Georgia Tech Students Claim Victory at DEF CON’s Elite Hacking Competition

Year after year, some of the world’s best hackers gather at DEF CON in Las Vegas to put their skills to the test. None is more prominent than the annual Capture the Flag (CTF) competition, where elite cybersecurity teams compete to find vulnerabilities, exploit systems, and defend their own infrastructure.

This year, Team Blue Water – which features nine Georgia Tech participants –came out on top after three days of intense competition.

“I've competed in DEF CON CTFs for four years now,” said Ph.D. student Kevin Stevens. “After winning second place three years in a row, it's so rewarding to finally achieve first place with such a great team.”

Blue Water finished with 578,103 points, well ahead of second-place team 0x4b52, which scored 454,797 points. SuperDiceCodeLovers took third place with 425,686 points.

The results highlighted Georgia Tech’s strength in the competition. The first-, second-, and third-place teams all included Georgia Tech students or alumni.