The "Capture the Flag Challenge 2020" Award Presentation Ceremony Recognises Cyber Security Future Talents

(Hong Kong, 13 November 2020) The first “Hong Kong Cyber Security New Generation Capture the Flag Challenge 2020”, jointly organised by the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and its Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT), held its award presentation ceremony today, recognising the outstanding efforts of students from local secondary schools and tertiary institutions in acquiring cyber security knowledge through leveraging creative thinking for problem solving.

Mr Jason Pun, Assistant Government Chief Information Officer (Cyber Security & Digital Identity), and Ms Cecilia Wong, Curriculum Development Officer (IT in Education) of Education Bureau of the HKSAR Government, presented the awards to the winners, accompanied by Mr Edmond Lai, Chief Digital Officer of HKPC, at the ceremony at HKPC.

This team competition features two categories - Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions; each with gold, silver and bronze awards. With no entry limit for each school, the secondary school which enter the most participating teams will receive the “Most Supportive School Award”. Teams from Carmel Secondary School and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology won the gold awards in the Secondary School and Tertiary Institution categories respectively, while Immaculate Heart of Mary College won the “Most Supportive School Award”. (Please see the appendix for detailed award list)

Mr Edmond Lai, Chief Digital Officer of HKPC said, “HKPC and HKCERT organise the capture the flag challenge for the first time, aiming to enhance the cyber security awareness of young people and nurture more IT talents. On top of being a team spirit building exercise, the participating students can also acquire cyber security knowledge of cryptography, programming concept and forensics. The winning teams can attend a cyber security training programme for free, enabling them to lay the foundation for pursuing further learning on relevant areas.”

The competition received overwhelming responses from 37 secondary schools plus 19 tertiary institutions, which sent 156 teams comprised of nearly 540 students in total. The competition was conducted in Jeopardystyle from 6 to 8 November, will participating teams attempting to solve over 40 questions within 48 hours by searching, researching, using different tools and programming, in order to gain points.  As the score for solving each question would decline with more and more teams solving the same question successfully, the competition became fierce and thus prompted the teams to challenge more difficult questions. 

In the webinar that followed, security experts introduced the cyber security trend during the post-pandemic era, the best practises for preventing cyberattacks from difference perspectives as well as career planning for cyber security industry. 

Appendix

“Hong Kong Cyber Security New Generation Capture the Flag Challenge 2020”Award List

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About Hong Kong Productivity Council

The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) is a multi-disciplinary organisation established by statute in 1967, to promote productivity excellence through integrated advanced technologies and innovative service offerings to support Hong Kong enterprises. HKPC is the champion and expert in facilitating Hong Kong’s reindustrialisation empowered by i4.0 and e4.0 – focusing on R&D, IoT, big data analytics,  AI and Robotic technology development, digital manufacturing, etc., to help enterprises and industries upgrade their business performance, lower operating costs, increase productivity and enhance competitiveness.

The Council is a trusted partner with comprehensive innovative solutions for Hong Kong industries and enterprises, enabling them to achieve resources and productivity utilisation, effectiveness and cost reduction, and enhanced competitiveness in both local and international marketplace. It offers SMEs and startups immediate and timely assistance in coping with the ever-changing business environment, accompanying them on their innovation and transformation journey. 

In addition, HKPC partners and collaborates with local industries and enterprises to develop applied technology solutions for value creation. It also benefits a variety of sectors through product innovation and technology transfer, with commercialisation of multiple market-driven patents and technologies, bringing enormous opportunities abound for licensing and technology transfer, both locally and internationally. For more information, please visit HKPC‘s website: www.hkpc.org. 

About Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre

Managed by the Hong Kong Productivity Council, Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre (HKCERT) is the centre for coordination of computer security incident response for local enterprises and Internet Users. Its mission is to facilitate information disseminating, provide advices on preventive measures against security threats and to promote information security awareness.

HKCERT collaborates with local bodies to collect and disseminate information, and coordinate response actions. HKCERT is also a member of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) and the Asia Pacific Computer Emergency Response Teams (APCERT). We exchange information with other CERTs and act as a point of contact on cross-border security incidents.

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