Carnegie Mellon hacking team wins record ninth title at world’s top cybersecurity contest

CMU’s Plaid Parliament of Pwning, competing as Maple Mallard Magistrates, tops DEF CON’s flagship hacking contest for the ninth time in 13 years.

Carnegie Mellon University’s competitive hacking team, Plaid Parliament of Pwning (PPP), won DEF CON’s Capture-the-Flag (CTF) for the fourth year in a row, bringing its total to nine titles over 13 years.

DEF CON CTF is a three-day attack-and-defense cybersecurity competition in which 12 qualifying teams, selected from more than 2,300 entrants, attempt to exploit opponents’ systems while protecting their own. For the win, the team received eight black badges, DEF CON’s elite recognition.

Team lineup and competition performance

PPP joined University of British Columbia professor Robert Xiao’s Maple Bacon and CMU-alum startup Theori.io (The Duck), competing together as Maple Mallard Magistrates (MMM). The group took an early lead, fell back during the LiveCTF segment, then pulled away on Sunday to secure the title.

Erye Hernandez says, “DEF CON CTF involves a lot of teamwork and communication. Many of our veteran players have known each other for a long time, and it’s great having that camaraderie, trust, and ability to depend on each other when it comes to this type of competition.”

Ongoing involvement in cybersecurity competitions

Formed in 2009, PPP competes and helps run multiple cybersecurity contests, including MITRE’s embedded CTF (eCTF), where it recently won a fourth straight title. Team members also write problems for Carnegie Mellon’s picoCTF, a student-focused competition that serves middle and high school learners and now includes undergraduate and regional leaderboards.

Rohil Chaudhry says, “This was not my first attack/defense CTF, but coming into the DEF CON CTF Finals for the first time was an entirely different world for me. The stakes are high, and I had a lot of fun experiencing the sheer pace with which the competitors work and learning new and interesting things from everyone on the team.”