NYU-Poly Completes Second Half of Cyber Hacking Competition
By Monica Link November 29, 2013 2:00 pm
reprintsThe Polytechnic Institute of New York University completed the second phase of its cyberhacking competition that began in September. The school chose winners of its 10-year-old competition and closed competing until its next round in 2014.
“We are gratified to see the growth in the high school competition—from only 400 students two years ago to 1,500 today, because that signals that our efforts are working to fill the college-bound pipeline with talented cybersecurity students,” said professor Nasir Memon, CSAW founder and head of NYU-Poly’s Computer Science and Engineering Department.
“Our summer programs for high school and college teachers, funded by the National Science Foundation, give teachers the tools they need to prepare students for the fast track once they enter college. Not only is the net widening to include new schools in this important field of study, but when CSAW finalists enter NYU-Poly, we find they are thoroughly engaged and highly successful.”
The winners were among finalists chosen from more than 10,000 students gathered on the Brooklyn campus of the to participate in its September Cyber Security Week competition.
The hacking competition at NYU-Poly, sponsored by social media powerhouse Facebook, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Qualcomm and a host of other companies, was designed to showcase the talent of up-and-coming IT professionals while studying issues that could potentially impact broadband security. The company sponsorships helps fund the cost of student travel and expenses associated with the competition.
The competition breaks the students up into more than 1,000 teams from across the globe. The September competition was a preliminary round for the students. Finalists participating in the November round of the competition will have access to a career fair with companies looking to hire IT professionals. Sponsoring companies will have an opportunity to recruit and retain talent from the competition.
