They’re always one step ahead. They think far in advance and act as if they can predict anything. Each measure of information protection that makes modern companies proud, in turn makes the hackers smile. The modern incarnation of Moriarty’s evil genius is able to penetrate each information system repeating floutingly “Miss me?” even if its image cannot be recognized or even seen. In some way, billions of dollars that are supposed to make information impregnable only promote a more active development of hacking. Ukraine cannot be defined as the most progressive country in the aspect of cyber security, but the concern made it possible to gather “the top guns of the cybersecurity scene”, as well as other parts of the world, to address the security issues and to share the precious experience in this regard. The decision was to fight black hat hackers with their own weapon – skills and experience.

HackIT is a unique phenomenon as it promotes mobilizing the collective efforts of the Eastern European white hat hackers aimed at defending the many-headed dragon of unethical hacking, which is becoming more and more powerful. In fact, this mythic creature works exactly the same way as in the fairy-tales for children, while one of the heads is lopped off, two other ones suddenly appear. The necessity to defeat the dragon and to make the notion of cybersecurity real and effective in the context of the modern information space has demonstrated the urgent need to give the specialists a chance to gather and create a new concept of protection that would finally outrun these hostile technologies. HackIT, which takes place in Kharkiv, cannot be defined as a traditional conference with the ceremonious declarations, it’s based on acquiring real skills that the participants develop and share. Workshops, competitions, reports, and battles take place throughout, and they will allow making a topical and clear idea of what is cyber espionage and the methods of it based on the latest issues that took place in this sphere.

One of the organizations that are directly related to the origins of the HackIT concept is the Hacken Ecosystem. The core mission of this company is to address the major cybersecurity issues that take place in the modern infosphere by utilizing the principles of ethical hacking. It sounds a bit as though Moriarty suddenly decided get involve in helping Inspector Lestrade to capture the small-time crooks, doesn’t it? At the same time, the idea of a legitimate assessment of computer software promoted strengthening of the cybersecurity by testing the vulnerabilities of the system. The founders of the Hacken Ecosystem were able to understand the essence of these security issues – each system has its vulnerabilities that can be discovered only by utilizing the methods of hackers. Penetration testing is one of the main methods applied by the Hacken Ecosystem, which transforms hacking technologies into something for a positive purpose. It can be defined as “part of that power which would the evil ever do, and ever does the good”, in this Faustian context, the power of Mephistopheles can be directly referred to the hacking methods used for the good. While the black hat hackers are willing to apply the latest technological achievements for their dark purposes, like Mephistopheles, the approaches of white hat hackers use them for the protection and security. This transformation of the “evil power” determines the necessity of sharing such visions with the Ukrainian and European professionals who do not realize the power they have not unlike a young jedi.

The HackIT conference correlates with the central mission of Hacken. Applying this personal approach to each customer by means of the individual bug bounty platform adapted to the specific needs, Hacken will enable IT companies to eliminate any kind of gaps within the cybersecurity. In turn, a new generation of white hat hackers is nurtured within the competition represented by HackIT, and the future of this concept is exceptionally promising.