Information Science Students Host High School Hackathon

Omaha – In a world of cybersecurity concerns, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T) is helping to encourage the next generation of computer scientists with a special competition for area high school students this weekend.

This Saturday, Dec. 7, NULLify, a student-run cybersecurity group, is hosting a Capture the Flag (CTF) hacking competition called "2013: A H4CK ODYSSEY," for nearly 40 Omaha high school students. The event, which is sponsored by Facebook, will take place at 9 a.m. inside the University of Nebraska Peter Kiewit Institute, located on UNO’s Pacific Street Campus.

At the event, high school students will be challenged to solve over 30 technical security challenges and find "flags," or weaknesses, and submit them for points. Eight teams of students from five Omaha high schools will compete for prizes including Nexus 7 tablet sand Kindle e-book readers. More information can be found at: www.nullifyctf.com.

"Given the rapidly changing technology landscape, cybersecurity is an exciting field which solves some of the most complex problems of our time," said Hesham Ali, dean of the College of IS&T.

“IS&T is committed to showing Omaha’s youth how their career dreams fit into the world of information technology. A H4CK ODYSSEY will be an inspiring opportunity for young students to challenge themselves and explore the world of cybersecurity.”

NULLify recently competed in the 10th annual Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW) finals. After competing for 72 hours against 13,500 students from 82 countries, IS&T’s Nullify earned a spot one of the largest CTF hacking competitions in the world.

The College of IS&T is key in promoting UNO’s commitment to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education. As one of IS&T’s five bachelors degrees, Information Assurance (IA) prepares students to address fundamental problems in secure information systems. In order to meet the urgent demand for highly qualified IA professionals, IS&T has recently started offering a masters degree and graduate certificates in IA.

For questions about NULLify and IS&T, contact Amanda Rucker, communications specialist for the College of IS&T, at 402.554.2070.

For media requests, please contact Charley Reed, UNO media relations coordinator, at unonews@unomaha.edu or by phone at 402.554.2129.

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The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is Nebraska’s metropolitan university. The core values of the institution place students at the center of all that the university does; call for the campus to strive for academic excellence; and promote community engagement that transforms and improves urban, regional, national and global life. UNO, inaugurated in 1968, emerged from the Municipal University of Omaha, established in 1931, which grew out of the University of Omaha founded in 1908.

The College of Information Science and Technology (IS&T) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha represents the joint efforts of the University of Nebraska, the State of Nebraska, and private industry to address the growing global needs for knowledgeable professionals in Information Technology (IT). The College was established at UNO in 1996 to meet the growing demand for IT graduates in the Omaha metropolitan and surrounding area.