ABOUT
CTX-HSV is a community-driven collaboration bringing together research, practice, and hands-on learning in cybersecurity. Created through a partnership between UAH's Invention to Innovation Center (I2C), DC256, and Huntsville Hack The Box, exists to keep the local hacking culture active, open, and hands-on.
OUR MISSION
Empowering Our Community
Empowering our community means creating opportunities to learn, build, and compete. Through hands-on workshops, technical talks, competitions, and collaborative events, CTX-HSV helps people turn curiosity into real-world skills while building lasting connections. This is not a club, a class, or a conference. It’s a technical community.
THE COLLAB
The Invention to Innovation Center (I2C) @ UAH
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Provides the research, education, and institutional backbone of CTX-HSV. Through I2C, CTX-HSV connects cybersecurity learning with applied research, workforce development, and real-world problem solving.
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Anchors CTX-HSV within a broader innovation ecosystem—linking students, researchers, and industry partners.
THE COLLAB
DC256 - Huntsville's Local DEF CON Chapter
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Brings the grassroots security culture: curiosity, openness, and technical rigor. With deep roots in ethical hacking and community knowledge-sharing, DC256 ensures CTX-HSV stays hands-on, practitioner-driven, and authentic.
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This is where tools are tested, assumptions are challenged, and learning happens in public.
THE JOURNEY
2018
FOUNDING OF DC256
DC256 began in 2018 as Huntsville’s DEF CON chapter, founded by @gateherder, @beardbyte, and @Kexel. The chapter was restarted in 2020 by @HopeAnnihilator and later passed to @futileskills in January 2023. Since November 2023, the chapter has been led by @ByteTheIO. Throughout its history, DC256 has hosted regular meetups, technical talks, and community events, serving as a consistent gathering point for the local hacker community.
2025
FOUNDING OF HUNTSVILLE HACK THE BOX
Founded in 2025 as an official Hack The Box Ambassador chapter, Huntsville Hack The Box started as a small local meetup and quickly grew into a regular monthly event. Each month, members gather to take on boxes, share ideas, and build the local hacking community.
2026
FOUNDING OF CTX
CTX-HSV comes online, built from the shared roots of DC256 and Huntsville Hack The Box. The name is new, but the people, culture, and history behind it have been part of Huntsville’s hacker scene for years. It’s the same community, just brought together under one signal.
With the foundation set, CTX-HSV looks ahead. New events, new projects, and new faces will continue to shape the community as it grows. The direction is simple: stay curious, stay collaborative, and keep pushing forward.
ONWARD
WHAT NOW?