CODE BLUE 2026 - Japan's Premier International Cybersecurity Conference Announces Overview of Concurrent Contests and Workshops

~ Contests & Workshops: Affordable Visitor Passes Now Available ~

2026.10.01 14:15

CODE BLUE Executive Committee

The CODE BLUE Organizing Committee is pleased to announce the details of the contests and workshops to be held in conjunction with the international cybersecurity conference “CODE BLUE 2026” (Training: November 11–15; Conference: November 17–18; Location: Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo).

CODE BLUE 2026

■A Wide Variety of Hands-on Content

In addition to conference tracks featuring presentations, insights, and research from world-leading experts, CODE BLUE offers numerous hands-on learning experiences for attendees.

● "Villages" Hosted by Overseas Communities

Following last year's success, acclaimed workshops from international cybersecurity conferences return to CODE BLUE. A variety of specialized domain "Villages"—such as Aerospace, Medical Devices, Automotive, and Industrial Control Systems—will host hacking experiences and Capture The Flag (CTF) competitions.

● Diverse Contests & Workshops

A wide array of contests and workshops hosted by sponsor companies and individual organizers will take place. Featured programs include IoT honeypot data analysis, incident response drills, story-driven CTF, and macOS DFIR (Digital Forensics & Incident Response).

Furthermore, CODE BLUE focuses on promoting diversity and nurturing the next generation through frameworks supporting young researchers, including presentations by women's security communities and opportunities to showcase and refine self-developed tools.

By combining these interactive events with expert lectures, CODE BLUE serves as an international platform where local and international experts gather to exchange insights across technical, operational, and policy domains.

■Contests and Workshops (Organizers)

●Aerospace Village (Aerospace Village)

Aerospace Village presents Bricks in the Air, a hands-on demo covering the low-level protocols used in aviation, alongside a small Wi-Fi CubeSat simulator and an original badge that tracks aircraft and satellites. Jacob Oakley, an author and expert in space cybersecurity, will be on site throughout the conference, so you can ask him directly what hacking a satellite actually involves.

●Biohacking Village (Biohacking Village)

Biohacking Village offers hands-on medical device security training together with a healthcare-focused CTF. The training covers device architecture, threat modeling, vulnerability discovery, coordinated disclosure and the ethics of research that touches clinical care. The CTF puts those concepts to work in realistic scenarios spanning device communications, clinical workflows, data protection and vulnerability analysis — all framed around protecting patient safety.

●Car Hacking Village at CODE BLUE 2026 (Car Hacking Village)

The Car Hacking Village is a place where everyone is welcome to learn about car hacking and automotive cybersecurity. At CODE BLUE 2026 the village will feature hands-on activities designed for beginners and live demonstrations of vehicle exploits, offering a practical look at the technologies behind modern cars and where their weaknesses lie. No prior experience needed — stop by and give it a try.

●ICS Village (ICS Village)

The ICS Village is a nonprofit organization that builds interactive ranges and hands-on experiences to help people understand, explore, and secure industrial control systems (ICS) and operational technology (OT). Through exhibits, capture-the-flag challenges, and training events, it raises awareness of critical infrastructure cybersecurity risks while fostering education and collaboration across technical, policy, and business communities.

●Aerospace Cybersecurity (Koichi Toriumi)

Presented by a study group focused on space cybersecurity, this village showcases research by the organizers and members on display panels, alongside a live demonstration of satellite motion simulated on a PC. An aerospace-themed CTF runs throughout the conference, and aerospace cybersecurity workshops are held twice a day — three ways to take part, whether you prefer to look, compete or learn.

●The Wired Village (Season Cherian)

The Wired Village is a hands-on security zone built around intentionally vulnerable IoT and OT devices of our own making. Each device is a full target, with challenges spanning UART, SPI and I2C probing, JTAG/SWD debug access, firmware extraction, device interface flaws and industrial protocol attacks on a portable OT cyber range. Work the flags at your own pace in the CTF, or join a mentor-guided workshop.

●Introduction to Threat Intelligence (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)

In this workshop, participants analyze real attack data collected by ASTIRA, the IoT honeypot operated by Panasonic, and work out how attackers and IoT malware actually behave. The dataset comes with prepared answers, so those new to data analysis can work through it step by step.

●Collaborative Incident Response Contest (Hitachi Systems, Ltd.)

Responding to a security incident means making fast decisions on incomplete information. Through an immersive scenario, participants debate what to prioritize across situational awareness, business continuity, stakeholder communication and root-cause investigation, then draft a report for external authorities. Organizers review each submission with feedback, and a discussion session afterwards lets participants and observers compare their judgments. No specialist knowledge required.

● “Hacker X Hacker” – A Hack The Box CTF (Hack The Box)

Hacker X Hacker is a story-driven CTF. Players take on the role of newly licensed hackers entering the Cache, a hidden simulation built atop forgotten digital infrastructure, recovering fragments of lost records while racing rival hackers and uncovering the mystery behind its creator. Web, reverse engineering, pwn, forensics, crypto and infrastructure tasks are woven into a single narrative that unfolds as teams progress.

●Practical macOS DFIR (Bhargav Rathod)

As macOS adoption accelerates across enterprise and personal environments, DFIR analysts and researchers need to be equipped for the particulars of the macOS ecosystem. This practical workshop explores lesser-known but critical territory — core components, forensic artifacts and the real scenarios encountered in DFIR and malware investigations — with an emphasis on free and open-source tooling for extraction and analysis.

● LCL-Tokyo Autumn 2026 @ CODE BLUE (LCL-Tokyo)

LCL-Tokyo is a community for women working in the security industry. At CODE BLUE we bring the lightning talk event we hold regularly to the conference floor. The session introduces the activities of each working group and opens the stage to anyone who wants to present, with talks welcome in either English or Japanese. Come by and join us.

●CyberTAMAGO (CyberTAMAGO)

CyberTAMAGO is a community where people present cybersecurity tools, code and ideas and exchange feedback with one another. It serves as a place to rehearse presentations and demos, refine projects and build confidence before aiming for stages such as Black Hat Arsenal, DEF CON Demo Labs or CODE BLUE BlueBox. Whether you are releasing your first tool or targeting an international conference, you are welcome.

* Note: Some contests and workshops may require pre-registration and schedules vary. Please visit the official website for details:

(Japanese) https://codeblue.jp/program/contests-workshops/

(English) https://codeblue.jp/en/program/contests-workshops/

■ Visitor tickets, which allow you to enjoy the contests and workshops at an affordable price, are now on sale

CODE BLUE offers two ticket options: "Conference Ticket" (full access to all tracks and networking) and "Visitor Ticket" (cost-effective access focused on contests/workshops, with archive video viewing after the event).

*Please check the event overview below for details and differences between ticket types.

*Archived videos will be published only with the speakers’ permission.

■CODE BLUE 2026 Event Overview

[Training]

Date and Time: November 11 (Wed) – November 15 (Sun), 2026

Venue: Bellesalle Shinjuku Grand Conference Center

　　　(5th Floor, Sumitomo Realty Shinjuku Grand Tower)

*Dates and participation fees vary by training session.

Please check the official website for details.

(Japanese) https://codeblue.jp/program/trainings/

(English) https://codeblue.jp/en/program/trainings/

[Conference]