Ransomware can mean life or death at hospitals, but DEF CON hackers have a plan

DARPA’s Artificial Intelligence Cyber Challenge (AIxCC) has added ARPA-H as a partner to accelerate AI-driven tools that automatically discover and remediate critical vulnerabilities in healthcare and other critical infrastructure. Motivated by rising ransomware impacts on hospitals and the recent Change Healthcare disruption, the program expands rewards (adding $20M) and features real-world targets such as a Linux kernel TIPC CVE-2021-43267 challenge, with Open and Small Business tracks leading to semifinals at DEF CON 2024 and finals at DEF CON 2025.