China's Tianfu Cup Hacking Contest Returns with Increased Secrecy and Government Oversight
The Tianfu Cup, a prominent hacking contest in China, has resumed in 2026 after a two-year hiatus, now under the oversight of China's Ministry of Public Security. The event, which took place on January 29-30, is marked by increased secrecy, with limited information available to the public. The competition targets a wide range of technologies, including smartphones, operating systems, cloud and virtualization products, and communication apps. Participants are tasked with demonstrating exploits such as remote code execution and privilege escalation. The contest also features new tracks focusing on AI agents identifying vulnerabilities and reproducing known exploits. Despite the event's return, the prize pool has significantly decreased to approximately $140,000, compared to previous years. 
