Follow Us
-
303765
-
Isle of Man
So, Who Are CyberAces?
So, Who Are CyberAces?
This is the second article in Code Club’s Meet the Team series published ahead of this year’s CyberCenturion National Finals trip to York in April. This week, we’re getting to know CyberAces, the island’s most experienced Senior Boys team. Chris Hogben, Code Club’s Learning Coordinator met up with three of the team members, along with Adam Drummond, one of the club’s Team Leaders, to see what’s up ahead of the finals.
AARON
Rielly
9 years at Code Club
5th CyberCenturion
Fun Fact: Is Code Club’s 3D Printer Guru
Laksaa
ARTHUR
Owenson
9 years at Code Club
5th CyberCenturion
Fun Fact: Arthur’s Brother also takes part in CyberCenturion
Balley Sallagh
SIDDHARTH SHAKTHIVEL
Muthu-Pandian
5 years at Code Club
5th CyberCenturion
Fun Fact: Wrote a programming language
Kione Droghad
An Introduction to CyberCenturion, the Sequel
Adam:
Check out last week’s post (Meet the Team: I Am Root) to see a brief overview of the competition across the year. Each of the three qualifying rounds we hold are a fantastic event pushing our cyber-students to their max in an all-inclusive hands-on cyber defence competition. Each team – we had seven this year – are given a series of virtual computers (known in the industry as images) which I pre-load onto our computers for them the night before, with challenges varying from solving simple ciphers all the way up to niche tasks such as advanced policies and computer rules.
The teams get one continuous period of six hours to secure these virtual images to the best of their ability, receiving points throughout the day that ultimately combine to give a leaderboard. This year, our teams pushed the bar higher than ever before, gaining 1st, 4th (our junior team) and 9th (our all-girls team) overall. To say that we are proud of the teams is an understatement. Watch out for the finale next week to find out how our teams qualify for the finals.
Question and Answer with the Team
Chris:
I’m sure Adam will join me here in saying well done for your progress this year. It was truly exceptional to see you top the leaderboard in the speed that you did it and I cannot wait to see how you will do at the finals in York. Time for the first question for today. You’ve all been to the finals before, both in-person and virtually. How has it gone down for you previously?
AO:
Last year we managed to win the CyberCenturion National Finals, in London. We have attended previously with varying success [in both the Junior and Senior disciplines]. It’s been a progressive journey, taking away both First and Second place multiple times.
SSMP:
The year before last, we came Second, narrowly missing First place by only two points.
Chris:
Some tight wins in the past then. How would you explain CyberCenturion to a friend?
AO:
I’ve done this a lot. You are given a [virtual] computer, and you need to make it as secure as possible to try and stop hackers. We get an assortment of questions about anything from steganography to finding out how many people accessed this computer.
SSMP:
We have to identify vulnerabilities on the computer.
Chris:
Nicely explained. What are you most excited for about going to the finals this year?
AR:
The breakfast! On a serious note, it’s nice to get away and it’s fantastic to see more places than just The Rock. York University is on the trip this year, as we’re in sixth form we will get to see an extra university than just what we see through the school university trip.
AO:
It’s great to have a large exposure to more people and being able to experience different things. London was a great experience last year [both for the competition and the prize trip], hopefully Manchester will be similar. I’m excited to see what more I am capable of learning from this experience that school doesn’t necessarily provide.
SSMP:
The new cyber challenges faced in the competition and the forensic questions asked at the final.
Chris:
It sounds like the trip is going to be quite exciting then! Looking aside from the trip and more so to Code Club in general, what made you join Code Club – and what made you stay?
SSMP:
I joined in 2018. I was interested in computers and programming. I even taught a C# course in my early days. Unlike most people at Code Club, I didn’t join the club via the Scratch course.
AR:
I remember doing the Scratch course in the early days at a place called The Forum, and I just stuck with it and followed the club when it went to Castletown and then back to Douglas, before we moved into the Eagle Lab where we are today. Nowadays, I enjoy being with the people, and I love using and repairing the collection of 3D printers that we are lucky to have.
AO:
My Dad was the one who set up Code Club, so I’ve been involved since the start. I tried one of the Scratch courses and really enjoyed it. I’ve just been doing stuff ever since, going from doing courses to working with Luka to make a game; this then turned into the CyberAces group.
Chris:
Your origin stories are great – especially considering that aside from Sid, you’ve been around longer than I have! You’ve been taking part in CyberCenturion for a good few years now, what interests you in cybersecurity?
AR:
I enjoy the forensic questions because it pushes us to try new things every year. The standard stuff is trawling through the box [a virtual computer sent to us] for classic mistakes whereas the questions make you look for stuff and there can be puzzles and cryptography. I remember one where we were right, and the ‘correct’ answer was wrong!
AO:
My favourite forensic question was to do with Windows ShellBag [finding out when folders were last opened] where we ended up looking into a research paper to try and find what directories to get into. I also really enjoy pen testing, using tools like ‘Hack The Box’.
Chris:
Some interesting challenges there. Is there anything big you have learned previously at the finals?
AR:
Some of the teams are friendly and some of them are isolated, they won’t share anything or speak to anybody. At the same time, everyone seemed happy, but they all wanted to win. Last year had the friendliest teams. You have to learn to move off of certain questions due to the lack of time at the finals, which we didn’t grasp at first.
AO:
There’s an interesting vibe because everyone’s quite friendly but at the end of the day everyone wants to win. The time crunch was much more of an impact than we were expecting so we didn’t have much time to explore new stuff and get those higher points.
SSMP:
In my opinion, we were super prepared for the final, so we didn’t really learn anything new. Rotating around helped us keep fresh perspectives on the different images.
Chris:
What would it mean to you to win?
AR:
Again? It’s nice to win because you get recognition for all the effort you’ve put in throughout the year and there are some good prizes. I remember the jump between junior and senior – there’s a lot more work.
AO:
It would be an affirmation for all the work we have done so far, we’ve learned and we’ve improved. It provides opportunities, such as going to Black Hat Conference [a cybersecurity conference] in London last year.
Chris:
And finally, are you going to win?
TEAM:
For sure!
Chris:
Is there anything else you want to add?
AO:
I would like to say thank you to the volunteers for being inspirational leaders.
SSMP:
Thanks to Owen for introducing the CyberCenturion competition and for starting the club, and to Michael for his Linux teachings [not during the competition].
About Code Club
Code Club is a Manx educational charity (number 1322) focussed on empowering individuals in the technological space. They aim to provide a focal point for people of all ages to develop digital skills, share their knowledge and experience, and to teach others how to leverage the technology that surrounds them.
Every week, Code Club hosts sessions to provide a space for students to learn about STEM topics. For more information about the club or CyberCenturion at Code Club, contact hello@codeclub.im, visit their Facebook page (Isle of Man Code Club) or drop-in to any of their Saturday sessions at Barclays Eagle Lab in Douglas, from 4-6pm. If you are interested in helping with sponsorship, please contact sponsorship@codeclub.im.
Code Club is a charity registered in the Isle of Man. Our aim is to increase digital literacy and empower people to use the technology that surrounds us.
You can support what we're doing by becoming a Code Club Member today. Membership is only £10 a year!
Leave a Comment