Regulations about the Hackathon “Turkmen Cyber. Hack” at the Yagshygeldi Kakayev International Oil and Gas University
During the period of the Revival of a new epoch of a powerful state under the leadership of the Esteemed President, our Motherland Turkmenistan is going through a rapid path of great events and changes. Modern improvement of the country's education system is of great importance on the path of development.
The purpose of vocational education is to prepare active, humane and useful to society students. In preparing such specialists, the effectiveness of industrial training, the formation of professional skills of students, the formation of labor skills, hard work and cultural behavior are necessary.
The ubiquity of modern computer systems and the ability to communicate or interact using a variety of devices, from mobile devices to laptops, creates a variety of vulnerabilities and potential threat vectors for public and private institutions. Exploitation of these vulnerabilities could adversely affect national security through intentional actions such as compromise, weakening of command and control responsiveness, theft of intellectual property and confidential personal information, disruption of critical services and critical infrastructure, or damage to economies and industries.
A thorough study and analysis of the nature of modern cyber attacks has shown the need to identify and detect attacks at the earliest stages to ensure adequate cyber security.
1. Terms and Definitions
A Hackathon is a special forum for generating and implementing new ideas in a selected subject area. The special format of the Hackathon brings together people from different professions and different abilities into a group and encourages them to find new solutions in the field of their chosen topic.
Participant is a pupil or student aged sixteen years and older, acting on his own behalf and registered in the prescribed manner.
A competitive task is a task that must be completed within 4 hours.
A team is a group of one to five participants who come together to complete a competition task. Each participant can be a member of only one group.
A team captain is a participant who is elected by team members and makes organizational decisions on behalf of the team, and also represents the interests of the team during the Hackathon.
Mentors is a group of individuals who advise teams during a competitive task.
Project (product) –software developed or compiled to solve a problem at a specified time, integrated tools, a set of algorithms or step-by-step instructions, presentations;
Winners are groups whose projects were recognized by the judges as the best based on the results of the Hackathon;
Jury are representatives who evaluate projects and determine the winners of the Hackathon. The jury may consist of representatives of the organizing committee or independent experts.
2. Main goals of the Hackathon
- improving the quality of professional training of students;
- increasing creativity;
- increasing interest in a future career (profession);
- creation of software for various purposes and directions;
- inclusion of various information in the created software;
- identifying ways to improve program effectiveness;
- revealing students' abilities;
- creating for students real situations of software attack and danger during the learning process and training to overcome these threats;
- mastering the effective use of all technical and software resources (including abovementioned) for the timely identification and detection of attacks;
- studying the creation of software tools for detecting attacks;
- teamwork practice.
3. Hackathon conditions
At this Hackathon, judges monitor students’ work methods, technological literacy of each type of activity, timeliness and correctness of work, as well as conduct familiarization work on compliance with technical safety and labor protection requirements. The jury makes a decision based on the Regulations on the Hackathon.
The Hackathon is aimed at testing the skills of developing a set of algorithms, integrated tools and software that detect artificially created hidden threats and attacks in the operating system. A Hackathon participant can complete the task assigned at the Hackathon in any programming language and integration tool. Hackathon participants must dress in accordance with the requirements for students.
Hackathon topic: Timely identification of hidden threats in the operating system and creation of software programs to prevent them.
Hackathon participants are required to:
- detect hidden threats and attacks in the operating system;
- prevent attacks by eliminating identified threats using ready-made tools;
- develop software that automatically removes identified threats.
The Hackathon will be held in team and individual format. A team can consist of 5 people. Each team must have its own captain.
4. Criteria-based assessment
This section defines the assessment criteria and the number of awarded grades. The jury members must make a professional (subjective) decision. This is usually based on a qualitative approach. The table below shows the maximum points that the jury can award based on the following criteria:
| Point | ||
| 1 | Number of hidden threats detected in the operating system | 10 |
| - | Methodology for detecting hidden threats in the operating system (efficiency and minimal use of tools) | 10 |
| - | Methodology for eliminating hidden threats (efficiency and minimal use of tools) | 10 |
| - | Creating a software product that automatically detects and removes hidden threats | 10 |
| Total: | 40 |
4.1 Criteria for assessing the assignment
- Number of detected hidden threats in the operating system
The number of hidden threats identified in time in the operating system of computer equipment provided to participants.
- Methodology for detecting hidden threats in the operating system (efficiency and minimal use of tools)
Organize the resources used to eliminate identified hidden threats. The preference will be to use smaller types of resources, because the use of multi-functional resources saves time.
- Methodology for eliminating hidden threats (efficiency and minimal use of tools)
Actions to prevent attacks promptly from identified threats in advance will be assessed. The preference will be to use smaller types of resources, because the use of multi-functional resources saves time.
- Creation of a software product that automatically detects and removes hidden threats
The creation of software that can fully automatically detect and eliminate the above-mentioned activities without human intervention will be considered.
5. Permitted and prohibited actions at the Hackathon
The participant is allowed to carry and use the following items:
- personal computer and laptop;
- keyboard in any language;
- keyboard language files;
- mouse
Experts for the presence of internal storage devices will check all items brought by Hackathon participants. If such devices are found, they will be temporarily taken away until the end of the Hackathon. The participants are prohibited from leaving the Hackathon area during the Hackathon. In addition, the use of mobile phones is prohibited.
6. Hackathon participants should consider the following:
- safe use, cleaning and storage of all equipment;
- safe use of all equipment in accordance with manufacturer's instructions;
- choosing the right equipment to do the task;
- keeping the work area clean to protect the finished product.
7. Time allotted to complete the task
Depending on the complexity of the Hackathon task, 2-4 hours are allotted for its completion (maybe one or several days). If work is completed early, it may be presented to the judges, but no advantage will be given for early completion. Tasks not completed on time after the allotted time have passed, at the request of the participant, can be presented to the judges in the same form.
8. Determination of Hackathon winners
The winners of the Hackathon are determined by adding up the judges' scores and their majority. Based on the results in the Hackathon team competition, one (1) winner will be determined. In individual competition, 1 (one) Grand Prize, 2 (two) I places, 3 (three) II places and 4 (four) III places are awarded. The winners of the Hackathon are awarded Certificates of Honor and valuable gifts.
If a Hackathon participant does not agree with the received score, an appeal commission of independent experts will be created. The members of the commission analyze and make an appropriate decision; if the given mark is truly incorrect, then the commission proposes to change the mark given by the judges. In this case, the decision is made by voting and a protocol on the change in assessment is drawn up. The protocol is signed by all members of the appeal and judging panels. The commission's decision is not reviewed.