Published on: 14 September 2022



Late last week Christ Church boys took part in the CyberTaipan competition, which challenged them to fix security flaws in a set of virtual computer systems.

CyberTaipan is an online Australian Youth Cyber Defence Competition modelled on the US Air Force Association’s CyberPatriot program, it is run by CSIRO and the Australian Signals Directorate.

The program has been running successfully for 11 years and has already expanded into Canada as CyberTitan, the UK as CyberCenturion and Saudi Arabia as CyberArabia.

Throughout the competition rounds, teams of students are provided with a set of virtual images that represent different operating systems.

Over a six-hour period, each team receives points for finding and fixing cyber security vulnerabilities, strengthening systems, and maintaining critical services.

Teams compete for a chance to represent their school or community group in the CyberTaipan National Final.

The competition is just one of the ways we educate and inspire our boys towards further education and careers in cyber security and other STEM subjects. Impact reports suggest that participants are far more likely to:

  • pursue STEM education after high school
  • pursue higher education
  • consider careers in cyber security and the technical workforce