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Tertiary Institute Students from Hong Kong and Macau To Face Off in Inter-Tertiary-Institute Capture the Flag (CTF) Contest 2017

HONG KONG, March 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) today announces the partnership with iChunQiu.com to launch Hong Kong's first-of-its-kind 'Inter-tertiary-institution Capture the Flag Contest(CTF) 2017'. Tertiary institute students in Hong Kong and Macau are invited to register online via ctf.astri.org from now on till 22 March 2017.

Registered students will receive intensive on-line training from March to June and online practice support. The contest will follow an 'ethical hackathon' format, requiring participants to compete in a 36-hour, non-stop on-line challenge in a range of topics including web-security, cryptography, secure coding and computer forensics, and more. The contestants will progress through a qualifying round in early April followed by the final contest in mid-June in which the three best teams will be awarded HK$50,000, HK$30,000 and HK$10,000 respectively.

CTF is a a globally recognised popular platform modelled as a series of simulated cyber-attacks that emulate what happens in the real-life digital space. This exciting, competitive platform will gauge the students' skills in managing information security and deterring cyber-attacks. It aims to boost the knowledge and expertise of the local talent pool and promote awareness of information security among the young generation in Hong Kong and Macau. A wide range of cybersecurity skills are required to succeed in CTF, including operating system, secure programming, reverse engineering, computer forensics, system security administration and network analysis.

A rigorous on-line training for the contestants will be followed by a practice game meant to help identify skill-gaps and better prepare for the qualifying round. In the final contest, an exciting attack-defence model will be adopted - testing how teams work together and deploy their collective skills and knowledge to solve challenges.

Dr. Duncan Wong, Vice President, Financial Technologies of ASTRI commented, "This exciting contest will be just as much fun as it will be professionally useful." He added, "Cybersecurity is becoming a very challenging yet promising career choices for young professionals. Through practical exposure such as this CTF contest, our young generation can taste a feel of the real world of cybersecurity management."

"iChunQiu.com has extensive experience in hosting CTF events in mainland China and has a strong sense in training citizens especially training citizens especially the young generation to safeguard cybersecurity. This is a very exciting cybersecurity competition with meaningful cause. Participating teams need to demonstrate high skills in attacking the vulnerable part of other contestants' servers and at the same time defend against others' attacks. Teamwork and strategies are also critically important if the contestants want to win in the game," said Cai Jingjing, the founder of iChunQiu.com which is the most popular on-site cybersecurity institution in mainland China.

The 'Inter-tertiary-institution Capture the Flag Contest (CTF) 2017' has been backed by invaluable support from 'GovCERT.HK' of The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer (OGCIO), HKSAR Government. The OGCIO is committed to supporting - among many of its initiatives - general users, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and schools to conduct health checks on computers, mobile devices and websites as well as tips and techniques to guard against cyber-attacks.

The Contest is sponsored by HKT - Hong Kong's premier telecommunications service provider and leading operator in fixed-line, broadband and mobile communication services, and Hong Kong Information Security Academy (HKISA) - a leading provider of cyber and information security insights and training, as well as Cyberworld (Asia) Ltd and FireEye.

About ASTRI

Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited (ASTRI) was founded by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2000 with the mission of enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in technology-based industries through applied research.  ASTRI's core R&D competences in various areas are organised under seven Technology Divisions, namely Communications Technologies, Electronics Components, IC Design (Analog), IC Design (Digital), Opto-electronics, Security and Data Sciences, and Software and Systems. Five areas of applications including financial technologies, intelligent manufacturing, next generation network, health technology, and smart city are identified for major pursuit. For further information about ASTRI, please visit www.astri.org.

Media enquiries:

For enquiries, please contact Ms. Cherry Au (Tel: 3406 2993, email: cherryau@astri.org)

Source: Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI)
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