History
HACKINT – (HAK int) n. Intelligence gathering performed through hacking.
History:
Cyber competitions, conventions, and training classes can be expensive and difficult to attend especially for military personnel. While the government sometimes pays for members to attend these events it is not generally available to everyone. Noticing that many military members around Ramstein Air Base were interested in cyber but unable to attend events to learn more about it, Robert decided to create something locally. In February 2012 the idea was born to start an event to bring together individuals passionate about the cyber domain to showcase skills and educate each other on Ramstein Air Base. As a member on the AFCEA Chapter 158 Executive Board, Robert asked if there would be any interest in creating a cyber competition sponsored by AFCEA that would be held at their annual Summer Technology Expo. The AFCEA board members were excited about the idea of this event and encouraged Robert to create it and see it through. Met with support from the local community including members of the 86th Communications Squadron, as well as from members across the Air Force (including Jonathan Ketchum, Paul Brandau, and Jeremy Sparks), the planning began. The first hackINT event was the Fundamentals of Hacking class held on Ramstein Air Base. The class taught members in the community about the fundamentals of hacking and BackTrack while testing the server running the King-of-the-Hill style competition that was used for the Summer Tech Expo.
The King-of-the-Hill competition took place July 16-18th at the Ramstein Officer’s Club during the AFCEA Summer Tech Expo. There, teams from around the community competed to showcase skills to include computer exploitation, attack, defense, and forensics. This event was followed the next year and incorporated a larger focus on digital forensics and malware analysis into the competition; the competition also directly followed a 4 day long training event that saw 30 members in attendance. hackINT is not a corporation or business; it is not considered non-profit or profit bearing. The group is simply that, a group that will continue to grow and is always in need of passionate individuals.
Mission Statement:
To bring together passionate individuals in the fields of hacking, defense, intelligence, and forensics to freely train and enjoy the subject material. “Always learning, always teaching.”
Skill Focuses:
Hacking comes in a wide variety of forms including exploit development, computer attack, social engineering, forensics, and more. The true meaning of hacking though is thinking outside of the normal, challenging normal mindsets and opinions, and creatively tackling daily issues. To narrow the scope of hackINT the skill sets focused most are: intelligence gathering, exploitation, defense, and forensics. While these are the primary focus, other skill sets such as lock-picking, computer programming, and “fuzzy” talks are welcomed at hackINT. The truth of the matter is that much of hackINT is a crowd-sourced effort to education and advocacy for a more positive use of the word hacker.
