Students take UK cyber security prize
A team of Edinburgh students has won the top prize in a UK-wide cyber security skills competition.
The two-day Inter-ACE Cyber Security Challenge tasked teams with solving more than 20 individual challenges. These included preventing a hack on a UK city’s infrastructure and a tap on an undersea communications cable.
More than 130 students from 18 universities took part in the competition, which is the largest of its kind in the UK.
Student success
The winning team – called Anonymoose – was awarded first place and a £6,000 cash prize. It was made up of four Informatics students (Joshua, Nicholas and Harvey) and one student from the School of Biological Sciences (Alistair).
Another Edinburgh team also took part in the competition, finishing fourth.
Security careers
Now in its third year, the challenge seeks to inspire technology students to pursue a career in the cyber security sector.
The contest also aims to hone the skills of students who already have a strong aptitude for ethical hacking. It helps them meet like-minded individuals and potential employers.
Hosted by the University of Cambridge, it is supported by GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre.
US contest
By winning the competition, the team has qualified for the prestigious Cambridge2Cambridge contest. This transatlantic cyber security challenge is organised by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Cambridge.
It will be held between 29 June and 1 July at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Cambridge in the US.
Leading research
In 2017, the University was named as an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research by the Government’s National Cyber Security Centre.
It is one of 14 institutions in the UK and the first in Scotland to be given this recognition.