Al-Quds Open University wins the first place in the Palestine Competition 2019 for Cyber Security Threat Hunting

 Results were announced in a press conference held on Wednesday 11-9-2019, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology in Ramallah. His Excellency Dr. Ishaq Seder, Minister of Telecommunication and Information Technology, and Prof. Younes Amr, President of al-Quds Open University announced the results of the competition.

Amjad Qabha from al-Quds Open University won the first place in the Cyber Attackers category at the national level. Firas Al-Hawamdeh from al-Quds Open University obtained the second place in the same category, while Mr. Khalil Shreitah ranked first in the category of Cyber Defenders at the national level. Mr.  Maher Abdu won the first place in the category of Responders to Security Threats at the national level, and student, Mohammed Karjah from al-Quds Open University, won the second place under the same category.

Finalists for the competition were chosen at the level of the State of Palestine and won prizes under different categories: the Best Responders to Cyber Threats, the Best Attacker, and the Best Defender. These finalists will represent Palestine on 14/09/2019 in the final regional competition.

His Excellency Dr. Seder congratulated al-Quds Open University on wining the first places in the three categories at the national level. He added, "Participation at the regional level is a pride for the State of Palestine in general and the winners in particular, as well as a testimony to the excellent capabilities and the determination of the Palestinian youth to innovate and fulfil great achievements.”

Prof. Amr expressed his appreciation to the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology for organizing such competitions, which contribute to enhancing the efficiency of cyber security threat hunters, to eventually protect the community’s institutions from cyber-attacks.

Prof. Amr expressed his pride in the achievements of the University’s team, noting that "the University is a pioneer in the field of information security, and its students work and study at the same time, yet they were able to succeed and reach advanced positions.” He added, "the students and the staff of al-Quds Open University have achieved success at the national and international levels. The University has won a number of distinguished international awards over the recent years.”

It is noteworthy that the Cyber Security Threat Hunting competition is held for the second time in the State of Palestine. Palestine obtained the top place in the category of Responders to the Security Threats at the regional level in the first competition. This competition is an Arab regional competition organized by the Palestine Computer Emergency Response Team at the Ministry of Telecommunication and Information Technology, in cooperation with the ITU Arab Regional Cybersecurity Centre (ITU-ARCC) and Silensec company. Eighteen participants participated in the final stage of the competition.

The meeting was attended by the Deputy Minister, Eng. Jamil Zagarna and Dr. Faris al-Mahmoud, and a number of staff members who were involved in the competition.

From al-Quds Open University several staff members attended the meeting, namely, the Vice President for Administrative Affairs, Prof. Marwan Darwish, The President Assistant for Public & International Relations and Media Affairs, Dr. Eng. Imad al-Hodali, Assistant to the Dean of Technology and Applied Sciences, Mr. Maher Issa, and the Head of Information Security at ICTC, Mr. Amjad Abu Aisha.

The President of the University, Prof. Amr, honored His Excellency the Minister in recognition of the ministry's efforts in supporting creativity and excellence.