HITCON 2026 Puts AI Agent Security at Center Stage

Taiwan’s Hacks in Taiwan Conference, or HITCON, is one of the island’s leading cybersecurity community events. Now in its 22nd edition, the 2026 gathering drew more than 1,000 researchers, industry specialists and technology enthusiasts. The rise of AI agents capable of accessing data, calling software tools and executing tasks has created a new attack surface, elevating concerns over excessive permissions, prompt injection and software supply-chain exposure.

HITCON 2026 made offensive and defensive security for AI agent systems the centerpiece of its agenda, with sessions examining vulnerabilities and practical safeguards. The program also featured an industrial control systems, or ICS, challenge, a post-quantum cryptography summit and a mini blue-team exercise. The activities gave participants hands-on opportunities to test threat detection, incident response and defensive techniques in simulated operational environments.