A group of computing students from Robert Gordon University (RGU) put their cyber skills to the test as they battled it out in a national competition.
Dieter Holvoet, Florian Peyron, Alexa Noel and Brent De Hauwere from RGU’s School of Computing Science and Digital Media travelled to Edinburgh this month to take part in the Scottish Universities’ Cyber Security Challenge.
The Cyber Security Challenge is a series of national competitions, learning programmes, and networking initiatives designed to identify and inspire more EU citizens resident in the UK to become cyber security professionals.
Established to bolster the national pool of cyber skills, it provides safe environments in which thousands of people can test and demonstrate their skills and showcases the spread of career opportunities for future cyber defenders.
The competition in Edinburgh, which ran from October 1 to October 2, involved two days of cyber challenges where the RGU students pitted their coding and security skills against other universities, with one team crowned ‘Cyber University of the Year’.
Brent De Hauwere, who is studying Computer Science at RGU, said: “On the first day we were challenged with a ‘Capture the Flag’ game which put all of our knowledge and skills to the test. We decrypted network packets, used SQL injection, applied reverse engineering, and much more.
“We returned for the second day where we embarked on ‘Packetwars’, an intense real-time cyber warfare simulation. There were also fascinating talks by security experts.
“We may not have won the competition but we had a lot of fun and learned a lot, which is what the competition is all about.”
Christopher McDermott, Lecturer at RGU’s School of Computing, Science and Digital Media, adds: “The students put in a fantastic performance and demonstrated significant skills and knowledge throughout the challenge.
“Participating in the national competition provides the students with a valuable learning opportunity where they put their knowledge into practice, as well as a chance to find out more about a career in cyber security.”