The Federal University of Technology Akure

Two teams from the Department of Cybersecurity, School of Computing, Federal University of Technology, Akure have won the first and second positions at the 2019 Nigerian Universities Cybersecurity competition under the aegis of the Nigeria Cybersecurity Conference (NaijaSecCon) held in Lagos on May 3, 2019. Out of the twelve teams from Universities across the country that made it to the final stage, two teams from FUTA clinched the first and second positions. In the first position and adjudged the overall winner of the competition was Team B3T4 – PW3N3R5 made up of Emmanuel Oluwasogo, Adediran Gbenga Moses, Ogundipe IyanuOluwa , Alabi Taiwo and Ibiyemi Olusola Olamiposi. Team knight comprising of Edegwa Godswill Oghenekome , Aladesawe Gbotemi, Afolabi Isaac, Fabusuyi Ayodeji ,and Olasupo Joseph won the second position.

The 2019 competition was tagged Capture the Flag Ethical Hacking contest for University students. This year, 23 teams from tertiary institutions across the nation participated in the first stage of the competition before 12 were selected for the final stages to compete for the three main prizes at stake. FUTA apart from the distinction of winning the first and second position and prizes of N150,000 and N100,000 respectively , also presented an all-female team, Team WINT3R_SOLD13R5. The female team was among successful teams that also made the final list underscoring the importance of women in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).The team comprised of Obi Chioma Blessing, Temiloluwa Silva-Ope, Aponjolosun Yemisi , Salaja Feyisayo, and Olatunji Oluwaferanmi.

Organizers of the competition which is held annually on the sidelines of the Nigerian Cyber Security Conference say it is designed to identify and breed the most talented security experts in the country and jumpstart the processes that will produce the next generation of Cyber security experts for the country. This year’s competition was held in in conjunction with Phynxlabs, a Security Consulting firm.

The Acting Head, Cyber Security Science and School of Computing Representative, Committee for Preparation of students for National and International Competitions, Dr. Aderonke Thompson commended the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Joseph Fuwape for the support accorded the teams. The Vice Chancellor has congratulated the members of the winning teams describing them as worthy ambassadors of FUTA . He said by coming first and second in a competition involving other higher institutions in the country, the students and their lecturers have written the name of FUTA in gold and justified its sobriquet of “Nigeria’s leading University of Technology.