AhnLab A-FIRST Researcher Earns Award in Cryptanalysis Competition

• A researcher from A-FIRST, AhnLab's threat intelligence analysis team, wins an award as part of a joint team
• Team demonstrates cryptanalysis expertise in a competition organized by KIISC with support from the 777th Command

Junguk Lee, manager at AhnLab's A-FIRST team

AI-native security platform company AhnLab (CEO Suk Kyoon Kang), announced on October 7 that the REPO team, whose members include a researcher from the company's A-FIRST threat intelligence group, earned an honorable mention at the 12th annual Cryptoanalysis Contest. The award was presented by the Signal Technology Research Institute at the 777th Command during a ceremony held on September 21 at Nine Tree Premier ROKAUS Hotel Seoul Yongsan.

*A-FIRST(AhnLab Forensic Intelligence ReSearch) is AhnLab's dedicated cyber incident response and threat intelligence team.

The Cryptoanalysis Contest is Korea's only competition dedicated to cryptanalysis. Organized by the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology (KIISC) with support from South Korea's 777th Command, it has been held annually since 2015. This year's participants tackled problems in eight areas spanning classical cryptanalysis, block cipher analysis, and homomorphic encryption.

Junguk Lee, manager at AhnLab's A-FIRST team, led REPO alongside fellow security professionals from industry and academia. Together, they earned the honorable mention after analyzing the structure of the complex cryptographic algorithm used in each challenge and identifying its vulnerabilities. Based on their findings, the team developed decryption methods and source code, demonstrating strong cryptanalysis and problem solving skills.

"AhnLab researchers are expanding their expertise through real-world experience and participation in a wide range of technical competitions." said Changkyu Han, head of the AhnLab Research Center. "We will continue to draw on our accumulated threat analysis expertise to respond proactively to new threats in the AI era."

About 2026 Cryptoanalysis Contest

The Cryptoanalysis Contest is Korea's only competition dedicated to cryptanalysis. Launched in 2015, it is held annually by the Korea Institute of Information Security and Cryptology (KIISC) with support from South Korea's 777th Command.

Participants solve challenges involving cryptanalysis and vulnerability analysis. The 2026 competition ran from April 1 through July 31. Participants can use previous contest questions and related materials to help solve the challenges. This year's contest covered eight areas, including classical cryptanalysis, cryptographic implementation, network security, digital forensics, homomorphic encryption, PRNG analysis, integer factorization, and block cipher analysis.

The competition is open to anyone in Korea with an interest in cryptanalysis. Entrants may compete individually or in teams of up to four.