Network Security

Securing the backbone of the internet and beyond.

Focus Areas

Network security is the first line of defense. This track invites participants to build software that hardens infrastructure, optimizes protocol security, and provides visibility into network traffic at scale.

Zero Trust

Implementing 'never trust, always verify' architectures.

Infrastructure

Tools for securing cloud workloads and containerized systems.

Protocol Hardening

Improvements to TLS, DNS, and other core internet protocols.

Submission Ideas:

Custom IDS/IPS systems for niche protocols.

Tools for automated network topology mapping and risk assessment.

Privacy-preserving network monitoring solutions.

Blockchain-based decentralized identity for network access.

Hardened VPN/Overlay network implementations.

IoT device security managers.

Judging Criteria

Practicality

Is the tool deployable in a real-world network environment? Does it handle scale?

Protocol Depth

Does the project demonstrate a deep understanding of network protocols and their vulnerabilities?

Innovation

Does it offer a new way to solve old networking problems or tackle emerging ones?

Reliability

How robust is the code? Does it fail gracefully under network stress?