The Challenge

Science and Technology have always fascinated Andrew. Back in 2020, he graduated a first-class Degree in Chemical Engineering, and later began working with a local pharmaceutical company. After feeling that something was missing, he immediately took the decision of starting a Higher National Diploma in Computing. Following months of intensive hard work, he eventually ended up with Epic as a Junior Roaming Technician and so far, he is really enjoying this job exposure. As an individual, he is always looking for new challenges for the sole purpose of improving his IT skills and thus took this opportunity to learn more about cyber-security.

Currently reading for a Master’s Degree in Computer Science at the University of Malta, Axel is also a part-time Software Engineer at CCBill. He is relatively new in the field of cybersecurity. However, he enjoys challenging himself and using his skills to contribute to research. Throughout his studies, Axel published several articles in international conference proceedings on Blockchain and Runtime Verification. His goals are to become more knowledgeable in cybersecurity, conduct further research and publish more articles.

Liam is an 18 year old student currently reading for a Computer Science Degree at the University of Malta. He is currently employed with MITA’s Cyber Security team where he helps and assists their needs while learning new things in the process. The National cybersecurity challenge was extremely interesting for Liam as he looks forward to learn new skills and techniques in this domain. His interest in cyber security is growing daily, particularly in the steganography department.

Luke graduated from the University of Malta with a first-class double honours in Mathematics and Computer Science, and was a research assistant within the Mathematics department there. Last year, he obtained a Master’s degree in Mathematics at the University of Warwick with distinction. His main research interests lie in graph theory, combinatorics, and number theory. Recently, he reinstated the Malta Mathematical Society with the help of a group of dedicated undergraduates from UoM. Outside of academia, Luke is the cofounder of the mobile app company LearnD.

As a recent networks and systems graduate student and novice network engineer with a local telecommunication company by the name of GO, Matthew has been getting exposure to epitome methods and complex network architectures. This had been his fascination from an early age, especially the outlining of network architectures and the personnel behind it. As his studies were broad, this gave him an insight into security and its very enlarging importance to the evolving demands. This peaked his interest especially after the National cybersecurity challenge.

Recently a Software Development graduate, Melvin currently works in the eGovernment & Corporate Solutions Department within MITA. Whilst building knowledge to further progress his career in IT, developing software has always made him curious about hackers using vulnerabilities to break into complex systems. Through the National Cyber Security Challenge, he also developed a fascination towards data retrieval by sifting through storage devices that have been removed from their respective controller.

Nathaniel is in his final year of reading for a Bachelor’s Degree in Software Development. His research focuses on an automated prototype to detect security weaknesses in software being developed from a white box perspective. In addition to his full-time studies, Nathaniel also works in IT where he contributes towards security risk assessments and governance tasks. His interests also include gaming and other cybersecurity related topics.

Working in the mobile application sector with MITA, Neil feels both professionally and individually accomplished. He continually persists on strengthening his knowledge about upcoming technologies. In fact, his bachelor’s degree thesis involved an understanding of false positive detections with AI classifications which showed how important integrity and security of a service are. Hence, this cybersecurity challenge permitted him to further his knowledge for future work and believes it will truly be an inspiring journey.