NUST has won the Namibia National Cyber Security Competition (NNCSC), in which four teams from NUST and UNAM competed for a duration of approximately ten hours. The competition was organized by the NUST Faculty of Computing and Informatics under the theme “Securing Digital Systems Excellence,” with the aim to provide students with real-world challenges simulated in a theoretical environment to curb crimes such as fraud and identity theft. Students are challenged to protect their corporate networks while at the same time attending to normal day-to-day activities such as setting up e-mails, attending to employee queries and serving clients under strict deadlines. Two cyber security experts, Mark Wynne and Justin Pedersen from Highline College in the USA, officiated as judge and attacker, respectively, to ensure transparency and also to ensure that international standards are upheld. Earlier this year, the College hosted the International Collegiate Cyber Security Competition which was won by NUST.

The Namibia National Cyber Security Competition was made possible by several companies and institutions that included the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN), Paratus Telecom, CSS Tactical, Schoemans Office Solutions, FNB, Green Technologies, Syntex, Bank of Namibia, Namibian Police, Syntex, Silnam and XON. The winners have started to prepare for the International Cyber Security Competition scheduled to take place in the USA next year.