Fayetteville team takes top prize in cybersecurity event

A team of four students took home $1,000 over the weekend by winning the Little Rock Venture Center's Jolt cyber challenge.

The event involved 35 teams, each with four members, competing in a 20-hour challenge that promoted skills development and team building.

The winning team included three University of Arkansas, Fayetteville students and a Fayetteville high school student. They beat out competitors from across Arkansas, and teams from Louisiana, Oklahoma and Ohio.

Team member Noah Sherry, who has a software development background, said the event allowed participants to expand their skills.

"This is a chance for me to explore cybersecurity, a field I haven't had a lot of exposure to," Sherry said. "I love learning about vulnerabilities, and it allows me to keep those in mind when I'm developing cyber products and keeping those safe from attack."

The challenge is an expert-designed cybersecurity training event requiring hundreds of volunteer hours to produce. Corporate, student and individual teams participated in 64 challenges, designed as puzzles to be solved, on Saturday and Sunday at the Walton Executive Education facility on Main Street in downtown Little Rock.

About 70 percent of those participating were students, according to Wayne Miller, executive director of the Venture Center.

"One of the reasons the Jolt cyber challenge is important to our state is because it allows us to showcase our local tech talent, and encourage networking with other tech professionals, building a strong Arkansas tech community," Miller said. "It's a weekend to educate participants on the many tech opportunities we have right here in Arkansas so we can keep our talent here and help Arkansas tech companies fill their jobs."

Game competitions tested participants' tech skills in categories that included detecting web vulnerabilities, code breaking, physical security, code manipulation and reverse engineering.

Chris Wright, lead game master for the competition and chief executive officer of Citadel Systems, also noted the community aspect of the event. "This really brings the [cybersecurity] community together," Wright said. "This is such a small community and it helps people connect and get to know each other."

Students also can make connections with industry executives that will help with their careers.

"Industry folks looking to hire know that there is talent here in Arkansas and they don't have to go elsewhere to get it," Wright said. "And students who are looking to be hired will ... find out that there are jobs here and they don't have to leave the state."

The Venture Center promotes economic growth in Arkansas by helping entrepreneurs and startup businesses leverage the expertise of mentors. The center also provides intensive programming and introductions to potential investors.

Business on 10/15/2019

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