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The Malta Independent | Thursday 16 October 2014
Roderick Spiteri
Roderick Spiteri is Marketing and Communications Manager at MITA and editor of Malta Independent ICT feature
A successful MITA Information Security Expo
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ast Saturday, MITA in collaboration with TrustedSec organised an Information Security Expo in SmartCity Malta with the highlight of the event being a security hackathon. The hackathon was a first of its kind event in Malta, where teams – ranging from MCAST students to ICT professionals – were tasked with identifying a number of security weaknesses in a virtual environment created by TrustedSec. This same environment was used three weeks earlier in DerbyCon, US, which event attracted over 2,500 seasoned security professionals. Mr. Rodney Naudi from MITA said that, “To protect valuable ICT assets an individual/organisation needs to know what the threats are and how to look out for any traces that these threats were exploited. The hackathon serves this purpose by encouraging security professionals to think as an attacker and hence know what gaps to close in real life. The virtual environment was designed so that the teams were required to have knowledge of server side technologies (Windows and Linux), networking, website architectures, etc with threats set at strategic locations for the teams to identify. The difficulty of identifying these threats was also graded so that initial scores were relatively easy to
capture with progressively more difficult challenges. This was carried out in a controlled, segregated environment. “MITA advocated the holding of this event for two main reasons: • Removing some of the hype of what hacking involved and, more importantly, showing that hacking is also a technique used by official agencies/organisations to protect their systems; • Promoting the field of information security as a professional career different from the more established ICT career streams. MITA’s Executive Chairman, Mr. Tony Sultana and founder of TrustedSec Mr. David Kennedy were present for this event. Mr. Kennedy is regarded as one of the international go-to experts with regards to information security. He has twelve years of experience and he provides insight about the subject to a number of international news networks, such as Fox News, CNN, CNBC and BBC. David Kennedy said that, “Information security is a fullfledged industry aimed at combating the threats we face not only in Malta, but also in the entire world. Technology is embedded into every aspect of our live. This ranges from phones, our computers, all the way to websites we visit everyday. With
the vast progression of technology comes a risk around security and the ability to steal information. We’ve seen a massive increase in successful hacking instances occur all around the globe. TrustedSec specialises in information security and simulating what a “bad criminal” would do in order to prepare organisations and government’s real world simulated events to best defend against them. “The MITA Information Security Expo provided both seasoned and inexperienced
professionals the ability to test their skills in a simulated hackathon. These environments test the skills of individuals and help train in a simulated realworld example. In order to have an appropriate defence, it is paramount to understand the offensive and how they attack. This hackathon was the first of its kind in Malta, and we are so pleased and humbled to be a part of it working with MITA. “The challenges ranged from hacking into simulated websites, busting into high security systems, and most importantly, the knowledge and working with individuals to help promote and teach ethical methods for understanding offensive hacking capabilities. Additionally there were seminars and workshops aimed at both offence and defence to help teach cutting edge security techniques to skilled professionals. Some of the events included tutorials on lock picking and how to bypass locks as well as social engineering and understanding human behaviour. “The entire event was a major success with a large turnout and interest within Malta. It was an amazing experience to meet new faces, pass out signed copies of our books, and provide prizes to some of the top contestants that demonstrated a solid understanding of offensive capabilities.
We are already excited and planning the second event to make it even better with MITA. This event wasn’t just for extremely technical and experienced individuals; our topics focus on how to protect individuals online and for general home users as well. Security should be of interest as it can truly impact your day-to-day lives, and something you have the ability to control. “Our goal - partnered with MITA - is to spread awareness of the types of threats hackers can pose on any country or business regardless of size or value. The sophistications from bad hackers are continuing to grow and it’s difficult to stay ahead of the types of attacks we are seeing in the wild. Organisations must be proactive about defending their networks, and most importantly continue to build security to stay ahead of the types of threats are released on almost a daily basis. “It was truly an honour and pleasure to assist MITA with this event and something we plan on continuing in our close partnership with MITA and Malta’s government entities.” The Information Security Expo was held with the support of 6PM plc, eSkills Malta Foundation, Institute of Computer Education (ICE), Mediterranean Insurance Brokers (MIB) and TrustedSec.
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The Malta Independent | Thursday 16 October 2014
The Malta Independent ICT Feature
D
uring the weekend, MITA organised an Information Security Expo. The event was made up of different areas; including a section for talks and workshops as well as a section for the first hackathon of its kind in Malta. This activity highlighted the importance that information
security professionals sometimes need to think as attackers in order to identify any threats and resolve them. The Hackathon was powered by TrustedSec – an American company specialising in information security. Its founder, David Kennedy, was providing on the spot assistance to participating teams for whom this event was a
National Coding Competition for students
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he Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) is proud to launch this year’s National Coding Competition in collaboration with the Ministry for Education and Employment and the University of Malta. The competition is open for all students attending from Year 5 up to Form 5. Competing in age appropriate categories, students will have to create a game about this year’s theme - Design the Future. Interested students should register their intention to participate by November 12th and the final deadline for game submissions is December 5th. The National Coding Competition was launched on Monday by Hon. Evarist Bartolo, Minister for Education and Employment and Hon. Dr. José Herrera Parliamentary Secretary for Competitiveness and Economic Growth. The competition is part of Malta’s activities in the European-wide initiatives for Code Week 2014. The aim of the competition is to develop and sustain students’ interest in programming both inside and outside the classroom. Hon. Minister Evarist Bartolo said that, “through hands-on and fun exposure, students learn that coding is a process of discovery that enables them to create and animate drawings, games, and applications”. Statistics indicate that
the number of students who have chosen Computing between 2010 and 2013 has decreased. It is evident that students need to be encouraged to choose Computing as a subject of choice at Form 3 and their interest needs to be sustained once the subject is chosen. This can only be achieved through targeted initiatives like the National Coding Competition. This year’s competition is open to hundreds of students from Year 5 to Form 5 in Malta and Gozo competing in the Primary, Middle School or Upper Secondary categories.
MITA has already run two successful computing competitions in the past two years, ‘Scratch’ in 2012, and the ‘Only Girls Allowed’ competition in 2013; and has supported the ‘mScratch’ competition organised by the Ministry for Education in 2013. Last year’s competition reached out to 125 female students attending Form 1 and 2, and 67 students through the mScratch. In 2012, MITA reached out to 51 students through the Scratch competition. During the summer, the Computing Group within the Faculty of Education at the University of Malta, together with Holistic, Microsoft and St. Martin’s Institute supported this initiative by delivering training in various programming environments to participating educators. Educators will then encourage participating students to create an interactive game and to experiment with the features of the chosen programming environment. MITA Executive Chairman, Mr. Tony Sultana, said that, “the National Coding Competition is a unique opportunity for students to collaborate and enhance their digital, problem solving and critical thinking skills, which are essential to their future success”. This initiative also raises awareness of eSkills education and careers and will integrate critical skills across educational and formative experiences’. Hon. José Herrera stated that, “as a country we need to continuously invest in our human capital to ensure that we have an adequate supply of such skills. Such initiatives help students to develop competences that are important for the development and competitiveness of Malta.” There will be a winning team from all three categories and educators and students will also be rewarded for their efforts. Prizes include a trip to an ICT organisation in Europe for the winning team and their mentor/teacher, Lego Mindstorms Educational sets and Bigshot DIY Camera Kits. For more information about the National Coding Competition and to participate, visit www.mita.gov.mt/codingcompetition
fun and a good learning experience. A new National Coding Competition has just been launched for all students between Year 5 and Form 5. To compete, students can form teams of up to three and use any of the specified coding environments selected according to their age. There are
great prizes to be won for the students and also for the teachers/mentors helping them. The competition is organised by MITA, the Ministry for Education and Employment and the University of Malta. All ICT Features are available on www.mita.gov.mt/ictfeature