The second edition of HALON was a success: 71 vulnerabilities found

Strengthening digital resilience in education and research

The aim of HALON (Hack Al het Onderwijs Nederland) is to further improve the digital resilience of education and research. Starting with the institutions that were brave enough to open up (part of) their infrastructure to the participants' sleuthing. But ultimately, of course, the whole sector benefits from the proceeds of HALON.

Playfully improving your IT skills

For students and staff in education and research, HALON - this year hosted by Windesheim University of Applied Sciences - is a great opportunity to improve their IT skills in a fun and playful way. At the same time, they contribute to a safer digital education and working environment. For themselves, but also for their fellow students and colleagues. Nick, a business analytics student at the VU, says afterwards, "I'm glad it wasn't so easy to find vulnerabilities, it does put my mind at ease".

Finding a nice vulnerability

HvA students Twan, Patrick and Teun regularly participate in hacking events: ''Last week we participated in another hacking event. We hope to find a nice vulnerability here too and maybe win a prize this time". Check out the HALON Hall of Fame to see if Twan, Patrick and Teun actually won a prize. Here you can also find the winners of previous editions.

Meeting the community

Besides for winning prizes, several cyber security students say they participate in HALON to gain practical experience and get better at their profession. But they also find it important to meet the community during HALON, which allows them to expand their network.

Taking a critical look at your own website

The targets of this second edition of HALON have different reasons for participating. "IT work is human work and making a mistake is in a small corner. Moreover, it is important to learn to look critically at your own infrastructure. For this, HALON is a nice initiative that makes our network safer and better," explains David Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at UU.

Winners 2023

There were prizes to be won in four categories in 2023:

1. First vulnerability found: team CF2BrCl
   
   Joost Grunwald, Aidan Stephenson, Esther
2. Most vulnerabilities found across all participating networks: team Loading...
   
   Patrick Kuin, Teun van der Ploeg, Twan Terstappen
3. Most advanced vulnerability found: team I am not a robot
   
   Cagri Atik, Harm Roukema, Mark
4. Most creative method of finding a vulnerability: team Hackze
   
   Thomas de Jong, Selma Meijering, Remco van der Meer

Watch the atmospheric impression of HALON 2023