In this Member Spotlight we hear from renewing member, Hack the Box, on launching the world’s first controlled AI cyber range to test safety, limits, and capabilities of autonomous AI security agents, and on joining ScotlandIS to support the strengthening of the cybersecurity ecosystem.
Who is Hack the Box and what do you do?
Hack The Box (HTB) is the leading cyber readiness platform for the agentic era, battle-testing and upskilling both humans and AI agents to enhance organisational cyber resilience. Trusted by the Fortune 500, government agencies, and MSSPs, the platform delivers threat-informed learning paths consisting of real-world scenarios in gamified labs and live-fire simulations that build and validate offensive and defensive cyber capabilities. With a loyal community of more than 4 million members and 800+ enterprise customers, Hack The Box empowers teams and intelligent systems alike to strengthen cyber defences and reduce breach risk effectively.
HTB’s platform:
- Strengthens cyber capabilities at every level, from tactical and operational to strategic, across red (offensive), blue (defensive), and purple (hybrid) domains.
- Builds and develops skills through realistic, hands-on training, mapped to actual cybersecurity roles and real-world scenarios.
- Offers a unique combination of scale, validation, and innovation. It’s the only platform offering dual validation top-down (1,500+ organisations worldwide) and bottom-up (4M+ community users across the world), which drives unmatched content quality.
Tell us something unique or interesting about your organisation.
As AI reshapes the threat landscape, we introduced HTB AI Range on December 3, 2025, the world’s first controlled AI cyber range built to test and benchmark the safety, limits, and capabilities of autonomous AI security agents. Just as HTB has upskilled more than 4 million cybersecurity professionals in the industry, the company is now battle-testing large language models (LLMs) and their agents.
HTB AI Range replicates live, high-stakes scenarios, tailored for enterprise readiness, where AI security models and agents are evaluated, benchmarked, and reinforced. Every model is tested, refined, and improved against thousands of continuously updated offensive and defensive targets until capabilities are measured. It’s purpose-built for Frontier Labs, hyperscale enterprises, Agentic Security Vendors, governments, and MSSPs seeking to stress-test AI models, validate safety, and benchmark performance against frameworks, including MITRE ATT&CK, NIST/NICE, and OWASP Top 10.
What is your biggest achievement as an organisation?
HTB started with a simple idea: give people something real to hack. Over time, this evolved into a leading AI-powered cybersecurity readiness and upskilling platform, trusted by Fortune 500 enterprises, government organizations, and MSSPs to build effective cyber resilience at scale.
We expanded from offensive security content into deep defensive and SOC-level training. On September 16, 2025, HTB announced the acquisition of LetsDefend, a blue team upskilling platform known for its hands-on SOC simulations and rapidly growing community. The combination of Hack The Box and LetsDefend offers hands-on labs, real-world simulations, and cross-role skill development that empower enterprises, governments, MSSPs, and academic institutions to continuously benchmark, upskill, and certify their cyber workforce. With LetsDefend strengthening defensive skills inside the SOC, HTB took the next step in operational readiness with the introduction of Threat Range, a team-based cyber incident simulation platform that provides operational insights for executives and board members. With the launch of Threat Range, HTB moved cybersecurity upskilling beyond the individual and into full team operations. Threat Range is a team-based cyber incident simulation environment designed for SOC, DFIR, threat hunting, and leadership roles to operate together during realistic, enterprise-scale breach scenarios.
For more than two years, we have also been advancing AI-driven learning paths, labs, and research where machines and humans compete, collaborate, and co-evolve. HTB also runs some of the world’s largest AI cybersecurity competitions and introduced the first AI Range for benchmarking AI agents in realistic environments.
What are the benefits of your continued ScotlandIS membership?
HTB joined ScotlandIS as part of our commitment to strengthening the cybersecurity ecosystem. As a platform focused on building real-world cyber readiness, we see strong alignment with ScotlandIS’ mission to support innovation, future talent, and collaboration across Scotland’s technology community.
Scotland has a growing and highly skilled cyber sector, supported by leading universities, forward-thinking enterprises, and an active public sector. As members, we are contributing to this ecosystem by helping organisations and professionals enhance their readiness through practical, real-world learning experiences, while collaborating with local organisations to address emerging security challenges.
What do you see as the main challenges for the tech industry in the UK and Scotland?
2026 will mark the year AI in cybersecurity moves from rapid adoption to rigorous evaluation. We’ve entered a phase where AI isn’t just an enhancement, it’s the backbone of both offence and defence. Now, the focus will shift to measuring how reliably and securely these systems perform under real-world stress. Not all AI is created equal, capability must be proven, not assumed. Traditional SIEM-heavy environments will gradually give way to AI-augmented, agentic SOC platforms that prioritise detection agility and autonomous response. At the same time, we’ll begin to see the early stages of quantum-safe architectures emerge, with the emphasis on preparation, not panic. Training will also evolve: it will no longer be about mastering tools alone, but about learning how to work effectively alongside AI and interpret machine-generated insights. In this new landscape, AI literacy will become a clear competitive advantage for both resilience and operational efficiency.
Get in touch if you’d like to find out more at info@hackthebox.com, or visit https://www.hackthebox.com/.