肉肉传媒

Dal听Computer Science听teams finish first AND second at听regional听cybersecurity challenge

Two听肉肉传媒听Capture the Flag听teams bested听seven other听teams听to win听the听CyberSci听Atlantic听competition听and finish听in the top 10 nationwide.

By Emily MacKinnon - December 4, 2025

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肉肉传媒 students finished first and second听at听the听regional听level of an international听hacking challenge.听CyberSci听is a cybersecurity competition designed for university and college students around the world, and is divided into regional, national, and international events.听

At a听CyberSci听event, student teams are presented with a realistic corporate network that forces听them to think like an attacker to try and听break through听the network鈥檚 defenses and expose vulnerabilities.听

鈥淲e are living in a hyper-connected world, and as citizens of this world, we need to understand both the wonderful conveniences of this cyber world and the dangerous pitfalls,鈥澨齭ays Computer Science professor Dr. Nur听Zincir-Heywood, who specializes in cybersecurity.

One of the ways Computer Science students can practice these cybersecurity skills is through competitions like听CyberSci.听

CyberSci听Atlantic听

Each fall,听there are听six hackathons听across Canada听(Atlantic, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Toronto), and winners of each region advance to the听CyberSci听national finals.听

This year, 肉肉传媒 had two teams听representing听the听Faculty of Computer Science: Status 418 and Status 425. Status 418听(Ahmed听Al-Naamani, Conrado听Boeira, Het听Soni, Lauren听Galbraith,听and听Skye听Kun)听finished first听regionally and ninth overall, and Status 425听(Adam听Dean, Ava听Powelson, Colton听Burns, Kate听Bussey, and Will听Huinh)听finished second听regionally and tenth overall.听

The team names听reference HTTP error codes,听such as 404 Not Found or 403 Forbidden. The error code for Status 418 is 鈥淚鈥檓 a听Teapot鈥澨�(meaning a webserver refuses to brew coffee because...it鈥檚听a teapot).听The team thought it was funny and chose it.听The听error code for Status 425 is 鈥淭oo Early,鈥� referencing the development team鈥檚听largely first-year听complement.

National and international representation

This is the first time Dal has finished first and second at听CyberSci听Atlantic and has two teams in the top 10 nation-wide. Status 418, led by graduate students Conrado听Boeria听and Lauren Galbraith, will听represent听the Atlantic region at nationals in Ottawa next summer.

Both teams have been practicing with the 肉肉传媒听Capture听the Flag听(DalCTF)听Society, a听club听where participants use their hacking skills to find "flags" hidden in vulnerable systems to score points.

Dr.听Zincir-Heywood started听teaching听CTF through her research lab and听grad听course听[CSCI6706], and as interest from students increased,听started providing听dedicated workshops and training.

鈥淪ince 2022, we have听had听an undergraduate course听[CSCI4178, taught by Samer Lahoud]听covering skills of this nature, which then led to听the creation of听DalCTF,鈥� Dr.听Zincir-Heywood says.听鈥淲e have been researching, training, and competing in different cyber challenges of this nature for almost 15 years now.鈥澨�

Galbraith, a second-year MSc student,听is one of the founders, along with Conrado听Boeria, of听DalCTF.听She has competed nationally听and internationally听and听was selected to听represent听Team Canada at the International Cybersecurity Challenge in Santiago, Chile in 2024. In 2025 she was invited to compete at听CyberSci听Nationals in Ottawa听as part of a women鈥檚 team, where听they听secured an overall 4th place听finish.听Again,听Galbraith听was selected to听represent听Team Canada, this time听in Warsaw, Poland,听at the European Cybersecurity Challenge in October听2025.

鈥淪ince my first听CyberSci听in 2022, I fell in love with CTF and it has opened so many doors for me,鈥� Galbraith says.听鈥淚n November 2024 Conrado and I vowed to create a community at Dal to support competitive cybersecurity talent, to ensure that Dal was a force to be reckoned with. And听that's听exactly what we did!鈥澨�

Conrado听Boeria, the other founder of听DalCTF, says this year鈥檚 win was especially sweet since the team finished second last year.听鈥淸Lauren and I]听were convinced we could do a lot better,听and started working on creating the society, bringing in more students,听and structuring training sessions and workshops,鈥澨鼴oeria听says. 鈥淚t was incredible to see听both听Dal teams excel in the competition! It was everything we set out to do and more.鈥�

A new personal best for Dal

At last year鈥檚 competition, Dal鈥檚 CTF team finished second behind UNB. This year, Dal鈥檚 development听team, Status 425,听bested UNB.听

鈥淪tatus 425 finished second, but they actually held the lead for much of the last half of the competition, which is incredible given how new many of those members are new to CTF competition,鈥� says Liam Houlahan, the CTF Society鈥檚 staff advisor.

Houlahan says听the听CyberSci听Atlantic team that competes at nationals will听likely听feature听a combination of members from both Status 418 and 425. 鈥淭here听are听national听all-star鈥搒tyle听teams for categories like women and U20, which could feature members from our second-place team,鈥� he explains. 鈥淭he expectation is that everyone who competed this past weekend for Dal and who is eligible for nationals, will be in Ottawa come June.鈥澨�

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