Cyber Security Workers of Tomorrow Train and Compete at TAFE Qld
The PECAN+ CTF 2024 student training and competition was well attended across the nation, and our ICT GISP (and other) students certainly got a chance to test their skills at TAFE South Bank on 3 and 4 August. Some of the best and brightest CTF players within our SEQ secondary schools, including Ostrich Exploits which won first place for the intermediate level, spent their weekend upskilling, applying their skills and making new friends. With 3 out of the 4 members of Ostrich Exploits never having competed in a CTF event, you could say the talent and training was excellent.
There was almost double the number of students compared with last year, coming from a variety of public and private schools. The sessions took place in the TAFE QLD Security Operations training centre. It was great to see many return students who attended the 2023 event, bringing with them first time CTF team members.
The passion and teamwork of the students on Sunday, was amazing. The room was very quiet at times as the teams focused on the various challenges. This year had an increased number of female students and the first all-girls team. Plus, there were a higher number of students new to CTF challenges. These are exciting trends to see, and we look forward to even more next year.
To find out more about PECAN+ CTF and do the training, go to https://pecanplus.ecusdf.org/.
Thank you to the following people for making this year’s event such a success:
Billy Cody – covering the training on day 1 and then overseeing the competition on day 2.
Cristey Gudgeon from TAFE Queensland, who kept the QLD organising team on track, sorted the logistics and made the venue available.
Karina Price – national organiser for PECAN+ CTF 2024.
Angela Zelinski and Angela Champion from WhiteRookCyber.
Sallyann Bower from TAFE Queensland.
Yang'en Xu from the Islamic College of Brisbane and his teams.
Thea Koutsoukis from Kelvin Grove State College and her teams.
QUT Cyber Security Club –who came on day 2 to support the students during the competition.
UQ Cyber Squad who assisted with the training on day 1. We certainly saw some budding cyber lecturers from both these universities.
Alex Nesevski, Hudson’s Cyber once again sponsoring a major prize.
PJ Howell M.Tech Products Aust Pty Ltd providing lots of vendor goodies for the student's swag.
The team at Australian Signals Directorate.
Bruce Large and Donna Isaacs, this year’s industry speakers providing some valuable insights into the various sectors of cyber and pathways into this industry.
TAFE Queensland teachers who came to support the students.
And all of the teachers and parents who helped the student prepare for this weekend.
