hardware.

This includes physical components such as charging stations for electric cars, movable bridges, traffic control systems, the camera management system, the walkie-talkies of employees on the street and laptops. It is extremely important that the municipality protect these resources.

The systems that are tested are also accessible to hostile parties. During Hâck The Hague they try to gain insight into possible weak spots in a safe and controlled manner. When a vulnerability is found, they can immediately use it to make environments worldwide safe if they use the same OT. OT is hardware and software that monitors or controls industrial equipment, assets and processes, such as software that controls robots in a factory.

The participating hackers must agree to the Rules of Engagement in advance and adhere to the Responsible Disclosure policy.

Participating hackers
This year, the municipality of The Hague will invite a select group of honest hackers to Hâck The Hague because it is a very specialized form of hacking and we only have a limited number of places available.

The group will be a combination of professional hackers and students. The hackers will work together in mixed groups to hack the operational systems within the municipality.

The group that ultimately qualifies for a prize will present the vulnerability found to the public, consisting of (participating) hackers and suppliers of the systems within the municipality of The Hague.

Review Hâck The Hague 2023
During the previous hacking competition in 2023, 66 vulnerabilities were discovered by 116 hackers present at Spui. The participating suppliers immediately benefited from these findings for their applications and were able to request additional information from the hackers if necessary. They already gained insight into the vulnerability found during the hacking competition. In some cases, the problem could be resolved on the same day. This not only made the systems of the municipality of The Hague more secure, but also the systems of their other customers.

www.hackthehague.com