5 Things to Know About Cyber Security and Before the Big Day

Back in September, we hosted the official pre-event for the Cyber Security 2020 hackathon that will be held from the 23rd to the 25th of October, online. The main aim of the event was to gather representatives from CyberTech startups and organizations to discuss the current trends and problems in the sphere of cybersecurity and inspire the potential participants to take part in the development weekend as they would move forward with their own idea to stir up the cybersecurity world. In a nutshell, we’re looking for people who are as into the topic as we are! So, put on your reading glasses, and let’s go over the main things that will prepare you for the big day! 

If you thought that everyone was on the internet already at the beginning of 2020 then pandemic has increased the number of virtual space users even more. The businesses that would be out of business otherwise have now also made their first steps in the digital world. So has the harm-makers on the web using the name COVID-19 as only one of the new ways to label their things and have excited or scared people pick its carefully placed low hanging fruit. As there’s a focus on going digital then this brings us to a higher risk of cybercrime. Every one of us needs to be aware of this, not only as users but also as business owners and people working on the technical side. With a surprising amount of various technical issues to be covered from the technical and business side, as Marily Hendrikson, Cyber Security lead at Startup Estonia, knows to explain, we’d like to invite you to know more!


Below you’ll find a list of things you should know about the Big Day - Garage48 Cyber Security Online Hackathon 2020 - and how you can participate.


1. WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR TO TAKE PART IN THE UPCOMING HACKATHON? 

- Varied participants and teams from all different fields, sectors, and expertise. Whichever background you’re coming from you 100% have something to put it. Like Carl Jung once said: "Everyone you meet knows something you don’t know, but need to know. Learn from them."


- People thinking outside of the box, who perhaps don’t know the existing systems that thoroughly. Sometimes a deep personal understanding of the problem is more important than knowing what the solution is. We definitely have the expertise with us at the time, but we need brave people who would come up with solutions that require not that much complexity as many problems in the technical landscape in cybersecurity are actually relatively basic.

- Teams coming with their real-life problems. You’re motivated to solve a problem when you actually feel the pain. Cyber is something we’re all involved in, so is information by its design, and we all function partly thanks to information. This means we all have our experiences, both good and bad ones. Come to the event thinking of those bad examples where you have been either ripped off, made a fool of, fallen for something, taken ill advice. Try to see this systematically and offer some crazy or pragmatic ideas to tackle those problems.

- People from all across the world no matter where you are. We might live in different parts of the world and lead life each on our own unique path facing different problems. Digital society - the impacts, challenges, and effects of it on all of us is yet common and something that we all share. So can our own experience of the problem and perspective to see it enrich a more needed work progress. Coming together each with our own combination of competence will help us to tackle wider as well as less known problems together. So far we have partakers from Afghanistan, Norway, Ukraine, Finland, and many other countries!


2. WHAT COULD BE THE EXPERTS' EXPECTATIONS OF THE HACKATHON AND SOLUTIONS IT WILL BRING? 

  • Less complexity in product and services across the cybersecurity field;
  • usable solutions to make people's day-to-day lives better;
  • people using the event to solve their own real-life problems;
  • varied teams and people from different sectors and fields;
  • ability to think outside of the box;
  • participants from across the world. 


3. WE HAVE CHALLENGES FOR YOU!

We have partnered up with Sentinel AI, Republic of Estonia Government Office, European External Action Service - EEAS, and Telia Eesti to get you inspired to take on the challenge of tackling the spread of false information and manipulation with information as well as stopping cyberbullying against kids and teens. Discover more challenges here: https://garage48.org/events/garage48-cyber-security-online-hackathon-2020


4. VIRTUAL HACKATHONS ARE BEAUTIFUL HAPPENINGS 

Although we are eager to organize physical hackathons, we understand that the world has changed a bit and for now, online hackathons are here to help us navigate, grow and make the most out of the current challenging times. Online hackathons truly are beautiful and the main reason behind it is that the format opens the hackathon up for a larger public. 


“We’re in the world where we have physical boundaries and borders, but the internet is actually built to not have any boundaries and borders. While some countries will try to enforce it, over time, those will fail.” - Joseph Carson, Chief security scientist, and advisory CISO at Thycotic


5. WHAT WILL YOU NEED FOR THE BIG DAY? 

  • Registration - as an individual or with your ready-made team. 

  • Idea/problem to tackle during the event (or just choose an idea from the list of our challenges).

  • Laptop and a stable WiFi connection.

  • Right attitude: think BIG and work vigorously towards a solution. 


Feel like something you just read here sparked up some ideas? Perhaps you recognized or recalled a problem you’d like to finally get down to tackle? Discuss/brainstorm this with your friends and colleagues (or don’t if you’re not a big sharer) or just head to our Eventornado page to learn more about existing ideas. No matter which part of the world you’re reading it from - we’re looking forward to seeing you at the Garage48 Cyber Security Online Hackathon 2020!


Looking for more info about Garage Cyber Security Online Hackathon 2020? Check out the links here:

1) Garage48 homepage

2) Facebook event for Garage48 Cyber Security Online Hackathon 2020 

3) Pre-event LIVE broadcast

About the author

merit vislapu

You may also like

10 reasons to join a Garage48 hackathon
Hackathons allow you to develop diverse skills in a short timeframe. Still not convinced? If ...
Read more →
SPARTA CyberSecurity Hackathon: building solutions on the open-source software
For Garage48, the year 2022 started with a SPARTA Cyber Security Hackathon that took place on...
Read more →
5 Practical steps to best showcase a hackathon experience in your resume
You come to a hackathon, spend intense 48 - 72 hours working on an idea you’re passionate abo...
Read more →