Arkansas is known for many things—from diamonds, chicken, and Walmart to fishing and Johnny Cash—but it’s not likely the first state that comes to mind when you think about cybersecurity hubs. Not yet, anyway.
Looking to elevate their corner of the state’s cyber security reputation, IEEE Computer Society Ozark Section members Evan Glover and Chris Farnell launched the RazorHack Cyber Challenge.
The two-year-old RazorHack is a three-day competition held annually in Fayetteville, Arkansas. This year, it featured teams from across the state—and a few from far beyond it.
RazorHack 2024: The Challenge
Held the final weekend in October, RazorHack 2024 began with a banquet, then launched into a two-day skills competition at the University of Arkansas.
The UARK CyberHogs Cybersecurity Club, led by Henry Schmidt, created the game in a capture-the-flag format, with computing teams acting as consultants to the fictitious RazorPower company, whose nuclear plant had just had a catastrophically bad day.
To aid in the plant’s disaster recovery, competitors used their knowledge, skills, and technical expertise to analyze and solve various challenges, including puzzles involving network scanning, social engineering, reverse engineering, binary exploitation, hash cracking, SCADA, and locking picking.
This year, students and early career professionals competed in 33 teams of three to four members each; most teams hailed from Arkansas, but several came from other states, including Colorado, Mississippi, and New York.
The 2024 RazorHack’s winning teams were as follows:
- The Boys Club (Rochester Institute of Technology)
- Cyber Dawgs (Team 1) (Mississippi State University)
- Digital Entropy (HackNWA)
Prizes for the winners included cash, “cutting-edge gadgets,” and peer and press recognition. But Glover says the event offers participants more than just the possibility of prizes—and more than simply a grueling test of their skills and mental endurance:
“We want to give them the opportunity to meet each other, meet other businesses, and show them that there is a strong cybersecurity culture in Northwest Arkansas,” he says. “RazorHack gives these competitors learning opportunities as well. It’s common for the teams to teach one another new skills.”
The event also helps companies and organizations meet next-generation talent and build relationships with the organizers, sponsors, and each other. As Glover noted, the RazorHack team actually views the annual competition as a networking event … disguised as a rigorous cyber competition.
Birth of a Competition
RazorHack was the brainchild of Glover, who got the idea from Little Rock’s JOLT Cyber Challenge and wanted to create something similar in Northwest Arkansas. Co-organizer Farnell then led the charge for the Ozark Section to apply for an IEEE CS Grant for Emerging Technology Activities. When they received one, RazorHack began taking shape.
Glover and Farnell raised more funds, planned the events, and recruited volunteers to help run it all. The Ozark Section also partnered with UARK CyberHogs to help create the game.
“A lot of what made RazorHack unique is thanks to the CyberHogs. They’re a very creative group that really got into the theming,” says Glover, adding that the Ozark Section’s partnership with the club was crucial. “The ideas from both these groups are what turned RazorHack into what it is today.”
In addition to IEEE CS grant funds and Ozark Section fundraising, the IEEE CS Arkansas Section offered financial support to the Arkansas National Guard to send four teams to participate in the competition. Other sponsors of the 2024 RazorHack included Fortinet and Training Camp.
Goals and Next Steps
Beyond facilitating the mental sweat and exhilaration of tackling the challenge itself, Glover says RazorHack aims to continue expanding perceptions of cybersecurity in Northwest Arkansas and the sense of community among participants, business owners, and organizations across the state and beyond. RazorHack gives people the opportunity to forge connections, share insights and inspirations, and explore career opportunities in the dynamic and expanding cybersecurity field.
“Participants were able to network with each other and get some exposure to our sponsors,” said Glover, adding that the post-event survey showed that many attendees “learned some kind of new cybersecurity skill that they didn’t know prior to the event… [and realized] that there are a lot of other people just like them that care about the cybersecurity space and meeting others.”
Glover says that their greatest success in 2024 was raising enough money to expand the number of RazorHack teams participating this year by 30%; the organizing team also connected with companies who shared their vision and want to participate in future events. Further, Glover says that he plans to expand the competing teams not just in number but in composition as they move forward:
“I would also like to spend more time reaching out to high schools. We had a solid base of college students, but I want to encourage high school students to attend, too,” he says, adding that the “high school students who do attend RazorHack always enjoy the exposure to the community.”
Learn More
RazorHack emerged through a community of passionate people in an IEEE CS section. To learn more about IEEE CS chapters, sections, and technical communities—and to find one in your area—visit the IEEE CS Communities page.
If you’re already involved with a CS chapter or a university department or club and have an idea for a similar event, submit a proposal to the CS Emerging Tech Grant fund.
And, if you need tips on writing a compelling proposal, check out the following:
To gather inspiration, consider attending or participating in a similar event by checking out the IEEE CS Events calendar, which is searchable by event and organization type (including local chapters).
Another option? The third-annual RazorHack, which will be held in October 2025. To learn more, including details about the 2024 game and competing teams, visit the RazorHack website.
