F-Secure Inter-varsity IT Security Competition

Cyberjaya (28 April 2014) – With 255 points ahead, team N2L from University Sains Malaysia (USM) was crowned as the champion for 2014 F-Secure Inter-Varsity IT Security Competition! The competition, initiated by F-Secure and MDeC (Multimedia Development Corporation), was aimed at nurturing local talents and encouraging more Malaysian undergraduates to venture into the field of IT security through education.

The finalists’ details were as below:

The competition was graced and officiated by Ms Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer of Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC). The panel of judges to this year’s competition included Pn Eneng Faridah Iskandar, Senior Director, Outreach and Engagement Division of MCMC (Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission), Jose Cequena, Senior Manager of F-Secure Labs Kuala Lumpur and Chang Kim Meng, Service Manager of F-Secure Labs Kuala Lumpur.

Pn Eneng shared, “As the regulatory body for the communications and multimedia industry in Malaysia, MCMC places high importance on security issues and as such, is always supportive of efforts to further develop expertise and knowledge in the area. This competition is also in line with MCMC’s Klik Dengan BijakTM Programme, that emphasizes the importance of safety, security and responsibility in the use of ICT and we commend F-Secure on this initiative”.

The finale challenge featured a jeopardy-like course comprising different categories and levels that tested the participants’ hands-on skills and knowledge. All three teams were given three laptops each and they were required to complete each tasks within the fastest time and the one with the highest score is then crowned the champion of the 2014 F-Secure Inter-Varsity IT Security Competition.

“MDeC, the driver of MSC Malaysia and Digital Malaysia initiative is indeed honoured to collaborate with F-Secure in the concerted effort to improve the skills of our undergraduates and fresh graduates. MDeC’s Talent Division has formulated and introduced a host of programmes which are aimed at meeting the demands of the current and future workforce requirements of the ICT industry at the local and global levels,” said Ms Ng.

Echoing the same sentiment, Ingvar Froiland, General Manager of F-Secure Corporation said, “Due to our everyday involvement requiring us to be online, security plays an important sector in the IT industry. With such competition, we strongly believe in investing and nurturing young minds by providing platforms for these future leaders to contribute to the industry”. He continued, “Being one of the pioneers in providing top IT security solutions, we would like to put a footprint in the industry in accordance to offering and inventing premium grade information security solutions and services to users at large”.

After a two-hour intense battle, the champion walked away with three MacBooks worth RM5, 000 each. The 1st runner-up, team The Bounty Hunter received three Microsoft Surface Tablets worth RM2, 000 each and the 2nd runner-up, team Xposure walked away with three smart-watches worth RM500 each. In addition, all three participating teams were also presented with 1-year premium F-Secure Internet and Mobile security protection.

N2L team from University Sains Malaysia was cheering loudly when they were announced as the winner for the competition. Being final year students majoring in Computer Science, this first timer was made of Lim Yen Sheng (24), Lee Chi Ngan (23) and Law Jia Jge (23). “We are overjoyed when the result was announced as we never saw it coming,” Lim said. Lee added, “We are glad to have strategized well throughout the competition by assigning one another to be fully prepared on our core strengths as well as to push our limits to overcome our weaker subject areas”.

For more information about F-Secure Malaysia and their services, please visit http://www.f-secure.com or call 603 2264 0200. You can also connect with F-Secure through Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/FSecure and follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/fsecure.