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EU CyberNet Supports Youth Involvement in Cybersecurity in Fiji

EU CyberNet organised a capture-the-flag (CTF) exercise this week in Fiji to introduce cybersecurity to youth as part of its contribution to the Fiji National Cybersecurity and Resilience Convention as well as engaged in sessions on youth employment and online safety.

CTF, led by EU CyberNet experts Vytenis Benetis and Faraz Khan was designed to introduce young people to cybersecurity in a hands-on approach, encourage interest in cyber careers and contribute to the Fiji’s National Cybersecurity and Resilience Strategy’s objective of developing and strengthening Fiji’s future cybersecurity workforce. 

More than 40 secondary-level school students, supported by university mentors, joined in for a CTF exercise that covered scam messages sent by SMS and email, look-alike login pages and web addresses, password strength, file properties and suspicious payment request. The youth gained insight into how online scams work, how investigations use open-source methods to check evidence and how to separate what the evidence shows from  what it does not. Each team also practices presenting its findings in a short briefing.  

The exercise was preceded by a panel session titled “Youth & Careers in Cyber: Pathways into the Digital Workforce for Fijian Youth” to discuss employment and career opportunities in cybersecurity. Panelists in addition to EU CyberNet expert Faraz Khan, representing the University of the South Pacific, Vodafone Fiji, Datec Fiji and Women in Tech Fiji discussed pathways into cybersecurity and the wider digital workforce, the skills employers look for and how young FIjians can start building their skills. 

EU CyberNet expert Vytenis Benetis additionally delivered a practical session titled “Keeping Our Children Safe Online” that informed parents, caregivers, educators and cybersecurity professionals on online safety in today’s connected world and evolving digital risks facing children and young people from cyberbullying to scams and social media. 

The CTF will be followed in the future by a new cyber champions programme of EU CyberNet and partners to train the next generation of cyber specialists and build cyber resilience in Fiji. 

Convention was organised by the Ministry of Policing and Communications of Fiji as a key national event to mark the Cybersecurity Awareness Month with a broader objective to raise awareness of cybersecurity across government, industry, academia and the wider community while creating opportunities to build capabilities, strengthen collaboration and encourage greater participation in Fiji’s cybersecurity ecosystem. 

Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eucybernet/albums/72177720336379140  



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