On October 7-8, 2024, the Department of Information Systems' Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA) co-hosted the 4th Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge in Cape Town, in partnership with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy, Atlantic Council, and MITRE. Entering its twelfth year globally, this one-of-a-kind cyber competition aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of the policy and strategy challenges associated with managing trade-offs during a cyber crisis. The competition saw remarkable achievements, with CyberSen from Senegal’s Cheikh Anta Diop University securing 1st place, Cyber Legends from Ghana’s Academic City University College taking 2nd, and Cryptic Crusaders from Malawi University of Science & Technology placing 3rd. Additionally, a team from UCT earned the “Best Policy Decision Document” title.

The esteemed adjudication panel featured corporate executives, academics, and government officials from Ghana, Kenya, Eswatini, Malawi, Senegal, and South Africa. It was inspiring to witness the students’ ability to develop blended cybersecurity strategies that incorporated both technical and human-centric solutions—demonstrating their awareness of the multifaceted nature of cybersecurity. Unlike traditional hackathons, the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge focuses on policy and strategy responses to cybersecurity issues, equipping participants with essential knowledge. This year, the competition attracted 40 students from eight African countries, with West African students participating for the first time. It was particularly exciting to see an increase in female participants compared to previous years.

As part of C3SA’s efforts to address the cybersecurity skills gap in Africa, this competition serves as a crucial element of the center's capacity-building initiatives. Taking place during Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the event was timely, raising awareness about the sophisticated cyber threats targeting African governments' critical infrastructure and highlighting the need for proactive cybersecurity strategies across the continent.

By Dr Tendani Chimboza

On behalf of the Atlantic Council, the United States Department of State, MITRE Corporation, and C3SA at the University of Cape Town, we invite you to register a team to participate in the third annual Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge for Africa! This competition will be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 18 – 19 August 2023. This year we have 17 teams consisting of students from South Africa, Malawi, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria, Botswana, and Eswatini. 

Established in 2012, the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge is the world’s only cyber policy and strategy competition for post-secondary students. Since its establishment, over 5,000 students have been trained through the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge.

This new series is designed to train college and university students in Africa from across all academic disciplines about cyber crisis management and response planning. Working in teams of 3 to 4 students, teams will learn how to respond to a scenario examining a cyber crisis with reaching impacts on national security, public policy, diplomacy, and more. Teams will present their recommendations to a panel of senior expert judges drawn from government, industry, and civil society, who will evaluate the teams’ responses. Through competing, students will develop key skills in policy analysis and effective communication, while also developing networking connections with cybersecurity experts and potential employers from government, academia and industry.

The role of participants

Student teams will be challenged to respond to an evolving scenario involving a major cyber-attack and analyse the threat it poses to state, military, and private sector interests. Teams will be judged based on the quality of their policy responses, their decision-making processes, and their oral presentation to a panel of judges. Along the way, teams will work with coaches at their home institution to develop their policy skills and feedback from expert panels of judges will ensure that all participants have an opportunity to improve their skills, as well as networking opportunities during the competition. 

About the Strategy Challenge

Atlantic Council and the Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA) at the University of Cape Town, are partnering to host the inaugural Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge in South Africa. The Cyber 9/12 Challenge for South Africa is designed to offer students enrolled in tertiary education programmes across a wide range of academic disciplines in South African universities, a better understanding of the policy challenges associated with cybercrime and/or cyber operations. There will be a range of prizes for the winners!

Event details:
Pre-competition Workshop Dates:  30-31 August 2022 (14:00 – 18:00 SAST): Online
Challenge Dates: 28 – 29 September 2022, Monkey Valley, Noordhoek, Cape Town
Who can participate: All undergraduate and postgraduates enrolled in Southern African Universities.
Why: Young scientists will exchange ideas on cybersecurity policy solutions that will impact the continent.
How to enter: Click and register here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0sjOWece2MJ48GBOqs80FvA7y0zry-gZnR5NK61EfLyUsIQ/viewform

Learn from past challenges 

You can find more information about previous cybersecurity strategy challenges here https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/technology-innovation/cybersecurity/2020-cyber-9-12-strategy-challenge-playbooks/

Competition prizes sponsored by 

About the competition

Atlantic Council and the Cybersecurity Capacity Centre for Southern Africa (C3SA) at the University of Cape Town, are partnering to host the inaugural Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge in South Africa. The Cyber 9/12 Challenge for South Africa is designed to offer students enrolled in tertiary education programmes across a wide range of academic disciplines in South African universities, a better understanding of the policy challenges associated with cybercrime and/or cyber operations. All prizes for the three categories of winers will be sponsored by ISACA South Africa Chamber. 

Part interactive learning experience and part competitive scenario exercise, the Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge for South Africa gives students interested in understanding and learning how to tackle and respond to cybercrime and/or to cyber operations, from a technical, policy, and legal angles an opportunity to interact with expert international, regional, and national mentors, judges, and cyber professionals while developing valuable skills in policy analysis and presentation.

The role of participants

Student teams will be challenged to respond to an evolving scenario involving a major cyber-attack and analyse the threat it poses to state, military, and private sector interests. Teams will be judged based on the quality of their policy responses, their decision-making processes, and their oral presentation to a panel of judges. Along the way, teams will work with coaches at their home institution to develop their policy skills and feedback from expert panels of judges will ensure that all participants have an opportunity to improve their skills, as well as networking opportunities during the competition.

The Cyber 9/12 Strategy Challenge for South Africa will take place virtually on the 12 and 13 October 2021.

Prize categories as sponsored by ISACA South Africa Chapter. 

1st Place: 

• Each member of the team will get a ticket to virtually attend the ISACA Annual Conference in 2022.
• Each member of the team will get student membership for 2022 sponsored.
• Each member of the team will be considered for a scholarship to write an ISACA certificate exam – subject to requirements and evaluation by the AREC.
• Each member of the team will get an ISACA branded pen set.

2nd Place

• Each member of the team will get student membership for 2022 sponsored.
• Each member of the team will be considered for a scholarship to write an ISACA certificate exam – subject to requirements and evaluation by the AREC.
• Each member of the team will get an ISACA branded pen set.

3rd Place

• Each member of the team will get student membership for 2022 sponsored.
• Each member of the team will get an ISACA branded pen set.

Learn from past challenges 

You can find more information about previous cybersecurity strategy challenges here https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/technology-innovation/cybersecurity/2020-cyber-9-12-strategy-challenge-playbooks/