LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 31, 2026--
GMO Internet Group, Inc. (TOKYO: 9449), a global leader in internet infrastructure and security headquartered in Tokyo, will send a group-wide team to compete in the Capture The Flag (CTF) competition at “DEF CON 34,” the world’s premier security conference, to be held August 6–9, 2026 in Las Vegas, USA. By feeding the knowledge gained on this world-class stage back into vulnerability assessments and product development, GMO will accelerate the realization of its vision that “GMO will protect your Internet Security.”
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260731335124/en/
GMO Internet Group is home to more than 200 white-hat hackers across GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae and GMO Flatt Security combined — the largest number of any group in Japan (No. 1 in white-hat hacker headcount). Selected members drawn from this pool will take on “DEF CON 34.”
[Results at “DEF CON 33” in 2025]
Since joining "DEF CON" in 2023, GMO Internet Group has entered multiple teams each year. Last year's "DEF CON 33" results included:
[Introducing the Teams Competing in “DEF CON 34” in 2026]
DEF CON CTF Finals Team
A mixed unit joined by a Japanese team, aiming for a third consecutive Finals appearance
Blue Water (Joint Team)
"To finally achieve the championship we have long sought, we will fight at full strength through the very last question, to the very last second," said Yuki Koike, Executive Officer and CTO of GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae, who will compete as a member of Blue Water.
Village Teams
A cloud security assessment team aiming for a fourth consecutive title after three in a row
GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae — Cloud Village CTF (“GMO Ierae”)
Aiming for a first championship on the strength of comprehensive IoT security capability
GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae — IoT-related Village CTF (“GMO Ierae”)
Bringing real-world “defensive” expertise to the world stage for the first time
GMO Cybersecurity by Ierae — Blue Team Village CTF (“GMO Ierae”)
GMO Internet Group supports participation in CTF because it views the event not merely as a technical competition, but as an important opportunity to sharpen white-hat hackers’ skills in an environment close to real-world conditions, and to give back to society.
[Learn more]
https://gmo-cybersecurity.com/en/
https://flatt.tech/en/
https://group.gmo/en/
The Cloud Village team that competed in “DEF CON 33”
CAIRO (AP) — Hamas said Friday that it will begin disarming as part of a deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump that also requires Israel to end its strikes and withdraw from Gaza. It marks a potential breakthrough in ending the war, but implementation faces major challenges.
Hamas also said that laying down its heavy weapons, which would come later in the process, was contingent on the creation of a Palestinian state, something Israel's current government adamantly rejects.
Israel has not officially commented on the deal, which is part of a U.S.-brokered ceasefire announced last October. That agreement called for Hamas to disarm and hand over power to an independent Palestinian administration. Israel was to withdraw, and an International Stabilization Force was to deploy.
But progress stalled, with Israel saying everything hinged on Hamas disarming, and Hamas accusing Israel of violating the agreement by continuing to carry out regular strikes on Gaza.
Disarming would represent a sea change for Hamas, whose founding charter calls for armed resistance against Israel, and which sees its arsenal, including rockets, anti-tank missiles and explosives, as lying at the heart of its identity.
Israel meanwhile appears unlikely to pull back significant forces or make other concessions ahead of its October elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough reelection battle, with opponents accusing him of failing to prevent the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.
In announcing the latest deal on social media, Trump said it would be carried out in “carefully structured phases.”
“As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbors,” he wrote.
A copy of the agreement obtained and verified by The Associated Press said that all weapons held by the Hamas-run police will be transferred to the U.S.-backed Palestinian technocratic committee, known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, upon its arrival in the enclave. It’s not clear when that would happen since it is contingent on other steps.
A process to decommission and store heavy weapons, military production sites and tunnels will begin after the arrival of the Palestinian committee and the deployment of international forces. The process will be linked to a phased Israeli withdrawal from the parts of Gaza it controls, according to the agreement.
Israel currently controls around 60% of Gaza, areas that have been mostly destroyed and depopulated. Most of the territory's 2 million Palestinians are in the other part, where hundreds of thousands live in squalid tent camps and destroyed neighborhoods.
In a statement Thursday, an Israeli official said that there will be no Israeli withdrawal before the militant group is disarmed and the strip demilitarized. The statement was made on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.
A person with knowledge of the situation said that Israel is fully involved, but it's not a signatory to the deal, which is between Hamas and several countries helping to negotiate and guarantee the ceasefire. The person spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the agreement. The deal's guarantors are the U.S., Turkey, Egypt and Qatar.
On Thursday, U.S. and Board of Peace officials, describing the deal to reporters on condition of anonymity under guidelines set by the White House, gave an extremely optimistic assessment. The board was established by Trump to oversee the ceasefire in Gaza.
While Gaza's police force is expected to hand over its arms, that doesn't include the vast majority of Hamas militants, and heavy weaponry is not included in that part of the agreement, according to the officials.
Instead, the surrender of heavy weapons and the decommissioning of Hamas tunnels and other infrastructure are to come later in a process that could take between 200 and 350 days, a Board of Peace official said. That timeline did not appear in the agreement obtained by AP.
The Hamas official and the regional official involved in the process said that Hamas and other groups agreed to “collect and store” arms inside Gaza under the supervision of the Palestinian technocratic committee and that weapons won’t be handed to Israel or non-Palestinian parties.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, said this would be a gradual process linked to an Israeli withdrawal.
A U.S. official said Israel, which has been deeply skeptical about Hamas’ willingness to give up its guns or relinquish control of Gaza, had been consulted at every step of the negotiation.
However, the official said Israel was not being asked to do anything more than what it had initially committed to when it agreed to Trump’s 20-point plan, which essentially involves withdrawing its forces from Gaza and committing to ending airstrikes on the territory.
A member of the Palestinian technocratic committee told the AP on Friday that it was eager to enter Gaza but was concerned Israel will pose challenges. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. The person said they didn’t expect to enter Gaza for at least two months.
The committee welcomed the progress Friday, but said the work to restore public institutions and services and rebuild the territory would be immense.
The war in Gaza began after a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, including those killed since the ceasefire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government and is staffed by medical professionals, does not distinguish between civilians and militants in its toll but says women and children make up around half of all deaths.
Mednick reported from Tel Aviv, Israel, Cooper from Phoenix, and Lee from Washington. Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri in New York and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed.
FILE - President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, in Hagerstown, Md., en route to Camp David, Md., June 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
A Palestinian man rides his bicycle by the rubble of buildings that were destroyed during the Israel Hamas war, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Friday, July 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
