In a remarkable display of prowess in the realm of cybersecurity, the B1str0m4th team from the North-West University (NWU) emerged victorious at the seventh annual Cyber Security Challenge (CSC) competition.
Hosted by the South African National Research Network (SANReN), the event took place during the Centre for High-Performance Computing (CHPC) National Meeting in December 2023.
The competition, designed to ignite interest in network and information security within Southern African tertiary education institutions, drew participation from 133 teams representing 20 institutions across South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, and Namibia. The diverse field showcased exceptional skills in various cybersecurity domains, including penetration testing, incident response, digital forensics, and security training.
The top 10 teams, comprising 39 talented students, earned coveted spots in the challenge final. The 10 teams were B1str0m4th from the NWU, BuzzHackYear from the University of Cape Town (Engineering), CtrlAltElite from Engineering and FLUKE from Computer Science at the University of Johannesburg, CodeClappers from Computer Science and NullPointer from Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand, CSyndicate from Rhodes University, Password1234 from the University of Pretoria, Prowl Patrol from the University of the Western Cape, andREvil from the Namibia University of Science and Technology.
Throughout the competition, these teams faced a series of cybersecurity challenges, including a Jeopardy-styled Capture the Flag (CTF) event, an Attack and Defend challenge, an API vulnerabilities challenge sponsored by Orange Cyberdefense, and a machine learning classification challenge sponsored by MathWorks/Opti-Num Solutions.
The grand finale concluded on 7 December, and during the Awards Ceremony the NWU's B1str0m4th claimed the coveted first place, showcasing their exceptional skills in tackling real-world scenarios. The Namibia University of Science and Technology's REvil secured second place, while Rhodes University's CSyndicate claimed the third spot.
