NYU-Poly Students Challenge Peers in Cyber War Games

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 09/17/09

The Polytechnic Institute of New York University has begun taking registration for its sixth annual Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW) games. The program, which unfolds over the next couple of months, pits high school, college, and graduate students against each other in a series of cyber-security-related competitions.

Activities include contests in which participants analyze an infected hardware platform, detect application security vulnerabilities, and solve a fictional murder mystery using digital forensics. Students who win the initial rounds at their own computers will be invited to attend the finals and awards ceremony at university's Brooklyn campus. Prizes include cash and scholarships, as well as travel grants.

Last year, 500 students competed in challenges devised by the students of NYU-Poly's Information Systems and Internet Security Lab, which is funded by the National Science Foundation.