Autocrypt’s Red Team has won first place at the DEF CON 34 Car Hacking Village’s Capture the Flag (CTF) contest, finishing top of 83 teams in an event seen as a benchmark for automotive cybersecurity. Held in Las Vegas from 7 to 9 August 2026, the win marks Autocrypt’s first title since 2022, after a third-place finish last year.

Autocrypt became the first team to complete all challenges, securing first place within 25 hours of the 50-hour contest. Held at DEF CON since 2015, the CTF tests practical automotive hacking skills through real-world challenges spanning electronic control units, embedded boards and full vehicles.

Autocrypt’s researchers used multiple AI agents from the company’s proprietary security platform to identify vulnerabilities and analyse attack vectors simultaneously, while reviewing the AI’s findings and deciding next steps. The company says this human-AI collaboration pairs AI’s capacity to process large volumes of data with researchers’ experience and judgement.

In a statement, Duksoo Kim, Cofounder and Chief Executive of Autocrypt, said: “Winning the Car Hacking Village CTF reflects our cybersecurity expertise and hands-on experience across cryptography and vehicle environments. As the cybersecurity landscape increasingly incorporates autonomous AI agents, this achievement demonstrates how we can combine AI-driven analysis with expert judgement.” Autocrypt plans to extend the approach into vehicle vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.

Source: Autocrypt