Senior School students at Canadian Cyber Defence Challenge, May 2018.

(CANADIAN CYBER DEFENCE) CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

By Barrett Arbour, Grade 11

On May 1, Olivia Wilde, Megan Schroeder, and I had the pleasure of attending and competing in the 2018 Cyber Defence Challenge, which combined simple logic puzzle solving with sophisticated programming aimed at finding security flaws in a fake company's website. The day was further enriched by the overarching story plot involving a corrupt business, government schemes, and fake news. Throughout the day we were able to explore in great detail what made a website secure, how to improve general cybersecurity in our own lives, and how to deal with the demands of an employer.

Whilst the day was both immensely entertaining and very educational, we were not mere attendees but competitors of the challenge, consisting of searching for "flags" amidst hints given by our table mentor and the officiators of the competition, which would secure points for the team.

Additionally, we prepared a seven-minute presentation to a panel of board members of the company we were working for about the security of the website and our advice to improve it.

Overall, the Balmoral Hall team did quite well, placing 8th of 12 Winnipeg high schools competing and 13th out of all 24 teams.

Competition aside, though, this event gave us an amazing opportunity to network, make connections with people in the technology world, advance our cybersecurity knowledge, apply our skills, and, most importantly, have fun!

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Balmoral Hall School

630 Westminster Ave. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada  R3C 3S1
Tel: (204) 784-1600 | Fax: (204) 774-5534 | info@balmoralhall.ca
Charitable Registration No. 12994 3932 RR0001
Our mission at Balmoral Hall School is to inspire girls’ imagination and the courage to excel, to reach, to lead, to care.

We are a nondenominational independent day and boarding school, educating students from Junior Nursery to Grade 12.