October 31, 2019 to November 1, 2019
Madagascar
Africa/Blantyre timezone

Overcoming Barriers: Enhancing Cyber Security Education and Awareness Through Cloud Based Cyber Security Competitions

Nov 1, 2019, 11:50 AM
20m
Madagascar

Madagascar

Presentation UbuntuNet-Connect 2019

Speaker

Mrs Mercy Chitauro (Namibia University of Science and Technology)

Description

The Namibia National Cyber Security Competition (NNCSC) is a yearly event that began in October 2015. The competition is run on an attack-and-defend basis using client server architecture. Teams are assigned an industry based computer system/network scenario which they service and defend. Before the competition the participants are trained on attack and defense procedures and two weeks before the competition they are given specific details about that year’s competition. Since NNCSC’s inception the winning team has been invited to participate at the International Collegiate Cyber Defense Invitational (ICCDI) hosted by Highline College in Seattle, USA. Namibia University of Science and Technology cyber security team won the first and second NNCSC and travelled to Seattle in June 2016 and 2017. Other participating teams from other nations and from within the USA (from other states) failed to make it to Seattle because of the high travelling funds required. The excessive amounts required for travelling and accommodation brought into life the idea of cohosting the competition on the cloud from two centers and each participating team would have to choose the location it wants to participate at. Virtualization technology is used for both the students’ computer systems that they are defending and for the attacking teams’ access into the competition arena. In addition, zoom and slack technologies are used to enable collaboration between the participating student teams. This paper highlights how the use of cloud computing, virtualization, zoom, slack and remote desktop access have enabled the continuation of ICCDI which promotes the growth of cyber security skills. These technologies have facilitated and improved the ICCDI competition platform and enhanced the level of virtual collaboration between educational institutions involved, government and civil society. Thus, enabling the goals of the competition to be achieved. The goals of which are to: sensitize industry, academia, government agencies and other stakeholders on the exposure risks associated with cyber systems and to suggest and implement solutions to mitigate these risks

Primary authors

Mrs Mercy Chitauro (Namibia University of Science and Technology) Dr Fungai Bhunu Shava (Namibia University of Science and Technology) Dr Attlee M. Gamundani (Namibia University of Science and Technology) Mr Isaac Nhamu (Lecturer, Namibia University of Science and Technology) Dr Amelia Phillips (Highline College)

Presentation materials