{"id":488,"date":"2026-07-22T19:11:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cyber-institute-news\/?p=488"},"modified":"2026-07-22T19:11:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:11:54","slug":"cyberhack2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/cyber-institute-news\/2026\/07\/22\/cyberhack2026\/","title":{"rendered":"iCSS co-organised national cyber security hackathon and University of Kent teams won 2nd and 3rd places"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Wednesday 3rd<\/sup> June 2026 the Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS)<\/a> of the University of Kent co-organised CyberHack 2026<\/a>, a national cyber security hackathon, at the UWS (University of the West Scotland) London Campus<\/a>. The event\u2019s main organisers included UWS London Cyber Club<\/a> and UWS Cyber Security\u00a0Programme<\/a>. In addition to iCSS and UWS London Campus, CSE Connect<\/a>, a not-for-profit on cyber security education, is another co-organising body. The event also received support and\/or sponsorships from the following organisations: KMCS3 (Kent & Medway Cyber Security Student Society)<\/a>;\u00a0Cyber London<\/a>;\u00a0KMCC\u00a0(Kent & Medway Cyber Cluster)<\/a>;\u00a0SOEBIT Cybersecurity Netherlands<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Education Group London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The event\u2019s main coordinator is Dr Manesh Thankappan<\/a> of UWS London, who was supported by Dr Sin Wee Lee<\/a>, UWS London\u2019s Head of Subject Area for CEPS (Computing, Engineering, Physical Science) & HLS (Health and Life Sciences). iCSS Director Professor Shujun Li<\/a> coordinated the contribution of University of Kent, with support of Deputy Director (Education) Dr Virginia Franqueira<\/a> and student leaders of KMCS3. Dr Charles Clarke<\/a> coordinated contribution of CSE Connect in his role as Co-Founder and Director of Operations. Many of the logistical matters were taken care of by UWS London student volunteers, as part of the student-run UWS London Cyber Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The event attracted 88 students from the following 13 UK universities.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. City St George\u2019s, University of London<\/li>\n
  2. University of East Anglia<\/li>\n
  3. University of Greenwich<\/li>\n
  4. University of Kent<\/li>\n
  5. The University of Law<\/li>\n
  6. Northumbria University<\/li>\n
  7. University of Plymouth<\/li>\n
  8. University of Roehampton<\/li>\n
  9. Royal Holloway, University of London<\/li>\n
  10. University of South Wales<\/li>\n
  11. University of Surrey<\/li>\n
  12. Teesside University<\/li>\n
  13. University of the West of Scotland<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"CyberHack<\/p>\n

    The students formed 19 teams, who were given a real-world cyber security problem on developing a technical solution to SMEs\u2019 needs of responding to new CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures)<\/a>. They were given six hours (between 10am and 4pm) to develop a technical solution, and the use of AI tools was actively encouraged. After 4pm, all teams had a 5-min opportunity to give a short presentation and demo about their developed solution in front of the event\u2019s judging panel. After all teams presented and demonstrated their work, the judging panel met to decide the final score of the teams. Judges also visited and interacted with all participating teams before 4pm to observe what they were doing, as part of the scoring process.<\/p>\n

    The judging panel was composed of the following six cyber security experts.<\/p>\n