Budding cyber sleuths at Cobram Anglican Grammar School have blitzed students from around the country to reach the final of a national cyber security competition.
The CyberTaipan competition is an Australian Youth Cyber Defence competition in which students try to find and fix cyber security vulnerabilities, strengthen computer systems and maintain critical services.
The CAGS team beat schools from around Australia in reaching the finals and the top 10, with members of the team receiving medals on Tuesday, February 7 in recognition of their achievements.
The team was made of up six students — Cadence Pang, Martin Kong, Lachlan Rouse, Harrison Brooker, Cody Lincoln and Rory Brooker (who has since graduated) — and was guided by CAGS alumnus Liam Smith.
Martin said participating in the national competition was an invaluable experience made even more special by being from the regions.
“I decided to take part as it's an interesting and great learning opportunity,” he said.
“You’re trying to find insecurities within an operating system, and then, once we find them, we find ways to fix it or to block possible threats, which will keep the person's computer safe.”
Martin was ecstatic at being one of the finalists and said it wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work of teacher Melonie Smith.
“It's especially Mrs Smith who does most of the hard work,” he said.
Fellow team member and Year 12 student Lachlan said the competition provided essential skills in the increasingly cyber-dominated world.
“A lot of people fall for phishing emails and other scams and you have really got to learn how to deal with that kind of stuff,” he said.
Mrs Smith said learning cyber security was vital.
“It is one thing to learn content and complete courses. This competition takes their learning to a whole other level,” she said.
“It (the CyberTaipan competition) requires them to apply their learning to real-life business situations.”
Mrs Smith said the school’s participation in such competitions helped enhance students’ learning and ensured students were well rounded, with both up-to-date theoretical knowledge and practical skills.
“As a school, it is important to grow with your students,” she said.
“If you have students that are interested in particular university courses or career progression, it is important to prepare them properly.”
The emphasis on helping develop students’ cyber skills goes through every year level, and CAGS also has a junior CyberTaipan team.
Cyber security has been a pressing issue and came under increased scrutiny in 2022 with the hacking of telecommunication giant Optus and health insurance provider Medibank.