Chats On The Road To Hacker Summer Camp 2019 | Wicked6 Games Competitors

The InfoSec industry doesn’t do a great job marketing itself to the world. The people working in the field are often portrayed as either a hard-core software engineer obsessed with computers or as a cybercriminal “hacker” wearing a dark hoodie. While hoodies are certainly a popular piece of clothing, it’s not all that the InfoSec professional wears. Reality is, there’s so much more to the profession—and the professional—than meets the eye. There are many roles to play, and there all people in those roles from all walks of life, from all over the world.

Unfortunately, there’s a lack of people in the industry, and I blame the ‘lack of marketing’ for the lack of people available to fill the open positions. How do we fix it? We make the profession interesting, fun, and welcoming—for everyone.

One event taking place during Hacker Summer Camp, I believe, that is geared to do just that—the Wicked6 Cyber Games. While the event may not have a direct “let’s market the InfoSec industry more appealing” mission, this is definitely a benefit we will experience by virtue of what they are doing as it is bringing students from a number universities together to compete. Each team will be responsible for attacking, defending, collaborating, communicating, and more. In addition to preparing themselves for a role in information and cybersecurity, they will also be showing the world what it means to be part of information security across a variety of roles, demonstrating a variety of skills and attributes.

This was made clear to me when I spoke with chat with Monica Ricci to learn more about the event. And, following some of the individual stories we received from some of the team members, I knew I wanted to speak with some of the contestants to have a conversation about their preparation and expectations for the event.

You’ll get to hear from the following contestants:

Nouran Alotaibi represents the University of North Carolina Wilmington
Team: Cyber Seahawks

Shilpa Joshy represents University Of Colorado Boulder
Team: BuffOvrFlows

Franklin Pearson represents ECPI Columbia
Team: D0wn the L1ne

We have three great stories to share in this chat. Have a listen, and then we’ll see you all at the Wicked6 Cyber Games!
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Looking for more chats on the road to Las Vegas? You can find those here: https://itspmagazine.com/itsp-chronicles/chats-on-the-road-to-hacker-summer-camp-black-hat-and-def-con-las-vegas-2019