Anna Voskuil | News Editor
Featured Image: York’s Team X used an “Inside Out” approach to solve a proposed cybersecurity industry challenge. | Courtesy of PxHere
This year, York brings home the cyber security gold.
On October 20, held at the RBC WaterPark Place Auditorium from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Cyber Tech Risk held their annual People in Cyber conference, wherein they aim to discuss solutions in cybersecurity, as well as provide a platform for aspiring future talent in the industry. The conference includes panel discussions from cybersecurity industry professionals, and more notably, the 2018 Cybersecurity Higher Education Contest.
Founder and Catalyst of Cyber Tech Risk, Bryan Li, says: “We believe the key to our future success in the cybersecurity industry is to develop next-generation talent. So we made this contest to challenge young minds in the hope of further developing their technical, business, and people skills via the competitions.”
The Cybersecurity Higher Education Contest—a contest geared towards all post-secondary students across Ontario—proposed registered teams with a challenge related to the industry, wherein they were to provide a plausible solution. They were given a month to formulate their solution.
The challenge for this year was: “People are the weakest link in cybersecurity.” This challenge focuses on issues related to computer hacking, phishing emails, and internal user mistakes that make them more vulnerable to online attacks such as these.
Evaluated by a panel of judges, four York cybersecurity students—Kenneth Faria, Melanie Dyer, Mashruf Chowdhury, and Tayzoon Ismail—otherwise known as ‘Team X,’ won the first-place prize, thanks to their solution: “Incentivized Threat Mitigation—an ‘Inside Out’ Approach.”
Behind York was a team from Centennial College, in second, as well as a team from Lambton College, in third.
In their win, Team X was presented with a cheque for $3,000, along with an opportunity for a co-op placement with RBC. All teams were able to explore possible mentoring opportunities with sponsors of the conference, as well as increase their business connections and exposure with said sponsors.
On why he believes Team X had earned the award, Li says: “They did excellent work in the areas of innovation, feasibility, risk, impact, and presentation.”
On the dedication he saw brought to Team X’s project, Li adds: “All four students demonstrated solid knowledge in the cybersecurity field. They did great research on the industry problems, and were able to come up with an innovative solution. They also showed other valuable skills such as leadership, teamwork, communication, and problem solving.
“These will well enable them to land some exciting cybersecurity positions, and further advance their careers in this hot industry.”
On hopes for future conferences, more opportunities for students aspiring to enter the cybersecurity industry are in store.
“In 2019, we will organize a larger, Cybersecurity Higher Education Contest to cover both case competition and hands-on practice,” Li says.
