Two members of NSLHD’s Digital Health Services ‘cracked the code’ by winning a statewide cybersecurity challenge.

NSLHD Operations Security Officer Christian Shawyer and NSLHD Cyber Security Officer Blake Harrison placed first out of 100 teams across NSW Government agencies to win a recent capture the flag challenge that was organised by Cyber Security NSW (of the NSW Department of Communities and Justice department) and TahSec.

The capture the flag event included a series of challenges across cybersecurity categories including reverse engineering, forensics, cryptography, web exploitation, open-source intelligence and more. 

The duo was very happy to be named winners and represent the district.

“It felt amazing to win. It was a ton of fun so being able to represent the district was extra special,” Blake said.

“Winning this event was very motivating and it’s inspired me to keep developing my skills in cybersecurity,” Christian said.

Blake and Christian both said cyber security is becoming increasingly important as online threats become more prominent.

“More and more devices are bringing us online every day, and malicious actors are getting better and better at taking advantage of it,” Blake said.