First Focus, part of Integris, places in the top 10 in a global cybersecurity competition

First Focus, now part of Integris, has finished sixth in the 2026 Huntress Capture the Flag competition as part of a combined First Focus and Integris team.

The team placed sixth out of more than 1,600 teams and appears under the Integris name on Huntress’s official scoreboard.

Integris completed its acquisition of First Focus in September 2026, bringing together cybersecurity expertise across the wider group. The result demonstrates the depth of cybersecurity expertise across the combined Integris and First Focus business, and the strength that comes from bringing those teams together. Read the acquisition announcement.

Cybersecurity is becoming harder to recognise

A suspicious email attachment is one thing. An attacker using a legitimate account or a trusted IT tool is much harder to distinguish from normal business activity.

Attackers can abuse remote management tools, use compromised identities to access systems, or manipulate email accounts to hide activity and carry out fraud. AI is also changing how social engineering is created and delivered, making some attempts more convincing and easier to scale.

For the people protecting a business, the challenge is not simply collecting alerts. It is recognising what is unusual, connecting the evidence and deciding what needs to happen next.

A login, a script and a file download may each appear harmless on their own. Understanding what they mean together takes investigation, experience and judgement. When something is missed or a response takes too long, the consequences can extend beyond IT to interrupted operations, exposed information and financial loss.

That makes the capability of your cybersecurity partner increasingly important. The tools they use matter, but so do the people behind them: their ability to investigate unfamiliar problems, adapt their approach and keep learning as threats change.

Why Huntress runs Capture the Flag

Huntress runs its Capture the Flag competition each October as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month. It gives participants a practical way to build their skills, solve unfamiliar problems and learn alongside the wider security community.

A Capture the Flag competition presents a series of technical challenges. Participants investigate each scenario to find a hidden answer, known as a “flag”. Correct submissions earn points and contribute to a team’s position on the leaderboard.

Huntress describes challenges across areas such as malware analysis, incident response and threat hunting. They give participants a chance to practise the kinds of analytical skills security teams use when examining suspicious activity. Learn more about Huntress CTF.

A new challenge: AI and human judgement

This year, Huntress introduced its AI Arena. Participants were strongly encouraged, though not required, to use AI as part of their approach, with an environment and tokens provided for the competition. Read the 2026 competition FAQ.

That reflects an important shift for the security industry. AI can help people investigate information and explore possible answers more quickly. But a plausible answer still needs to be tested. Security professionals need to understand the evidence, challenge assumptions and use their judgement to decide what is actually happening.

For our team, the competition was an opportunity to apply those skills to unfamiliar challenges and learn from colleagues across First Focus and Integris.

Building on a strong result

The combined team, listed as Integris on the Huntress leaderboard, finished sixth in 2026.

That follows another strong performance last year, when First Focus placed 27th and reported a top-0.4% finish. Read about the 2025 result.

The field, competition format and team composition changed this year, so the two results are not a like-for-like measure. Both are evidence of a team willing to test itself against difficult challenges and continue developing its skills.

Congratulations to everyone across First Focus and Integris who contributed, and thank you to Huntress for creating an opportunity for the security community to learn together.

What this means for your business

No competition result, on its own, tells you everything about a cybersecurity provider. Your partner’s operating processes, service delivery and experience protecting clients matter too.

But it is reasonable to ask how the people protecting your business keep their skills current, how they investigate unusual activity and what happens when they identify a genuine threat.

For us, Huntress CTF is one way to practise those skills, learn from new challenges and share that knowledge across the team. As cyber threats continue to change, that commitment to learning needs to continue too.

If you’re reviewing your cybersecurity arrangements and would like to discuss those questions, talk to our team.

How First Focus uses Huntress to protect customers

Huntress is also part of how First Focus helps protect its customers every day. We use its cybersecurity platform to monitor devices and Microsoft 365 identities for suspicious activity, investigate potential threats and support incident response. Combined with our own security expertise, Huntress’s 24/7 monitoring helps us identify and respond to threats across customer environments.

Managed cybersecurity with CORE

Cybersecurity works best when it’s part of the wider technology environment. CORE brings managed IT, AI and cybersecurity together, giving businesses access to the people, tools and ongoing support needed to protect their systems, manage risk and respond to threats. It’s an approach that combines security expertise with an understanding of how your business uses technology every day.

Find out how CORE can support and protect your business.

LEARN MORE ABOut CORE