The Hacking Games

The difference between a cyber criminal and an ethical hacker is rarely talent; it's who got there first. Thomas Nance spent seven years as a Central Intelligence Agency CIA case officer before joining DarkWeb IQ, where his team, with U.S. Department of Justice approval, masquerades as ransomware gangs on the dark web to intercept compromised company access before criminals can use it. His team was live chatting with a hacker in Romania when law enforcement kicked in the door. The people Thomas finds on those forums stumbled into it through gaming, got good at it, and nobody showed them where else it could take them. That's not a criminal profile; it's what happens when nobody finds them first. Our CEO, Fergus Hay, sat down with Thomas at National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA)'s Disruption 26 in Pittsburgh and had one of the most eye-opening conversations we've recorded. Link to the full podcast in the comments. #EthicalHackers #NCFTA #Disruption26

There's a pretty obvious reason why there are 4.8 million unfilled cyber roles, and it's not for a lack of talent. A lot of the "entry-level" cyber roles live right now are asking for things like: • 2+ years of experience in a cyber role • Certifications: OSCP, CISSP, and CEH • A track record of published vulnerabilities or CVEs You can't even hold a full CISSP without around 5 years of experience, so calling any of that entry-level is a hell of a stretch. The talent is out there; it's just getting screened out by a checklist that never measures aptitude.

The Hacking Games entourage is travelling to Black Hat 2026, with an incredible panel closing out the conference on the Main Stage If anyone is in Vegas from August 1st and wants to catch up, please send me a message or find me there - I'll be the man putting on sun cream #TheHackingGames #LasVegas #Cybersecurity #Factor50

OpenAI reduced the safeguards on one of its models for testing, and it immediately broke out of its sandbox, found a zero-day nobody knew existed, and stole data from a live production database. Casual Tuesday for AI apparently. Now imagine a teenager who's spent years breaking systems for fun, with AI doing the heavy lifting. The barrier to a serious breach just got a lot lower. The question is whether you see it coming. That's what ACE is for. It detects hostile activity within your infrastructure without using software. Catch it early before it becomes a $10 million problem.

Two teenagers were sentenced yesterday for hacking Transport for London and stealing the personal data of millions of people. Why do they only get attention when it's too late? Our CEO, Fergus Hay, spoke with Sky News about the scale: 69% of teenagers across the UK and EU have committed a cybercrime, and 45% have committed serious financial crime, from identity theft to crypto and gaming currency fraud. Most of them don't realise they're committing a crime or the severity of their actions. They started with curiosity and the same thing every teenager wants: to be good at something and to be recognised for it. Right now, the first people to spot that talent and encourage it are the wrong ones who then aim it at crime. Many people ask after the fact: How can we prevent this?  The answer is: 1️⃣ Connect before you advise and get inside their world so they feel seen and will listen. 2️⃣ Talk safety through that connection, not a lecture.  3️⃣ Recognise their aptitude: Pattern recognition, persistence, curiosity, which are all great signals for a cyber career. 4️⃣ Point their aptitude somewhere before the wrong people do.  5️⃣ Give them a real path, entry-level roles and internships, so there's somewhere legitimate for them. We're pushing for real change, but we need your support.

Not quite, ChatGPT. You know how red team engagements sound great on paper, but you turn up, and half the scope is off limits? Black teaming is when your hands aren't tied, and there aren't rules killing the engagement before you even start. The only limit is how good you are. Dress code optional.

The school system has a view on how their brains work, and it isn't a compliment. Gabriel Olejnik,19, has been building security tools since he was 12 and founded his own cybersecurity company at 17 without ever going to university. He told us he'd probably be calling from a cell right now if things had gone slightly differently Lorne R. was identified by the UK government as elite cyber talent at 11, went through Cyber First, studied computer science and philosophy at Oxford, and still couldn't get a single company to hire her. She now builds the dataset that powers HAPTAI. Both neurodivergent and exactly what the cyber industry is desperately looking for, yet they were nearly missed. Our CEO, Fergus Hay, sat down with both of them and had one of the most honest conversations we've recorded. The system had years to work this out, and didn't. We did. Link to watch the full podcast in the comments.

It's easy for companies to offer box-ticking cybersecurity internships that aren't designed for those early on in their journey, which is why I asked future interns exactly what they'd benefit from. The feedback was eye-opening and consistent across the board! Here's a few bullets summarizing: 1️⃣ Mentorship and 1-on-1 calls with experienced professionals 2️⃣ Real-world experience, not just practice environments 3️⃣ Clear guidance on what to work on for career progression 4️⃣ To feel more confident in their ability and future Now it's time for The Hacking Games to follow through with this, which we'll be doing from August onwards with monthly internships for several roles. Stay tuned for announcements coming soon!

The Hacking Games is hiring for an exciting new team carrying out black team services for clients. What is Black Teaming: Most red team engagements hand you a target and tie your hands. Black teaming doesn't: it's an unconstrained, full-scope adversary simulation where the only limit is how good you are. If you're tired of engagements scoped down to nothing, this is where you actually get to breathe. Staying true to our mission, we won't hire based on your CV but on aptitude, so you just need to complete your HAPTAI profile, our signal engine, followed by a conversation with our Offensive Team Leader. Apply here: https://lnkd.in/eEQCYMBe

The issue with traditional cybersecurity hiring is that it focuses on the experience candidates have on their CVs and not their aptitude. That's why we're sponsoring the BPS Cyberpsychology Section Annual Conference 2026. Cyberpsychology sits at the intersection of human behaviour and digital security. It's the science that underpins how HAPTAI identifies cybersecurity aptitude through behavioural signals, psychological patterns, and decision-making under pressure.  Mark Loftus, one of the leading thinkers in cyberpsychology and Head of Psychology at The Hacking Games, will be speaking about why recruiters need to use tools like HAPTAI to recruit unconventional talent who already have the aptitude, just not the experience.  We hope to meet you there!