A group of student from the Sol Plaaitjie university in Kimberley acted as pioneers of digital advancements at the ITWeb Security Summit 2024 Hackathon. The Hackathon was hosted by Geekulcha and ITWeb under the theme GenAI vs GenZ. The university says in an official statement that the aim of this hackathon was to help young South Africans sharpen their cyber security skills and provide participants with opportunities to enter the field, amid the shortage of security skills globally. According to information, over 500 participants registered nationally and went through development sessions before submitting proposals, thereafter a total of 57 participants (14 teams) were selected to take part in this year’s hackathon. The university says three teams participated namely the, Sudo SPU for blue teaming, SPU Red 2 for red teaming, and Art-VerifAI for the innovation challenge. The university says by the end of the competition Sudo SPU snagged the titles for Best Blue Team, Best CTF Team, and won 2nd place overall, scoring an internship with Snode plus a R10,000 cash prize while Art-VerifAI triumphed in1st place in the innovation challenge and bagged a R20,000 cash prize.

Journalist: Mbali Masiza
Email: mbalimasiza198@gmail.com