The challenge explored multi-stage cyberattack escalation across complex network layers.
EC-Council, a global leader in cybersecurity education and training, and creator of the world-renowned Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH AI) credential, challenged cybersecurity professionals to confront advanced adversary movement with its July CEH Compete challenge, “Operation Deep Breach: Hack, Escalate, Pivot.”
The July edition’s simulation tested participants with a scenario where attackers gained initial access to a low-level server and progressively escalated privileges, bypassed internal defenses, and pivoted laterally toward highly sensitive classified systems. Participants were tasked with detecting stealth movements, identifying escalation chains, exploiting misconfigurations, and neutralizing backdoor access across segmented network environments.
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Modern cyberattacks are no longer confined to breaching the perimeter. According to the CEH Threat Report 2024, 61% of cybersecurity professionals said lateral movement is the hardest stage of a cyberattack to detect.
In today’s interconnected digital infrastructure, attackers often leverage small footholds to traverse vast internal networks. The ability to detect, disrupt, and recover from these multi-stage attacks determines an organization’s true cyber resilience. Real-world scenarios often involve chaining vulnerabilities, abusing implicit trust between systems, and exfiltrating data through non-traditional pathways and complexities that were rigorously reflected in July’s CEH Compete challenge.
Following rigorous competition, Simon Cooper, England achieved the top score, demonstrating mastery of advanced pivot detection, privilege escalation mitigation, and real-time incident response under pressure.
As attackers increasingly chain exploits across systems to access crown-jewel data, cybersecurity professionals must develop skills that go beyond perimeter security including deep network forensics, privilege auditing, and proactive incident containment. CEH Compete continues to offer a practical arena where these skills can be honed before they are needed in real-world crises.
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