The Hacker Games

The Hacker Games

Got what it takes to become a #VeracodeHackerGames Champion?
March 15- 26, 2021

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Cyberattacks happen every 39 seconds, often resulting in valuable time lost and millions of dollars in damages for companies . But how are hackers getting in? We have a pest problem in programming: no less than 76% of applications are plagued by at least one security bug.

Safeguarding software against the constant barrage of attacks might seem grueling on the surface, but it’s not. Learning to write more secure code puts coders like you on the frontline defense against damaging breaches – and earns you that Rockstar developer status fresh out of school.

Enter: The Hacker Games! In this two-week competition, student coders-of-the-future work to find and fix dangerous security flaws as quickly and efficiently as possible. Only one team can emerge victorious, but all participants score valuable skills that they can carry through their coding careers.

Are you up for it?

The Challenge

The game is simple, but the stakes are high. Over the course of two weeks, teams from participating universities in the U.S. and U.K. will solve as many challenges (“labs”) as they can to score as many points as possible. Contestants explore practical examples of real-world threats, tasked with exploiting and patching apps in contained environments.

The Arena

No mines here. Just your everyday risky security flaws and dangerous vulnerabilities lurking beneath the code, and it's your job to find them. Once registered, participants get in on the games by accessing Veracode Security Labs Enterprise Edition – a hands-on training platform that challenges developers (and developers-in-training) to solve real-world examples of exploits they’ll face on the job. Work to remediate vulnerabilities that plague real containerized applications in your languages of choice, fine-tuning the strategies and skills that are critical to modern application security.

The Prizes

Winners may not get to live in the Victors’ Village, but participating schools and students have the chance to walk away with worthy prizes:

  • A $10,000 donation to the first-place school
  • A $5,000 donation to the second-place school
  • $500 Amazon gift card for each 1st place team member
  • $200 Amazon gift card for each 2nd place team member
  • Complimentary software for participating schools

The Players

Are you a developer of tomorrow? Then you’re in good company. We’re kicking off our inaugural Hacker Games with capable teams of Computer Science and Cybersecurity students from the following universities who are on the path to help change the world through innovative (and secure) code:

Want to join in but don’t see your school? Please email [email protected] with your University name to be invited to future events and jump into the conversation online using the hashtag #VeracodeHackerGames. Follow the progress on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also sign up for a complimentary version of Veracode Security Labs and start practicing early for the next competition.

  Total Labs Completed Time Spent (min)

1st Place 🏆

Warwick University

Warwick University

21,640 1,854 7,626

2nd Place 🎉

Tufts University

Tufts University

19,670 1,708 7,590

3rd Place 🎉

Queen's University

Queen's University Belfast

19,550 1,693 12,135
University of York

University of York

15,450 1,326 10,932
University of Virginia's Picture

University of Virginia

9,740 862 6,768
Stonehill College

Stonehill College

4,620 426 2,927
University of Birmingham

University of Birmingham

3,440 301 1,114
Northeastern University

Northeastern University

1,580 150 896
Indiana University

Indiana University

1,350 126 1,871
  Last Updates: Mar 26, 5:10 PM EST    

Get Involved

Will your team emerge as victor in first-ever Hacker Games? We can’t wait to find out. Tune in to the competition on social media by following the hashtag #VeracodeHackerGames and check back on Friday March 26th for the winners!
May the flaws be ever in your favor.

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