▲ Recruiting companies, white hackers, and college student volunteer groups to participate in White Hat Together

- It is a collective impact project in which the government, business, and citizens cooperate to strengthen the information security competency for SMEs.  

- It provides a free vulnerability diagnosis, information security consulting and security solutions to 20 companies that are worth 200 million won in total. 

- It will create a healthy information security ecosystem through a bug bounty contest with a total prize of 20 million won.  

[CJ OliveNetworks = May 11, 2022 (Wednesday)] CJ OliveNetworks (CEO Cha In-hyeok) together with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA. President Lee Won-tae) and Find The Gap (CEO Kim Oh-joong) is recruiting SMEs and white hackers to participate in 'White Hat Together' that supports strengthening the information security competency of SMEs. 

▲CJ OliveNetworks' white hackers are providing consulting to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

CJ OliveNetworks has been operating CJ White Hat, a social contribution program, since 2020. CJ OliveNetworks is taking the lead in ESG management practice by providing free customized consulting such as mock hacking, personal information compliance check, and information security trainings so that small and medium-sized enterprises can do business safely from the threat of hacking based on its information security competency and experiences accumulated over many years.

The Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) is promoting projects to enhance the level of information security and strengthen the competency to respond to infringement incidents in local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to revitalize the information security industry. In addition, by developing a bug bounty platform, it is operating a reward system for reporting security vulnerabilities.

Find The Gap is a startup that is leading the bug bounty culture in Korea and is establishing an information security culture in Korea where white hackers and companies coexist.

As the importance of information security is increasing globally, the three organizations felt the need to not only strengthen the information security competency of SMEs but also create a healthy information security ecosystem by cooperating with the government, businesses, and citizens and came up with the collective impact 'White Hat Together'. 

‘White Hat Together’ is sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT and co-hosted and managed by CJ OliveNetworks, Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and Find The Gap and will run until December.

It is the first case in which a bug bounty contest of white hackers, information security consulting for SMEs, and security solution support are combined, and the program will be operated with a total of 200 million won.

First, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in ‘White Hat Together’ will be recruited. All small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that provide IT-based services such as a website, mobile apps, and client software can apply and submit an application to the open innovation platform Hubpot by June 5th.

The 20 companies that are finally selected can receive consulting on vulnerabilities the are discovered through the bug bounty and information security consulting for free. Moreover, purchase cost will be provided to the companies to help them adopt a customized security solution which will be up to 6 million won per company.

White Hat Together will hold a bug bounty contest for 7 weeks from July 1st to August 18th to help SMEs find vulnerabilities in advance and take actions quickly .

Bug bounty is a system for reporting security vulnerabilities that rewards white hackers who find vulnerabilities by hacking software or web services. Anyone interested in vulnerability analysis can participate and register as a security expert on the Find The Gap and Hack the Challenge platforms.

The total prizemoney is 20 million won, and the prize will be awarded to white hackers st different levels after evaluating each reported vulnerability. In addition, outstanding white hackers will be selected to award 11 of them certificates, including 1 grand prize and 2 grand prizes, in the joint names of the president of Korea Internet & Security Agency and CEO of CJ OliveNetworks.  

In addition, there will be opportunities forpractical experience such as recruiting college students who want to grow as information security consultants and participating in information security consulting projects.

“Personal information protection is one of the important topics in ESG management, and we are pleased to launch a new support model with social value in cooperation with partners with a consensus,” said Cha In-hyeok, CEO of CJ OliveNetworks. “I hope that this will provide an opportunity to gradually enhance the interest in and support for enhancing SMEs' competency in information security and form a healthy information securiy ecosystem where white hackers and companies coexist.”

Detailed information about White Hat Together can be found on the open innovation platform Hubpot (www.hubpot.co.kr).