Hack The Box + LetsDefend: Shaping the future of community-led cyber readiness

We are excited to announce that LetsDefend is officially joining Hack The Box!

The LetsDefend team is a pioneering blue team upskilling platform known for its hands-on SOC simulations.

This collaboration brings together a 4 million-strong user base of offensive and defensive security practitioners, uniting two vibrant cyber communities into the largest collaborative learning ecosystem in the industry.

For the first time, penetration testers and SOC analysts will be able to up level their skills side by side on a single platform ecosystem, sharing knowledge and tackling gamified scenarios that mirror real-world cyber threats from start to finish.

“This isn’t just an acquisition – it’s a community milestone. By uniting Hack The Box’s offensive hackers with LetsDefend’s defensive analysts, we’re unlocking a truly purple team upskilling experience at an unprecedented scale. Our combined community can learn from each other in ways never before possible. Ultimately, this collaboration supercharges our mission to create cyber-ready humans by delivering the most realistic, hands-on development across the entire cyber kill chain.”

 

– Haris Pylarinos (ch4p), CEO @ Hack The Box.

Merging two cyber communities for unprecedented learning experiences

Both Hack The Box and LetsDefend have always been community-inspired at their core.

Now, those communities become one. Together we’ve formed a global network of 4 million cybersecurity enthusiasts, from seasoned red team experts to aspiring blue team defenders. It’s a union of talent and knowledge that creates one of the largest ecosystems for workforce development and peer learning in cybersecurity, nurturing the future of the entire industry.

For community members, this initiative means more opportunities to connect and grow.

Imagine experienced pentesters and SOC analysts swapping tips in the forums, or collaborating during future purple team exercises where one group launches an attack and the other investigates it in real time.

The community-led approach of both platforms isn’t just maintained; instead, it’s amplified. We will continue to listen closely to our users’ feedback and ideas as we build this unified platform together. Our goal is to ensure every member feels empowered to advance their cyber skills.

“Our mission at LetsDefend has always been to provide the most realistic SOC training environment for defenders. By joining forces with Hack The Box, we’re bringing that mission to a much larger stage. Blue teamers will benefit from HTB’s incredible platform and community, while red teamers can now step into a defender’s shoes. Together, we’re building a collaborative upskilling platform where hackers and analysts work side by side, learn from each other, and push the boundaries of cyber defense.”

 

– Osman Cihat İşik, CEO @ LetsDefend.

Full-spectrum, hands-on skills development across the kill chain

This acquisition transforms Hack The Box into a full-spectrum cybersecurity readiness platform, covering the entire cyber kill chain from infiltration to incident response with the help of hyper-realistic and engaging ranges.

What does that mean for platform members? Whether your focus is breaking into systems or defending them, you’ll find practical, real-world exercises tailored to your role:

• Offensive Roles – Hone your red team and penetration testing capabilities with HTB’s renowned content. Exploitable Machines, CTF Challenges, and enterprise-level simulations that sharpen your attack techniques.

• Defensive Roles – Dive into LetsDefend blue team simulations, where you investigate live-fire alerts, analyze malicious logs, perform malware analysis, and practice incident response inside a virtual SOC using real tools (combined with already existing HTB defensive scenarios and learning paths). Each lab is aligned with frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK, so the tactics you master are directly applicable to real adversary behaviors.

• Purple Team – Experience training that blends both worlds. For example, you might compromise a target in a red team lab, then switch perspectives to handle the ensuing alert in a SOC challenge. By understanding both sides of the attack-defense equation, you develop a 360° threat-ready skill set that is invaluable in modern cybersecurity operations. You can already get started with dedicated purple-minded ranges.

Users will have a complete, contextual learning experience across all cyber domains, an offering unmatched in the market.

For enterprises and federal agencies, this acquisition enhances cyber workforce development initiatives, enabling them to build stronger teams that are ready to defend against modern threats in a modular, adaptive methodology.

The unified platform helps organizations onboard defensive teams faster by providing structured, role-specific labs and challenges for SOC analysts, threat hunters, and DFIR specialists.

As mentioned, all content is aligned with industry frameworks (MITRE, NIST), enabling public sector teams to meet mandated training standards and compliance requirements while building practical, real-world skills.

Teams can seamlessly pivot from offensive to defensive tasks, gaining insight into how attackers operate and how defenders can counter them in turn. This holistic approach not only makes upskilling more engaging, but also mirrors how real cyber teams operate during incidents – with attackers and defenders in a constant collaboration.

It’s truly the dawn of a new purple-minded era in cyber resilience.

AI-augmented SOC simulations and next-gen ranges

Another exciting aspect of this union is the constant R&D work on AI-augmented SOC simulation capabilities in the HTB platform.

LetsDefend has been at the forefront of creating realistic defensive scenarios, complete with simulated SIEM alerts, threat intel feeds, and forensic telemetry data. With Hack The Box’s resources and AI pioneering initiatives, we plan to accelerate this vision by fully integrating artificial intelligence to make these scenarios even more dynamic and smart.

What does AI-augmented readiness look like?

We’ll be able to generate lifelike attack patterns and alert data that adapt to your decisions as you work on an incident. We’ll also leverage AI to help analyze player performance and provide adaptive feedback, creating a more interactive experience for learners. The platform will not only throw modern, AI-related threats at you, but also use AI to coach you through mastering them and 10x every analyst’s capabilities.

We have always believed in staying ahead of the curve, and as cybercriminals adopt AI, we are empowering our community to be ready.

We are delivering on our vision of AI-driven threat readiness by providing realistic exercises based on AI-powered adversary tactics. Both red and blue teamers will build the augmented skills needed to confront tomorrow’s threats with confidence.

The road ahead: Unified ecosystem and new learning paths

With HTB and LetsDefend now under one roof, our roadmap is all about integration and expansion. Here’s a peek at what’s coming as we build the ultimate cyber training platform for individuals, organizations, and large public sector teams:

• Expect expanded structured learning paths that blend offensive and defensive skills. These role-based pathways will accelerate job readiness, helping learners progress from new hire to expert in their chosen cyber career faster than ever.

• All the content you love on Hack The Box will remain and grow. You’ll still pop shells in our offensive labs, and soon you’ll also have the entire LetsDefend library at your fingertips – accessing directly with your existing HTB Account.

• We’re doubling down on defensive content. Sherlocks will be enriched in areas like digital forensics, threat hunting, and detection engineering with SOC simulations and ranges by LetsDefend.

• We also plan to honor and integrate LetsDefend’s existing achievements and badges into the HTB ecosystem, so your hard-earned achievements will carry forward.

• These developments will roll out in phases. In the coming months, you’ll see closer account integration and some cross-platform content previews. Our suggestion is to create a HTB Account (if you don’t have one), and you will soon be able to access LetsDefend directly from your profile.

A new era of collaborative cybersecurity upskilling

We are the industry’s most comprehensive and engaging cyber skills development platform, bringing together red and blue teamers from around the globe under one roof.

This unified platform ecosystem will offer continuously updated labs, realistic simulations, and cross-role learning opportunities that empower individuals and organizations alike to benchmark, upskill, and certify their cyber workforce.

The journey ahead is incredibly exciting. Whether you’re an HTB veteran or a LetsDefend member, there’s a place for you in this expanded playground. Together, we will transform how cybersecurity professionals are made!

We want to thank every member of the HTB and LetsDefend communities for your passion and support. This is your celebration – the learners, the hackers, the analysts, the mentors – who make these platforms come alive.

We can’t wait to deliver the new content and features you’ve been asking for, and to see the amazing things you’ll achieve with them.