Matthew Nelson
Naval Sea Systems Command will conduct a virtual competition that seeks to present teams of cyber and technology professionals with challenges faced by the U.S. Navy.
The HACKtheMACHINE Prize Challenge is slated to run from March 23 to 26 and will feature three tracks that will test the competing teams' capabilities in 3D manufacturing, data science and cybersecurity, NAVSEA said Thursday.
In the first track, the participants will try to breach the Grace Maritime Cyber Testbed and disable a potential Navy cybersecurity monitoring environment tool while competing with hackers in a capture-the-flag style event.
The teams will develop algorithms to support modeling and analysis of COVID-19 crisis-derived games under the second track. NAVSEA will also challenge the competitors to use metallic 3D printing processes to speed up the implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies.
Winning teams will receive up to $95,000 in prizes and may secure the opportunity to receive contracts from the Navy.
"It's our responsibility to keep the Navy's ships and systems secure from attacks from malicious actors, and events like this help keep us abreast of the level and scope of threats we're facing," said Rear Adm. Jason Lloyd, chief engineer and deputy commander for ship design, integration, naval engineering and logistics at NAVSEA.
