Teams Of UAE Students To Solve Cyber Murder Mystery

UAE Student Cyber Murder Challenge

A gruesome murder; no trace of the culprits but some crucial evidence left behind and one of the biggest manhunts in the UAE’s history.

No, we are not talking about a cold-blooded murder in some villa or a chilling manslaughter in some remote desert resort.

The macabre scene is unfolding in cyber space and the team of investigators comprises cyber-savvy UAE high school students. They are participating in the New York University Abu Dhabi and the National Electronic Security Authority’s (NESA) cyber forensics murder mystery challenge, open to UAE students for the first time.

This competition has been an annual challenge for students across the US for 10 years.

The competition opened on September 8 and more than 60 UAE teams have registered.

Each team consists of two or three students and a teacher-mentor.

The teams are given a disk image and supporting evidence collected in the investigation of a fictitious murder.

Two teams
A final PDF document including a description of all evidence discovered, the tools and process used to find each piece of evidence, a timeline of events and any final conclusions on the case must be submitted to the judging panel.

Two qualifying finalist teams from the UAE will be sponsored to compete against other US-based finalists in the championship event in New York on November 15.

Nasir Memon, professor of computer science and engineering and principal investigator at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Security and Privacy, Abu Dhabi said the competition aims to develop and train future cyber-security experts for the UAE.

“There is a tremendous need to develop and train cyber-security experts here in the UAE who can help safeguard the critical applications and everyday transfer and storage of data that is essential to our society.

“This challenge has been designed to introduce high school students to the basic concepts and tools involved in cyber-security, while stimulating an interest in further study and exploration in this field,” said Memon.