Hacking-Lab

What Hacking-Lab is

Hacking-Lab is a Swiss cybersecurity training platform built around hands-on cyber exercises: real applications with real vulnerabilities that learners attack, investigate and defend in a web-based cyber range. The home page describes it as created by a Swiss cyber security pioneer with over 25 years of experience, and says it has delivered training for over a decade, working with the Swiss Army, European critical infrastructure and universities, and hosting international competitions. Its CEO is Ivan Bütler.

The platform serves four groups, each with its own offer: businesses training their staff, universities teaching students, employers assessing job candidates, and organizers running capture-the-flag (CTF) events. A fifth offer prepares Swiss apprentices for the Cyber Security Specialist (CSS) exam of ICT Berufsbildung Schweiz. The site says it handles 60,000+ submissions a year from job applicants and students.

The exercise library

Everything runs on the same library. The skill assessment and CTF pages describe 500+ cyber exercises with real vulnerabilities, across web, embedded, mobile and 15+ other categories, at different difficulty levels and with theory blocks and quizzes alongside. Topics listed include OSINT, log analysis, hacking and penetration testing, secure programming, database security, cryptography, network and infrastructure security, mobile and web security, forensics, binary analysis, malware analysis, and Linux and Windows security. Organizations can create and upload their own exercises, theory blocks, quizzes or videos, and community members can apply to become challenge developers.

Trainings for individuals and teams

The trainings page sells self-paced courses with prices in euros:

• OWASP TOP 10 - Full (€59.00, 365 days of access): 10 topics matching the OWASP Top 10 (the 2021 revision), each with a theoretical introduction, up to 3 CTF-style challenges and a quiz
• OWASP TOP 10 - Labs (€39.00, 365 days): the same challenges without the theory or quizzes, which the FAQ suggests as preparation for a job interview
• Mini Fun CTF (€9.00, 30 days): 5 challenges spanning Linux, forensics, reverse engineering, crypto, web security, penetration testing, exploration and machine learning, with a mix of difficulty levels so newcomers can take part

Licenses can be bought in multiples for a team. The FAQ says content updates are available immediately after release during the access period, and learners who want help can request Coaching & Guidance, a paid add-on that connects them with experienced cybersecurity experts. For businesses, the home page pitches up-to-date ethical hacking, defense and incident prevention training, with a demo on request.

Skill assessments for hiring

This is the most detailed offer on the site. An employer picks exercises and turns an interview into a live hacking session: it can follow a candidate's research and exploitation in real time, evaluate the candidate's write-up, or hand the evaluation to Hacking-Lab's experts. A competition mode supports hiring from a large pool in 4 steps: start with a pool of candidates, share flag-based exercises, watch scores in real time, and hire the top scorers. A ranking shows how candidates compare.

The pricing is published:

• Unlimited candidates subscription: $399 monthly
• Pay per candidate: $100 per candidate

Both list the same features: skill assessments, a broader selection of exercises, flag-based and write-up-based evaluation, competition mode, theory blocks and quizzes. Optional add-ons are candidate evaluation by Hacking-Lab ($199 per candidate), custom branding ($199 a month), a support chat ($199 a month) and single sign-on ($99 a month). There is a free trial, invoicing is available on request instead of card payment, and integration through an API is discussed with the support team.

The FAQ lists the roles it is used to assess, including penetration testers, incident responders, SOC analysts, security architects, forensic analysts, cloud and application security engineers, DevSecOps staff, and web and mobile developers working in security-critical environments.

CTF events

For competitions, Hacking-Lab supplies the infrastructure and a ready-made exercise library. The site says it is "renowned for hosting prestigious events like ECSC, ACSC as well as international and regional competitions of varying scope." It also suggests CTFs as team-building for IT and security teams, as student competitions, and as a playground for exhibition booths, run online, offline or as a hybrid. Event licenses are priced to the setup, so organizers ask for a quote. The news section also mentions HackVent, a cybersecurity advent calendar with daily puzzles through December.

Universities and the Swiss CSS exam

For universities, Hacking-Lab supplies a cyber range for teaching through exercises. Two Swiss universities are quoted. At the Lucerne School of Computer Science and Information Technology (HSLU), Compass Security staff teach web application security in continuing education courses, and professor Armand Portmann says "The Hacking-Lab ensures practical transfer." At the ZHAW School of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Marc Rennhard uses it in the module "Software and System Security" and writes: "With its wide variety of challenges, the Hacking Lab provides a perfect environment for this, and the students show great motivation and creativity when working with it."

The CSS exam page is aimed at Swiss ICT apprentices. Its FAQ says "ICT Berufsbildung Schweiz uses Hacking-Lab for running official ICT Berufsbildung Schweiz CSS exams," and the training simulates the practical part of the exam in an identical environment, with exercises based on the official exam guideline and readiness measured against its criteria. It covers modules 679 to 685: threat information, security testing, attack detection and response, incident handling, data analysis, system digital forensics, and patch management. The FAQ says the platform suits all skill levels, with guides that help beginners fill gaps; it runs in the browser and recommends getting familiar with Kookarai Linux, a distribution designed for cybersecurity specialists. Support comes through a helpdesk and chats with other users. Pricing for this track is by quote.

Customers

Ivan Bütler, CEO of Compass Security, says his company has used Hacking-Lab for more than 10 years to train employees and test new penetration testers and analysts. Joe Pichlmayr of Cyber Security Austria says CSA has used it for 12 years for its national CyberSecurityChallengeAustria, from online qualifications lasting several months with hundreds of participants to onsite finals, and as a training platform at many Austrian high schools.

Who Hacking-Lab suits and who it does not

Hacking-Lab fits organizations more than casual learners: a security team that wants realistic exercises for training, an employer that wants to see candidates hack before hiring them, a university building a practical security module, an organizer running a national or company CTF, and Swiss apprentices preparing for the CSS exam on the platform the exam itself uses. Its published assessment pricing makes it easy to compare the per-candidate and unlimited options.

Individuals can start cheaply with the OWASP courses or the Mini Fun CTF, but the self-paced catalog for individuals is small. Learners who want a broad library of video courses will find the platform built around exercises instead.