September 2023
Summer 2023 Recap
Cyber Skyline/NCL Symposium
Every summer, Cyber Skyline and NCL Board Members meet in person for an onsite NCL Symposium. During this time, our teams share and discuss ideas to improve and grow the NCL Competition and Community, allowing us to plan initiatives and programming for the remainder of 2023 and beyond.
This summer we made our way to Norway, where we had the pleasure of meeting members from European cyber organizations such as the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and the European Cyber Security Challenge (ECSC). We had fascinating discussions and personal time to connect with these amazing groups. Overall we left Norway rejuvenated for an exciting fall season and look forward to sharing our new NCL Community events and opportunities with you all in the coming months!
International Cybersecurity Championship (IC3 Games)
As part of the International Cybersecurity Challenge event series, the IC3 Championship & Conference took place in San Diego, California August 1-4. This international eSports event brought together seven countries, dozens of international cyber competitors, expert panels and speakers, and many volunteers to celebrate cyber excellence. Our very own NCL Board Chairman Dan Manson and NCL Commissioner David Zeichick participated as moderator and panelists for the D1 Cyber Panel, who spoke about tackling the use of cyber games in academia.
The exciting championship resulted in the top three teams: First Place - Team Europe, Second Place - Team Oceania, Third Place - Team Asia. IC3 will continue next year in 2024 and players are encouraged to apply to participate for future seasons. More information can be found here: https://www.ic3.games/.
SquadCon 2023
The NCL staff attended SquadCon, a three day cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas presented by BlackGirlsHack. This inaugural conference included labs, workshops, discussions, CTFs, and panels to move towards the mission of improving diversity in ethical hacking. The conference was a forum for conversations about topics that impact girls, women, and LGBTQ+ individuals, including mental health and all the factors that shape the experiences of marginalized groups in the industry, which brought together a diverse group of support from the cyber community.
Our staff presented an onsite virtual NCL CTF experience for participants that included main stage CTF Workshops by Cyber Skyline CEO Franz Payer and CTO Toby Lin. The event led to amazing networking opportunities and the ability to actively support underrepresented communities and minority serving organizations in person. A huge thanks to BlackGirlsHack for extending the invitation to attend the event and we look forward to returning next year!