The “Olympics” of cyber culture coming to Oshawa
Regional chair John Henry, Elaine Popp (left) and Debbie McKee Cemczyk of Durham College sat down to discuss the importance of the Cyberlympics. (Photo by Chris Jones)
By Chris Jones/The Oshawa Express
The best of the world’s cyber community will be making its way to Durham College later this year.
Dubbed the Global Cyberlympics, the event is dubbed as an “ethical” hacking and cyber security competition.
The Cyberlympics sees teams compete in a series of challenges in areas such as digital forensics, malware analysis and cryptography.
The 12-hour online elimination round is being held on Saturday, Sept. 7.
The top teams will then compete in the finals on Oct. 26. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in Ajax.
Durham College will be the first Canadian host since the event started in 2012.
The Cyberlympics have taken place in countries such as the Netherlands, the US, and others.
More than 75 countries will have representatives at the Cyberlympics.
Fifteen teams will take part in the finals, with a local team from Durham College currently in the qualifying round.
The first place team will win $1,500, while second and third take home $1,000 and $750 respectively.
“Seeing the very best talent in cyber security and artificial intelligence descend upon the Durham Region for one of the most advanced competitions world wide [is exciting],” said Elaine Popp, vice president, academic at Durham College.
Last year more than 2,100 participants from 500 teams took part. The finals included teams from Brazil, Netherlands, India, Nigeria, and Australia.
“October is Cyber Security Awareness Month in Durham Region, and will be home to various events raising awareness on this important issue,” said regional chair John Henry.
Henry believes the Cyberlympics will be the highlight of the month, as the goal is to raise awareness, and increase education about ethics and information security.
“With the finals being held here at Durham College, and the numerous other events happening across the region for Cyber Security Awareness Month, I look forward to seeing our community come together to discuss, learn, grow, and compete,” said Popp.
The event is organized by EC-Council and SiberX.
For more information, visit cyberlympics.org
Gloss