More than 100 students from 20 Saudi Universities will participate in the Cyber Saber Hackathon 2018
#VirtuPort’s CEO Eng. #Samer_Omar , announced that more than 100 Saudi students are expected to participate in the two-day Hackathon, including offensive and defensive challenges more advanced than anything previously held in the region. VirtuPort’s Cyber Saber Hackathon 2018 is being exclusively sponsored by STC Business.
The Hackathon is being run for the second year in a row in Riyadh with plans to expand in 2019 to other cities in the Middle East and the goal of having playoffs for a regional winner. The students will be representing various public and private universities in the Hackathon, where they will be getting their hands on a state-of-the-art model Smart City which will have more smart components, including the requirement to have a red team (offensive) and blue team (defensive) team members.
The Cyber Saber Hackathon 2018 will occur from the 6th to the 7th of November in Riyadh at Crowne Plaza – Riyadh RDC Hotel & Convention Center. “The total number of participating universities is estimated to be 20 private and public universities who will represent their capabilities,” said Samer Omar. He also urged any interested Saudi universities to register before the deadline to ensure maximum participation.
This Hackathon is one of the most important competitions in the region. It enables the university students’ access to advanced gamification and simulation of challenges based on the implementation across over 100 smart elements, including web, network, systems, and SCADA ICS, and more.
Eng. Samer explained that what sets this competition apart is the combination of the Smart City. “The Smart City is a state-of-the-art solution that simulates real-world events in cybersecurity. For example, financial districts, airports, and much more. Besides, the Smart City will also allow the students to experience the stress and responsibility associated with protecting businesses, therefore preparing them to be cyber assets for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
The competition is licensed and authorized by Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones, which oversees this sector in the Kingdom and the national reference in the cybersecurity affairs, especially that there is a severe shortage of qualified national cadres in this field and therefore such initiatives must be supported.
Samer Omar mentioned that based on student feedback from last year, a 1-day workshop would be held for the participating students during the first half of October. He further explained that the previous conference pulled in as many as 400+ VIP Cyber Security delegates from across the Kingdom representing all verticals and global Cybersecurity and ICT sponsors creating the perfect ecosystem of students representing the future, VIP delegates representing those managing the challenges today and the various companies who are providing solutions to these challenges.
Cyber Saber Hackathon is part of VirtuPort’s Thought Leadership division focused on increasing regional development and awareness in cybersecurity through human capital and talent development.
