Pawsitive, the team from the University of Technology under the Vietnam National University-Hanoi triumphed in the final round of the 2021 ASEAN Students Contest on Information Security (ASCIS).

The teams competed in games of “King of the Hill” or “Attack and Defense”, a mode of cybersecurity competition where candidates must guard their hosts or services against hacking attempts from their rivals - all while trying to launch attacks on the opponents' digital security vulnerabilities.

The competition consisted of three rounds taking place from September to November. After the preliminary round, 17 out of 73 teams were selected for the final round, including 10 from Vietnam and seven from other ASEAN countries, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, and Thailand.

After eight hours of competition, Pawsitive snatched the top prize with 7,300 points. N0nSlaS from the southern campus of Vietnam’s Academy of Cryptography Techniques and HCMUS.BlackPink from the University of Science under the Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City were the runners-up.

Nguyen Huy Dung (R), Deputy Minister of Vietnam’s Ministry of Information and Communications, and Nguyen Thanh Hung, chairman of the Vietnam Information Security Association, present the award for the first-prize winner of the 2021 ASEAN Students Contest on Information Security. Photo: Baochinhphu.vn

The winning team received vouchers worth US$1,000 to participate in high-quality information security exams and courses awarded by EC-Council, a world-renowned information security training organization. Each runner-up team will receive US$800 in cash.

Organizers say they will raise the value of prizes in next year’s competition to attract more ASEAN contestants.

This is the second time Vietnamese teams have won the contest. Last year, the student team from the University of Natural Science under the Vietnam National University-Hanoi won first prize.

This year also marks the 14th time the contest has been organized for Vietnamese students and the third time its eligibility has been expanded to include students from the ASEAN region.

The contest has been held annually in Vietnam for the last 13 years, and this is the third year it has admitted contestants from ASEAN nations.

The competition was organized by the Vietnam Information Security Association (VNISA) in collaboration with the Information Technology Department under the Ministry of Education and Training and the Information Security Department under the Ministry of Information and Communications.

The Vietnamese teams competed onsite in Hanoi, while foreign teams were allowed to participate online, according to the ASCIS website.

Addressing the event, VNISA President Nguyen Thanh Hung said that the contest welcomed the biggest participation so far in its history with eight ASEAN countries, including Vietnam.

At the awarding ceremony, Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Huy Dung and VNISA President Nguyen Thanh Hung presented the first prize to the Pawsitive team with four members namely Dinh Quang Vu, Phan Cong Hau, Nguyen Cao Bao Long, and Le Tran Hai Tung.

The organizers also presented three third and five consolation prizes. Team L3V3L1NG from the National University of Laos bagged home a consolation prize.

ASCIS is part of the annual event 'Vietnam Information Security Day' organized by the Vietnam Information Security Association under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Information and Communications and the Ministry of Education and Training of Vietnam.

It encourages students to study and cultivate practical and team-working skills as well as fosters cultural and academic exchanges among information security students in ASEAN.