Matrix Cup: Cultivating Top Hacking Talent, Keeping Close Hold on Results

Matrix Cup aligns with China’s strategy to enhance its offensive and defensive cyber capabilities by increasing the volume of vulnerabilities available domestically and fostering young hacking talent.

The Natto Team is honored to invite Eugenio Benincasa, a senior researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), to co-author this post. Eugenio’s report “From Vegas to Chengdu: Hacking Contests, Bug Bounties, and China’s Offensive Cyber Ecosystem” is a must-read to understand how China's  offensive cyber ecosystem thrives by leveraging civilian hackers who excel in major hacking competitions and bug bounty programs.

China’s brand-new hacking contest, Matrix Cup, was inaugurated in May 2024 in Qingdao, Shandong Province, and introduced as a “high-profile and large-scale cybersecurity competition in the Eastern Hemisphere.” This is no exaggeration. Organized by 360 Digital Security Group and Beijing Huayunan Information Technology Co. (also known as VUL.AI), the Matrix Cup brings together China’s highly influential actors from academia and the private sector, featuring various types of challenges and offering substantial mon…