• CITIC Cyber Competition is a competition in the field of computer security organized by the Center for Research in Information and Communication Technologies (CITIC) of the University of A Coruña (UDC) in collaboration with atlanTTic of the University of Vigo (UVigo) and sponsored by the R Chair in Cybersecurity.
• It was part of the TalentoCibeR event, which included training workshops and a panel discussion on employability in cybersecurity. 
• The teams “The High Sleuths,” “XORprecha,” and “Todo el mundo saltando por Marta en su cumple” obtained the highest scores after four hours of challenges in computer security, cryptography, steganography, forensic analysis, or web applications. 

The Center for Research in Information Technologies (CITIC) of UDC hosted the TalentoCibeR event and the CITIC Cyber Competition (C3TF) this Thursday, in which 157 students from all over Spain participated, divided into 40 teams that competed against each other at CITIC facilities, from atlanTTic in Vigo, and online.

The competition was held in “Capture The Flag” (CTF) format, so Vocational Training, Baccalaureate, and university students had to solve more than twenty different cybersecurity challenges and “capture the flag” in the shortest possible time. These challenges were developed by Martiño Rivera, Rubén Pérez, Julián González, and David Soler, CITIC researchers in the area of cybersecurity.

Over four hours, the teams faced more than 20 challenges related to various topics covering a wide range of areas of computer security, such as cryptography, steganography, forensic analysis, reverse engineering, web application hacking, or vulnerability exploitation, among others.

The three winning teams were awarded €1,000, €700, and €400 each. The team “The High Sleuths” formed by Adrià Pérez, Jesús Mosteiro, Jonathan Pichel, Jorge García, and Toni Molina obtained the highest score; the second prize was won by the team “XORprecha” formed by Carlos Flethes, Esteban Segura, Ismael Melchor, José Antonio Díaz, and Pedro José Navas. The third prize went to “Todo el mundo saltando por Marta en su cumple,” composed of Diego Fernández, Inés Martín, and Jesús Parra.

The award ceremony was attended by Ricardo Cao, rector of the University of A Coruña, Alfredo Ramos, director of R and MASMOVIL group in Galicia, Ana Fernández, director of the R Chair at the University of Vigo, and Carlos Dafonte, director of the R Chair at the University of A Coruña.

TalentoCibeR

The CITIC Cyber Competition (C3TF) was held as part of the first edition of the TalentoCibeR event, created with the aim of showcasing cybersecurity talent in Galicia and, at the same time, fostering new vocations through the connection between companies and students. To this end, two practical workshops were organized, which took place simultaneously, and a panel discussion.

The workshop led by Manuel García González, Senior Security Architect at Microsoft, focused on license management in the Microsoft 365 E5 suite. Attendees of the workshop “The beginning of the computer forensic procedure:” learned how to obtain forensic evidence on devices such as computers or mobiles, using hardware and software. It was taught by Rafael López García, professor at CIFP Rodolfo Ucha Piñeiro.

After the workshops, the panel discussion “Employability and career opportunities in cybersecurity” took place, with the participation of Manuel García, from Microsoft Spain; Alfredo Ramos, director of R and MASMOVIL group in Galicia; Iago Fortes, CEO of Inprosec, and Antonio Fernandes, cybersecurity manager at FINSA.

TalentoCibeR and the third edition of the CITIC Cyber Competition (C3TF) were organized by the Center for Research in Information and Communication Technologies (CITIC) of the University of A Coruña (UDC) in collaboration with the atlanTTic Research Center of the University of Vigo (UVigo), and sponsored by the R Chair in Cybersecurity.