HALON: hack an educational institution
Are you a student or staff member with a hacker’s mindset? And do you want to make the Dutch education system more cyber-resilient? Then HALON is for you! During this celebratory 5th edition, you’ll compete against other teams to find vulnerabilities at various educational institutions.
- Wageningen University & Research
About HALON
HALON (Hack Al het Onderwijs in Nederland) is a hacking event for education, by education. With your team of up to 3 people, you will search for vulnerabilities at various Dutch educational and research institutions in secondary and higher education. By finding vulnerabilities, you will contribute to the cyber resilience of these institutions. The organisation is in the hands of SURF, the ICT partnership for education and research. We ensure proper handling of found vulnerabilities.
For whom?
HALON is intended for students and staff at universities, universities of applied sciences and vocational colleges. Experience shows that HALON is most enjoyable if you already have some practical hacking skills. Perhaps you’ve taken a course on web security, or you take part in CTFs.
How does it work?
To help you get started, on the day of the event you’ll be told which targets (educational institutions) you’re allowed to hack and what scope (IP addresses) they’ve made available. You’ll also receive nmap scan results for that scope, so you can easily select targets. You’ll then work with your team and decide for yourselves how to proceed. For example, you could prepare to exploit a misconfiguration that’s common in a popular software stack, or delve into an application where security seems to have been somewhat overlooked during implementation.
As well as having a fun day out with fellow hackers, the main aim is to gain experience and improve your hacking skills. It’s no big deal if you don’t find any vulnerabilities! The organisers will be on hand to answer any quick questions.
Have you never hacked before, but do the points above ring a bell?
Even so, you’re very welcome to come along and see how far you can get. Important disclaimer: the organisers aren’t equipped to provide intensive guidance. You’re welcome to ask questions, of course, but there won’t be anyone constantly available to take you by the hand and explain what the next step might be and how to carry it out technically.
Special HALON edubadge (eduID required!)
If you take part in this celebratory 5th anniversary edition, you’ll receive a special edubadge. This is a digital certificate that shows you’ve acquired certain skills – in this case, hacking skills. You can share this badge on LinkedIn, for example. You can also show (future) employers that you’ve taken part in HALON. To claim this badge, you’ll need an eduID. Don’t have an eduID yet? Apply for one here.
Programme
| 9:30 | Walk-in with coffee and tea |
| 10:00 | Welcome |
| 10:30 | Start hacking |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 13:30 | Continue hacking |
| 16:00 | End of hacking, drinks and jury deliberation |
| 17:30 | Award ceremony |
| 18:15 | Time to go home |
Put together a team and sign up
- Put together a team of up to 3 people. This can be students, employees or a combination of these. You may also form a team with participants from other educational institutions.
- Don't have a team but still want to participate? Sign up, we will make sure you are assigned to a team on the day.
Important:
- Each team member must register separately with the e-mail address of the institution at which they study or work (on the registration form, choose the option Login with SURFconext)
- Mention the team name in the comments field in the registration form
- The deadline to register for HALON is 5 October 2026.
Location
This year, we will be hosted by Wageningen University & Research (WUR). Further details about the venue will follow.
HALON: hack an educational institution
- Wageningen University & Research