London CyberHack 2015 – Fintech Security and IoT
Join us at Cyber Hack from June 27–29, 2015 in London, UK
- MEET GREAT PEOPLE
- BUILD COOL STUFF
- SOLVE REAL PROBLEMS
- PRESENT TO JURY OF INDUSTRY LEADERS
- WIN OVER £6000 IN CASH PRIZES
- FREE FOOD AND DRINKS
- £100 HOTEL VOUCHER FOR ACCOMODATION (PER QUALIFIED ATTENDEE)
- COME ALONE OR AS A TEAM
- HACKERS ARE WELCOME TO STAY OVERNIGH AT VENUE BUT NO SHOWERS, BEDS OR BEDDING IS AVAILABLE (BRING YOUR OWN.
We want you!
The Accelerator Network , The Hackitarians and the UK Government’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) are delivering a three day Hackathon (Saturday, Sunday and Monday, June 27-29, 2015) called London CyberHack 2015 – Fintech Security and IoT – focusing on improving the security of financial services for SMEs and Internet of Things related technologies.
This is our call to you – whether you are an undergrad or postgrad student from one of the thirteen Government recognised ‘Academic Centres of Excellence’ or not but, have a strong interest in Cyber Security – we welcome you to take on this challenge in this cutting edge Cyber arena.
We will be adding more sponsors, briefs and prizes soon! With over £5000 cash involved here, there's some serious money at stake and a crack jury to judge your work!
You can register here at The Hackfest for your chance to showcase your hacking, cracking, coding skills and develop your entrepreneurial skills. You will have the chance to:
- Work on real-world challenges posed by our partners, including NatWest
- Meet leading partners from GCHQ, TechUK, Cyber Connect and others.
- Work with interesting APIs from Programmable Web Meet successful and ‘exited’ tech entrepreneurs from the Cyber Security world
- Engage with experts who will help you take your developments to commercial application and expand on your entrepreneurial skills
- WIN prizes offered by our partners
Cyber Hack is being delivered by The Accelerator Network, which provides business support services for high-growth tech companies, working with the UK Government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to bring together more than 50 of the UK’s brightest young cybersecurity minds to tackle critical cybersecurity issues.
During the weekend of developing there will be mentors and experts giving tutorials on the scene so you will have the chance to learn from the best in Cyber Security. The weekend will culminate on the third day with a pitch event where you will present your developments to an audience of partners, industry leaders and investors.
The three-day event will not only pool collective talent drawn from the UK’s thirteen universities, which have been identified as Academic Centres of Excellence in cyber security, but also, with space allowing, those professionals who would like to participate as well.
FAQs
Cyber Hack Sleepover?
- Attendees can stay as late as they would like at the Venue to hack and build their products
- But there are no showering facilities at the premises or couches we do recommend you go to a local hotel or home for sleep
Cyber Hack Cost?
Free!
Who Can Attend?
Though the focus is on students from the 13 Academic Centres of Excellence in Cyber Security Research, we encourage all to sign up and apply. It's not all about coders and developers (though their skills are immensely valuable of course). If you are a designer, a UX or UI interface specialist, a scientist or professional, a writer, a seasoned entrepreneur or startup junkie - or just someone with a brilliant idea - you are more than welcome to apply!
The Universities are:
- Imperial College London
- Newcastle University
- Queen’s University Belfast
- Royal Holloway, University of London
- University College London
- University of Birmingham
- University of Bristol
- University of Cambridge
- University of Lancaster
- University of Oxford
- University of Southampton
- University of Surrey
- University of Kent
What is the goal of the Event?
The goal of the event is to rapidly prototype, over three days, ideas into reality (or as close as you can get). Judges will favour ideas born and worked on at the event over pre-built products that simply tap into APIs - even if the former are not completely ready.
Our objective is to provide a forum to help create solutions and inventions, empowering those with brilliant ideas to take on exciting challenges and drive innovation in the cybersecurity arena. By tapping into APIs and SDKs from technology companies, and publicly available APIs, participants of all skill areas will team up to cultivate ways of solving industry led problems — Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important in everyday life. The hackathon will have a strong focus on commercialisation of the solutions developed, encouraging the participants to think about what the next steps might be following the hackathon connecting them with organisations and partners to accelerate breakthrough ideas developed over the three days. The event will help to turn ideas into commercial solutions, which we hope will continue to be piloted and developed following the event.
What is a Hackathon?
A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest) is an event in which computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers and project managers, collaborate intensively on software projects. Occasionally there is a hardware component as well. Hackathons typically last between a day and a week in length. Some hackathons are intended simply for educational or social purposes, although in many cases the goal is to create usable software. Hackathons tend to have a specific focus, which can include the programming language used, the operating system, an application, an API, the subject and the demographic group of the programmers. In other cases, there is no restriction on the type of software being created.
In this case we have a strong emphasis on entrepreneurial training and mentoring to help developers consider the commercial implications and opportunities for their solutions.
What should I bring?
Laptop, charger, comfortable clothing and any gadgets or tools that may help you win!
Who owns the IP?
You do.
What will I be provided with?
Power sockets, WIFI, hot & cold refreshments, food, seating
Solos or Groups
Can I come alone? Yes... of course! You can meet people at the event and join up to create new teams
time left
Prizes
1st place - FIRST PRIZE FOR BEST GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY - £1000
The commercial aspect is always important. And the hack that shows the best potential business model, for the team and/or the potential client, gets rewarded for their ingenuity when it comes down to making money.
1st place - FIRST PRIZE FOR BEST DESIGN AND USER EXPERIENCE - £2000
First prize for Best Design and User Experience is an award given by the jury to the slickest and most user friendly hack built over the three days of Cyberhack 2015. It's meant to reward the designers in the house for their hard work.
1st place - FIRST PRIZE FOR BEST OVERALL HACK - £3000
The best overall hack is simply the hack that has impressed the judges the most overall. The one that 'Rocks' will win £3000 in cold, hard cash to split between the team.
Winner - The NatWest Challenge - £1000
Background
We take the security of our customer’s money seriously. That’s why, for our Mobile and Online Banking, we’ve put it front and centre. We get independent experts to regularly test, update and confirm that our systems meet the highest standards of security you expect from our other services.
The NatWest mobile app and online banking process millions of transactions every day and we are continually look to evolve our services to meet our customer’s needs. We have brought to market innovative solutions like our GetCash service that allows our customers to withdraw from ATM’s without their card and the use of Apple’s TouchID authentication for basic services.
Passwords and their inherent flaws have been arguably the biggest cyber security challenge for many years and although there have been attempts to solve it we still all have too many passwords to remember, they are a daily part of our life, written on post-it notes or stored on notes in our mobile phones and they are often the primary means of identification.
New technology may present us opportunities to fix these problems and improve our customer experience. We are always looking to find innovative solutions and we hope you can help.
Challenge
Many people are happy to let Facebook and Google use their personal data in exchange for an effective and free product online but tend to be less willing to allow more traditional service providers use this information.
How can we use the information we have about our customers along with the latest technology to accurately identify them in order to improve their experience, prevent fraud and keep them safe and secure? How do we get our customers on-board with the new technology and how do we do this without being “creepy” or like “big brother”?
The bank has an established and evolving suite of authentication mechanisms relying on existing solutions like passwords, passphrases, secret numbers and card readers but this can often hinder the customer experience. Consider how we can provide a seamless customer experience without compromising security across all the ways in which we may interact with a bank, e.g. by telephone, mobile, web browsers, ATM's or face to face in a branch.
This might involve the use of one or more advanced technologies, devices or analytics for physical or remote identification. This may also provide additional benefits such as making it easier to identify fraud or to offer relevant products and offers.
Judging Criteria
Our primary objective is how we can provide a seamless customer experience without compromising security. This will be our main criteria. We will also take in to account the originality of the solution, the clarity and presentation and the difficulty in implementing the solution.
Prizes
Prize winners will be invited to attend an exclusive fine dining experience hosted by the Head of Network Solutions for RBS group, Matthew James. Matthew and his team scout for and purchase innovative technology solutions for the Bank. And the winning team will receive £1000 in cash!