KazHACKathon: Kazakhstan on the frontlines of Cybersecurity.
We invite teams to take part in the upcoming Hackathon event, organized by the U.S. government through the USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) in partnership with the Center for Analysis and Investigation of Cyber Attacks (TSARKA) and Cambridge Global Advisors (CGA) and develop technical solutions that will help protect the personal data of citizens on the Internet and increase the cyber resilience of Kazakhstan's critical infrastructure.
Registration is closed
- Date
- October 06-07, 2022
- Format
- Offline at KHS HUB, 5/2 Uly dala ave., Astana
- Prize fund
- 1.000.000 tenge
- KazHACKathon
- is a 24-hour hackathon where participants will be asked to present solutions to the security problems of personal data and critical infrastructure in Kazakhstan.
- Prize Fund :
- 1 000 000 tenge. The prize fund will be distributed among one or more teams based on the decision of the jury.
Program
Acceptance of applications
Briefing with participating teams
Gathering of teams
Official opening of the Hackathon, introduction of teams to mentors and organizers, briefing and exchange of contacts, description and details of the format
Start of the Hackathon
Mentoring consultations upon request of the participating teams
Deadline for submitting the final checkpoint of the work done, publishing the project on GitHub
Pitching projects in front of the jury
Awarding the winners and closing of the Hackathon
Problem Statements
- Problem statement #1
- How can we increase the cybersecurity literacy of ordinary Internet using citizens of Kazakhstan and encourage them to adopt multi factor authentication everywhere practical?
- Problem statement #2
- How can we convince senior decision makers to increase the cyber resilience of Kazakhstan’s critical infrastructure?
* The choice of the objectives will be carried out after the selection of teams, at the Briefing on October 05, 2022.
Participants can also present their own project within the above problems.
Rules
- Students of undergraduate and graduate universities, programming schools in Kazakhstan can participate in an amount of 1 to 5 people. Participation in the hackathon is completely offline in Astana. The age control for participants: 18+
- Applications are accepted through own information collection form.
- Participants can apply for participation until October 04, 2022 to solve one of the objectives proposed by the organizers.
- Applications can be submitted by both teams and individual participants.
- Applications are considered by the organizing committee for compliance with the conditions of participation.
- Participation in the Hackathon is free.
- Hackathon lasts 24 hours.
Registration is closed
Organizers
KazHACKathon is organized by the U.S. Government through the USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development) in partnership with the Center for Analysis and Investigation of Cyber Attacks (TSARKA) and Cambridge Global Advisors (CGA).
- USAID (U.S. Agency for International Development)
- USAID leads international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance and help people progress beyond assistance.
- TSARKA
- TSARKA is one of the leaders in the field of information security in Central Asia. They provides a wide range of services, including security checks (audit, penetration testing, analysis of the security of banking systems), and security monitoring (SOC, WebTotem). TSARKA experts are certified by OSCP, OSWP, OSWE, CHFI, CISA, ISO 27001-2013, OSCE, CEH and others.
- CGA (Cambridge Global Advisors)
- CGA is a bipartisan consulting firm with experience at the global, national, state, and local levels. Their mission is to assist their clients in the development and implementation of their programs, practices, and policies. They work with government, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 500 companies from around the world.
KazHACKathon event hosted in Astana as part of Cyber Awareness Month activities
Participating teams encouraged to develop innovative solutions for cyber challenges in Kazakhstan.
Astana, Kazakhstan, October 11, 2022 – Last week, as part of October's Cybersecurity Awareness month, participants from different universities took part in a 24-hour hackathon event, KazHACKathon: Kazakhstan on the Frontlines of Cybersecurity, in Astana.
The event, organized by the U.S. government through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Center for Analysis and Investigation of Cyber Attacks (TSARKA) and Cam2idge Global Advisors (CGA), supported ongoing efforts to educate the next generation of Kazakhstanis on cybersecurity and to improve their digital literacy, bolstering the country's ability to combat cybersecurity threats and navigate online risks.
Students and amateur hackers from across Astana were invited to participate in the hackathon, and after a thorough vetting process, 12 teams of over 45 participants were selected for the competition. Participants were tasked with developing the technical solutions to help protect Kazahstanis' personal data on the internet and enhance the cyber resilience of Kazakhstan' critical infrastructure. After 24 hours of competition, organizers recognized the Unknown Impact team as the winners of KazHACKathon, awarding them a 500,000 tenge prize for their submission addressing the need to increase Kazahkstanis' cybersecurity literacy. NU Cybersec won second place and was awarded 300,000 tenge for their solution, which aimed to encourage Kazakhstanis to adopt multi-factor authentication to increase their cybersecurity. Finally, AITurbo won third place and 200,000 lenge for their proposed solution to convince senior decision makers to increase the cyber resilience of Kazakhstan's critical nfrastructure.
“Cyber security month is important because it helps us focus on the need to safeguard our data - the lives we live increasingly online - against theft and loss.,” said Myra Emata-Stokes, Acting Regional Deputy Mission Director, USAID Central Asia. “Digital technology is transforming how people worldwide access information, goods, and services, and it has the power to spur economic growth, improve development outcomes, and help people live more free and prosperous lives.”
USAID is the world's premier international development agency and a catalytic actor driving development results. For more information, website and USAID's Facebook page.
About Cambridge Global Advisors (CGA)
CGA is a bipartisan consulting firm with experience at the global, national, state, and local levels. Their mission is to assist their clients in the development and implementation of their programs, practices, and policies. They work with government, non-profit organizations, and Fortune 500 companies from around the world. For more information visit website.
About the Center for Analysis and Investigation of Cyberattacks (TSARKA)
TSARKA is one of the leading organizations in the field of information security in Central Asia. They provide a wide range of services aimed at both evaluating information security (including audits, penetration testing, and analysis of banking security systems, among others) and ensuring cyberspace protection. Visit website to learn more.