Spokane Cyber Cup competition planned at Gonzaga - Feb 9
Saturday, February 9, 2019
Sixteen teams of Inland Northwest college and high school students will compete in a one-day Spokane Cyber Cup event at Gonzaga University on Feb. 9. The event involves capture-the-flag style competition through which student teams will try to breach each other's security system while protecting their own data file. Students from Gonzaga, Eastern Washington University, North Idaho College, and several other schools are scheduled to compete.
Spokane Mayor’s Cyber Cup 2019
Chiara Morrison sits down to interview the creator of Spokane Mayor’s Cyber Cup 2019, Max Dulin, Senior at Gonzaga University, Computer Science Major.
Chiara: Max, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and the Spokane Mayor’s Cyber Security Cup and how this concept came about?
Max: I am a senior at Gonzaga University, studying Computer Science Major with an interest in Cybersecurity, who was looking to find a cybersecurity-focused event in Spokane that offered the ability for attendees to show their skill sets. Unfortunately, there was not a local platform or event to do so. So, in response to that need, I decided to put together a “Capture The Flag” event. I decided to use a “Capture the Flag” model because it has been used at a lot of large conferences and events as a way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge in real time. It is important to note that this event is not just important to Gonzaga University, it is important to the Spokane community. I saw this as an opportunity to bring together the cybersecurity community in a new way.
Chiara: Oh, awesome, can you tell us a bit about the Capture the Flag event?
Max: Sure, the Capture the flag competition is a way for challenges set up for people to solve problems, they can be cybersecurity log analysis etc. You will often see events or exercises used as job interviews or training in cybersecurity, and at conferences as a learning tool. Defcon is a great example of a conference that does a Capture the Flag event well.
Chiara: When is the event in Spokane?
Max: The event is taking place on Saturday, February 9th, beginning at 9:00am at the PACCAR at Gonzaga University, Computer Science Department Main Building.
Chiara: Well, this is exciting, can you tell me how to register, who should register and any other relevant details?
Max: The website is the best way to register for the event, and you do not need any prerequisites to sign up. If you come in with zero knowledge- there will be tons of people that can help. However, having Directory and Linux terminal navigation experience would be helpful. We are segmenting the event into two leagues; the canary team will be for those who are more novice and the swallow league will be for those more advanced attendees. And, just to note, it is free, there is no entry fee.
Chiara: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Max: This is not to be a hard-core competition. It will give event attendees the chance to interact with security professionals, allow attendees to better understand the landscape and allow attendees to interface with professionals that want to help you on the challenge. Oh, and besides being free, we are going to be giving out trophies and there will be free food. The goal is to get people engaged, interested and looking toward Cybersecurity as an important topic in the IPNW.
