We are a college society of The Technological University for Dublin (TU Dublin), whose goal is the advancement of knowledge in the cyber security realm and prepare our members to become a part of the next generation cyber defence force.
HackerSoc was originally founded in 2011 in the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown (ITB) by lecturers and students, who themselves have gone on to start successful security companies of their own. Since the integration of ITB into TU Dublin, we decided to bring about great changes and grow the society even more over the 3 campuses.
We are one of the largest societies in Ireland, with over 100 yearly active members who attend our many events and workshops where we provide penetration testing training and informative talks. We regularly hold networking events with companies and societies of other colleges, and recently we have started hosting our own Capture The Flag (CTF) events as well. Our members have a wide background, from courses such as Digital Forensics and Cyber Security to Creative Digital Media, and many more.
As a college society with the goal of educating its members, we regularly send people to compete in international competitions such as the European Cyber Security Challenge (ECSC). We also have members who attended DEFCON in Las Vegas and Hack in the Box in Amsterdam. The valuable experience gained from such travels helps both in learning and in teaching others during society meetings and other industry events. This has given both our college and HackerSoc worldwide recognition, with connections to similar societies in the UK, USA, Germany, Lichtenstein, Sweden, Norway and many more countries.
Our past members have started successful careers in large multinational companies including Intel, Google, Amazon, Facebook, IBM, EY, Microsoft, Deloitte, KPMG, Edgescan, Integrity360, US DOD, British MOD and others. They have been massively supportive by continually assisting current members with internships and employment at various companies around the world. HackerSoc caters for its members who have a passion in the field of cyber security, allowing them to utilise their newly acquired skills in a fun and risk-free environment. We provide support for anyone who needs it, as long as it falls within our democratic values of critical thinking and freedom without the intent to cause harm.
The demand for cyber security experts is ever increasing and we believe that more people need to be aware of the rising risk of attacks. Ultimately this gives us an opportunity to promote change and give the world the protection it needs. There is no doubt that cyber security has become a huge part of the world, and it is here to stay.