APU Excels Again at UTP-HAX 2015

Our students made us proud again! 

Team YOLO, comprising Nicholas Ian Nonis, Choong Chih Xien and Goh Eu Gene, bagged the 1st Runner Up position of the UTP-HAX National Hacking Competition, which was organised by Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS on the 13th and 14th of November 2015. The competition saw participation from more than 40 teams, who came from local private and public universities.

3 teams of students represented APU in the competition: Team YOLO, Team EZ (Alexandr Suhameraa, Maray Omaraliev, Ahmed Nabil Al-Eryani) and Team NACHOS (Toong Chee Sheng, Syahmi Suleiman, Mohamed Siddiq Rahmat). The competition was intense – as students had to scan, test, hack, defend and use creative and constructive methods to secure their system. Throughout the competition, our students, who were from the APU Cyber Security & Forensic Club (CSFC), demonstrated outstanding effort and excellent teamwork; in which Team YOLO and Team NACHOS managed to enter the semi-finals, while Team YOLO eventually stood out as one of the finalists of the competition.

Other than securing remarkable positions at the competition, our students demonstrated their outstanding problem-solving ability – as Team YOLO attain 3 Bounty Awards (a special award given to the first team to solve a challenge), whereas Team EZ bagged 1 Bounty Award as well. 

Apart from the prizes and achievement they accomplished, these students were also exposed to memorable experiences of performing their best under pressure. The UTP-HAX was a good platform for them to seed creativity, foster innovation and stimulate teamwork among themselves. Congratulations to the teams and thumbs up to their coaches: Mr. Yogeswaran Nathan, Mr. Sulaiman bin Harun, Ms. Yusnita Yusof and Mr. Khoo Li Jing for their guidance and dedication in managing the teams.