The global cyber security competition Whitehat Grand Prix 2018, themed Legends of Viet Nam, is scheduled to begin on August 18.

According to deputy head of the Authority of Information Security under the Ministry of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung, the competition is designed to promote human resources development in information safety and security.

The content of Whitehat Grand Prix 2018 will be around 18 Vietnamese legends in a bid to promote the country’s culture.

IT engineers behind the content come from the Authority of Information Security, Viettel’s cyber security centre, and BKAV Corporation, among others.

The online qualification round of the event will run for a straight 24 hours on August 18 and 19.

Ten outstanding teams who survive the round will be invited to gather in Ha Noi in mid-October to compete directly for eight consecutive hours. The final round will cover the challenge of overcoming hardware security breaches.

Online registration has opened at whitehatvn.com starting this week.

The first-prize winner will pocket VND230 million (US$10,000), while the second and third will go home with VND45 million and VND25 million, respectively.

The first WhiteHat Grand Prix was held in 2014. It became an annual international competition the following year, drawing the participation of leading cyber security teams from all over the world. It attracted 453 teams from 62 nations and territories last year. — VNS