The Vertex Threat Clustering Challenge is Live!

by thesilence | 2025-09-15

Here at The Vertex Project, we spend a lot of time thinking about how we can make Synapse (and analysis in general) better. For example, on any given day, we might ask ourselves:

  • What if we could give access to Vertex's Threat Clustering Workshop from PIVOTcon 2025 to folks who couldn't attend live?

  • Gosh, wouldn't it be nice to be able to create training materials and CTF-style challenges directly in Synapse?

  • How awesome would it be if there was an instance of Synapse that the entire community could use for collaboration?

The Vertex Project is a small organization so we're often looking for ways to multitask and optimize our time. Which is why we had the brilliant idea of WHY NOT SOLVE ALL THREE PROBLEMS AT ONCE? And that is exactly what we did!

In order to highlight the capabilities of Synapse's new Learning Tool, the Vertex's Threat Clustering Workshop ("It's a Cluster!") is now available on the Vertex Intelligence-Sharing Synapse Instance (the VISI for short)!

_images/01_pivotcon.webp

If you participated in any of our Synapse Challenges at CYBERWARCON 2024 or SLEUTHCON 2025, or if you attended our PIVOTcon 2025 workshop, you got a sneak preview of the Synapse Learning Tool in its development stages. We're happy to announce that the improved and expanded Learning Tool was recently released and is available for use and testing within Synapse Enterprise!

To give you an example of what you can create with the Learning Tool, we converted our Threat Clustering Workshop (originally run as a CTF-style challenge) to an online course within the Learning Tool - meaning anyone can go through the workshop on their own time and at their own pace. The Workshop provides examples of the kind of content you can create, and how that content can be directly integrated with Synapse's research and analysis capabilities. Best of all, the Workshop was designed for anyone to participate - no Synapse or Storm experience is required. So if you're new to Synapse (or have never seen Synapse before but are curious!), then the Workshop is a great place to start.

Finally, we needed a good place to host the content. The VISI (our community Synapse instance) has been around for a while as a resource to collaborate and share research. This makes it the ideal place to host shared learning resources like the Threat Clustering Workshop.

How Do I Get in on This?

This is the key question! It's easy. If you already have an account on the VISI, simply:

  • log in to the VISI:

    _images/02_pivotcon.webp

  • From the Toolbar on the left, select the Learning Tool:

    _images/03_pivotcon.webp

  • and access the PIVOTcon 2025 - Threat Clustering Workshop:

    _images/04_pivotcon.webp

If you don't have an account on the VISI, you can request one here!

The Fine Print

There's no catch, just a few additional details if you're still reading!

  • The Learning Tool is our initial (beta) release. If you have a feature request (or find a bug), reach out to us through our Slack community - we appreciate the feedback!

  • The Learning Tool is built into Synapse Enterprise. You can try it out yourself by requesting a demo instance of Synapse. (Note that demo instances do not currently include the sample Threat Clustering Workshop course - for now, that is only available on the VISI.)

  • The VISI, its data, and accumulated intelligence analysis are available to everyone who agrees to the terms of use! Check out our FAQ for additional details on the VISI, its purpose, and how you can contribute.

That's it! Enjoy the Learning Tool, the Threat Clustering Workshop, and the VISI, and let us know what you think!

To learn more about Synapse, join our Slack community, check out our videos on YouTube, and follow us on Bluesky or Twitter.