Winning team TSS with Diane Miller of Northrop Grumman & Michelle Price, CEO Austcyber
The inaugural winner of the CyberTaipan National Finals
The exciting culmination of the national youth cyber security competition, CyberTaipan, was held in Canberra on Saturday, 16th of March. The final saw The Southport School from the Gold Coast, Queensland take home the prestigious title in an awards ceremony hosted at Parliament House.
CyberTaipan is presented by Northrop Grumman in partnership with AustCyber, the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network. The pilot season is sponsored by BlackBerry, PwC Australia and Woodside Energy.
First, Second & Third Place Students with representatives of AustCyber, Northrop Grumman, Blackberry, PwC & WoodsideEnergy
38 students aged 12 – 18 from all over the country came together to compete in the pilot National Finals. The team from Lake Tuggeranong College, ACT took second place, and Victoria-based Australian Air Force Cadets, 415 Squadron came third.
Michelle Price, CEO, AustCyber said: “AustCyber is committed to making Australia the leading centre for cyber security education. It has been wonderful to watch so many young people engaged in the cyber security industry and tackling real-world cyber challenges head-on. We’re very proud of all the participants in CyberTaipan, and particular congratulations to the team from The Southport School on their fantastic win!”
The CyberTaipan finals, which took place at Canberra Institute of Technology, consisted of a number of cyber security challenges against the clock. The challenges emulated real-world cyber security scenarios, and students worked in teams to solve problems and complete tasks.
“We congratulate all the teams that took part in the inaugural CyberTaipan National Finals,” said Diane Miller, Director, Global Cyber Education and Workforce Initiatives at Northrop Grumman. ‘We are delighted to bring this challenge to Australia after its great success in the US, and have been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of the Australian teams as they learn important skills and become immersed in the cyber security industry.’
About CyberTaipan
CyberTaipan is a pilot Australian youth cyber security competition that is modelled on the US Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot program. CyberPatriot has been running successfully for 11 years and has already expanded into Canada as CyberTitan, the UK as CyberCenturion and Saudi Arabia as CyberArabia.
The competition is designed to educate, engage and inspire young people to develop skills and pursue careers in cyber security and other science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
Participants gain exposure to real world defensive cyber security principles and ethics, while developing their technical, leadership, communication and teamwork skills and abilities.
Through several rounds of competition, teams are provided a set of virtual images that represent operating systems. Over a six-hour period, each team is tasked with finding cyber security vulnerabilities within the images, receiving points for protecting the system while maintaining critical services.
About Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, space, strike, and logistics and modernisation to customers worldwide. Please visit news.northropgrumman.com and follow us on Twitter, @NGCNews, for more information.
About AustCyber
AustCyber’s mission is to grow a vibrant and globally competitive cyber security sector that enhances Australia’s future economic growth. As part of this mission, it aims to be an independent national body to better align disparate cyber security initiatives and investments across industry, the research community, academia, and government.
AustCyber is part of the Australian Government’s Industry Growth Centres Initiative, which aims to tap new sources of economic growth by maximising Australia’s competitive advantage in six knowledge-driven, high-value sectors.
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