Team "S"FC, consisting of Noa Horiguchi (4th year, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies), Hinata Furukata (4th year, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies), and Mari Inoue (3rd year, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) from Associate Professor Mitsuyasu Ishikawa's Laboratory "Keio University Cyber Crime Prevention Education and Research Group" in the Faculty of Policy Management, won first place at the Cyber Volunteer Student CTF Competition.
This competition is a large-scale regional cybersecurity contest jointly organized by 10 police headquarters within the Kanto region (Metropolitan Police Department, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka) and the Japan Cybercrime Control Center (JC3). It is a CTF (Capture The Flag) competition where participants compete in cybersecurity knowledge and skills, such as cryptographic analysis.
The event was held for a wide range of cyber volunteers and students in the Kanto area, with the aim of improving cybersecurity knowledge and skills and fostering practical human resources.
On the day of the event, the competition was held by connecting venues in each prefecture online, with a total of 150 participants from 59 teams, including junior high, high school, and university students from within the jurisdiction. Three teams represented the Keio University Cyber Crime Prevention Education and Research Group: Team "S"FC, Team S"F"C, and Team SF"C".
Among them, Team "S"FC overwhelmed other competing teams with their advanced analytical skills to find answers hidden in various ciphertexts and their extensive knowledge of cybersecurity, achieving a brilliant victory. In addition, the other two teams also performed well, finishing in 5th and 26th place, leaving a strong impression of SFC's high level of technical expertise on the participating teams throughout the Kanto region.
Comments from the Winning Students
We are truly honored to have achieved the best possible result of "winning" in our first appearance at this large-scale competition hosted by 10 Kanto prefectural police departments! As fourth-year students, this was our first and last challenge, and it was truly the culmination of our four years of learning. We were able to end our student life at SFC on such a high note thanks to the dedicated guidance of Professor Ishikawa and the presence of our fellow research group members who also challenged themselves in this competition, honing and elevating each other's skills. As the social importance of cybersecurity grows, the knowledge and experience gained through the practical format of this competition have become an irreplaceable asset for us. We entrust this baton of victory to our reliable juniors, and we believe that members of the Cyber Crime Prevention Education and Research Group will surely stand on this stage again next year and win consecutive titles. Carrying the "power to practice" and the "aspiration" cultivated through Professor Ishikawa's passionate guidance in this research group, we will contribute to the safety of society in our respective paths starting this spring!
Source: Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC) Office, General Affairs