ZIEN
ZIEN Inc., a leading company specializing in XIoT convergence security, shared real-world case studies on the limitations of IoT security analysis projects and its strategic approaches to overcoming these challenges at Korea’s largest hacking conference, DotHack 2025, held on April 9.
The presentation highlighted technical limitations and shortcomings in analysis strategy encountered during ZIEN’s participation in the international hacking competition Pwn2Own Ireland 2024. It also introduced the company's subsequent restructuring process, including revised analysis scope, equipment selection criteria, and enhanced risk management systems.
Park Han-ryeol, R&D Assistant Manager at ZIEN Inc., explained, “Analyzing the causes of failure in actual projects laid the groundwork for developing effective future strategies. Since IoT devices differ greatly in architecture and components, tailored analysis strategies are essential.”
He further emphasized, “Beyond technical analysis, building a systematic strategy from the early stages of a project is critical to its success. In particular, we learned the importance of risk management when dealing with overseas equipment, as unexpected failures during analysis can lead to excessive time and cost for procurement and repairs.”
Park’s candid sharing of failure experiences stood out at the conference, drawing strong engagement from security experts and researchers. Unlike typical presentations focused on success stories, his honest account of limitations and the process of overcoming them resonated deeply with the audience.
Building on its 2024 competition experience, ZIEN applied a more systematized strategy at Pwn2Own Tokyo 2025, where it achieved meaningful results by successfully demonstrating an unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability.
Park Han-ryeol is an IoT security expert with a record of domestic and international achievements. These include winning the Smart Home Hacking Competition at the Cyber Security Challenge 2022, placing 4th in the 2023 Smart Factory Hacking Competition, presenting at DEFCON 2024 IoT Village, and reporting numerous vulnerabilities to KVE and CVE. His field-oriented research is grounded in hands-on equipment analysis and active collaboration with the global security community.
“This presentation was intended to offer students and researchers preparing for IoT security research practical insights and lessons learned from failure,” said Park. “I hope it serves as a stepping stone for future research and project success.”
ZIEN CEO Young-min Cho added, “Sharing limitations and trial-and-error in the field of cybersecurity is a valuable asset that fosters both technical insight and stronger industry-wide response capabilities. We will continue to collaborate with the security community and lead proactive responses to emerging threats based on real-world experience.”
Source: Seoul Economic Daily