The annual computer hacking competition Cyber Battle: Capture The Flag (CTF) will be held on August 20, with its finale at Tarindak D’Seni in Bandar Seri Begawan.

The qualifying round was held online last week, with 22 local teams vying for spots in the final.

This year’s competition will also see the inclusion of participants from universities around Borneo. Event organiser, IT security company ITPSS Sdn Bhd, has also invited universities who are members of the computing and informatics consortium of Borneo, Konsortium Komputeran dan Informatik Borneo (KKIB) to join.

Six teams from KKIB universities will compete next week, including two teams from Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB).

The game play of Cyber Battle remains the same as previous years, a Jeopardy-style ‘Capture The Flag’ where teams will solve challenges in categories including packet analysis, digital forensics, and cryptography. Each completed challenge will reveal a ‘flag’ which must be submitted to earn points.

Cash prizes of BND3,500, BND2,500 and BND1,500 await the top three teams from the open category, while similar cash prizes are also being offered for the KKIB category. A bonus prize of BND1,000 will be awarded to one team with the highest score overall from both categories.

A series of presentations by local tech experts, on blockchain, deepfakes, and artificial intelligence, will also be held at the same venue which is open to the public.

Exhibition booths showcasing cybersecurity courses, facial recognition software, digital identity solution, digital forensics and cybersecurity takaful will also be set up.

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin