Kampala: Centenary Bank concluded its inaugural University Cybersecurity Hackathon, recognising outstanding university students for their technical skills and innovative approaches to addressing digital security challenges. The hackathon held throughout October as part of the Bank’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month activities, was organised under the theme Building a Secure Digital Future. It sought to nurture young cybersecurity talent, strengthen practical skills and promote a culture of responsible technology innovation among university students.
The competition attracted 26 university teams during the qualification round, from which four teams progressed to the grand finale. The finalists represented Victoria University, Kyambogo University and ISBAT University, with Victoria University presenting two teams.
At the conclusion of the competition, ISBAT University’s team, ISBAT1, emerged the overall winner, followed by Tarus X from Victoria University in second place and Fraud Hunters, also from Victoria University in third place. Crack Team from Kyambogo University finished fourth. Sseruwooza Uthman from ISBAT University also received the Best Individual Student Award in recognition of his performance.
The winning team members received vouchers worth $ 1,500 for eJPT Certification while the second team won USD75 for HTB vouchers. All finalists also received vouchers for CodeRed where they will be accessing free cybersecurity courses for a whole year.
Speaking at the finale, Michael Opira, Executive Director Operations at Centenary Bank, said the initiative was designed to introduce students to the importance of integrating security into technology development before they enter the workforce.
“What we wanted to achieve through this programme was to inculcate a culture of information security among university students so that as they enter the workforce, they appreciate that technology must be developed ethically and responsibly. As we innovate, cybersecurity must be part of the process not something we think about afterwards,” Opira said.
He noted that cybersecurity remains central to the Bank’s operations because of the trust customers place in the institution to safeguard their money and information.
“At Centenary Bank, we take cybersecurity very seriously. Our business is built on trust and so we strongly believe if customers do not trust us, they will not do business with us. We have invested millions of dollars in technology and security systems to protect our customers. However, we recognise that technology alone is not enough. The human aspect is equally important,” he said.
Opira added that the Bank continues to train its employees and educate customers on safe digital practices, recognising that protecting the financial ecosystem requires collective responsibility. Rodney Hood Adriko, Head of Information Security Assurance at Centenary Bank, said the hackathon had provided an opportunity to assess students’ practical cybersecurity capabilities while identifying young talent that could contribute to the country’s growing digital security needs.
“We have been impressed by the skills, creativity and resilience demonstrated by the students. Starting with 26 teams in the qualification round and having the best progress to the finale has shown us that Uganda has a promising pipeline of cybersecurity professionals that we can nurture and develop,” Adriko said.
He added that the Bank intends to make the hackathon an annual initiative, expanding participation and strengthening collaboration with universities and other tertiary institutions.”We want to continue building on this initiative and make it bigger and more inclusive. It also provides an opportunity to bridge the gap between industry and academia by bringing together the knowledge developed in universities and the practical challenges faced by industry. This is important in developing the skills Uganda needs to strengthen its cybersecurity capacity,” he said.
The hackathon challenged students to apply their knowledge to practical cybersecurity scenarios, including application security, vulnerability analysis, secure software development and incident response. It also provided an opportunity to examine the resilience of digital innovations in a controlled and responsible environment.
Through the initiative, Centenary Bank seeks to contribute to Uganda’s cybersecurity talent pipeline while strengthening awareness of the shared responsibility involved in protecting digital financial services.
