Joan Hartley

Hartley: UConn’s Cyberseed Challenge Offers Practical
Solutions To Cybercrime

UConn’s Comcast Center of Excellence for Security Innovation Hosts 2015 CyberSEED Cybersecurity Challenge

STORRS, CT—State Senator Joan Hartley (D-Waterbury) joined the nation’s top information security professionals and business leaders for a two day cybersecurity conference at the University of Connecticut. The university, which is home to the Comcast Center of Excellence for Security Innovation (CSI), and Comcast, sponsored the second annual Cybersecurity, Education & Diversity Challenge (CyberSEED) conference.

“The CyberSEED conference is a gathering of the nation’s leading cybersecurity experts and the most academically competitive technology students,” said Sen. Hartley. “This conference is but one example of the distinguished works produced by CSI. The partnership between the University of Connecticut’s Engineering Department and Comcast is a one of a kind relationship which has distinguished the State of Connecticut as a leader in the cyber industry sector.”
“We were honored to have Senator Hartley address the more than 350 participants in Cyberseed 2015,” said UConn Provost & Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Mun Choi. “Her commitment and support to research and education in security innovation has been one of the key reasons for our institutional growth in this burgeoning area. The CyberSEED program is an ideal example of an industry-university-government partnership to train students through experiential learning using practical applications that will make a difference in the marketplace. Because of the interconnectedness of systems, every one of us is more vulnerable than ever before, and the cyber-threats are becoming more profound and growing each day. It’s incumbent upon us to integrate the best minds in academia, industry and government to address these evolving threats.”

The CyberSEED conference brings together top security professionals and scholars along with public and private sector leaders to discuss emerging cybersecurity trends and formulate best strategies for tackling current and future threats. More than 40 teams from universities and colleges across the country competed in cybersecurity challenges for over $100,000 in prizes. The competition addressed critical parts of the computing infrastructure, including computer networks, software and hardware.

Challenges included a capture the flag contest in which teams played the role of hackers trying to penetrate a virtual corporate network and a social engineering battle in which teams exploited social networks to gather key bits of information to launch a spear-phishing attack.