A Facebook-sponsored game of cybersecurity “Capture the Flag” was held March 22nd from 9am -3pm at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.  UAB joined Stanford University as the first U.S. universities to host the Facebook event designed to test the skills of up-and-coming cybersecurity programmers as they try to penetrate peers’ online security while defending their own.

Working in teams of four, participants competed in a simulated security exercise, much like the game of Risk, in which they attempt to acquire countries throughout the world by breaching a series of increasingly difficult security barriers.  Each challenge was designed to simulate a type of threat which companies across the world may encounter as part of a cyber attack. Participants were first required to overcome existing security measures, then once they acquired a target, had to defend it against intrusion by fellow competitors.

A total of Eight teams from UAB (3), Auburn University, University of South Alabama, University of Alabama Huntsville, Tuskegee University, and Hoover High School participated.  Competing team names included: “Pirates of the Arrrrg Seas”, “Terrorform”, “//TODO”, and “Will Work for Bitcoins.”  At the conclusion of the competition, the top three teams were:  UAB ACM in first place with 1710 points; Pirates of the Arrrrg Seas (Auburn University) in 2nd place  with  1520 points; and Terrorform (UAB) in 3rd place with 1370 points.  But all 8 teams scored points during the event and are to be congratulated for their efforts.