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Winning students are excluded from the competition because the police investigation is delayed

Theo

Three computer science students who won a national cybersecurity competition have been told they cannot participate in the international phase of the competition due to police investigations.

Michael Debono, Giorgio Grigolo and Luke Bjorn Scerri took part in the National Cyber ​​Security Challenge, a competition organised by the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) in May, and took first, second and third place respectively.

All three won vouchers and Debono, who took first place, automatically qualified for the European Cybersecurity Challenge (ECSC) in Turin, Italy.

The other two would participate in a local boot camp, where the top ten participants would also be selected for the Maltese delegation at the European competition.

However, their joy did not last long, as MITA recently called them to a meeting to inform them that they were suspended from the competition until the police investigation was completed.

The investigation dates back to October 2022, when Debono, Grigolo, Scerri and another student were arrested after discovering and exposing a security flaw in Malta’s largest student app, FreeHour.

No charges were brought against the trio.

The students had emailed FreeHour to inform them of the vulnerability and asked for a reward – a so-called “bug bounty” – a common practice among ethical or “white hat” hackers. But instead of a reward, the University of Malta students were arrested, strip-searched, and had their computer equipment confiscated.

At that time they told Times of Malta They were simply trying to improve the security of the app, and FreeHour, which originally filed the complaint with the police, said it was “looking into ways to help the students.”

I wish there was a thriving community of cybersecurity enthusiasts in Malta, but I’ve started to lose hope.– Michael Debono

At the competition in May, the trio were rewarded for their skills in solving cybersecurity problems in the areas of web and mobile security, crypto puzzles and forensics.

MITA said it had decided “out of great responsibility” to suspend the three winners until the police investigation was completed.

Debono said he was “devastated” when he learned he would not be representing Malta in Turin, especially as he had been looking forward to meeting other international computer science students.

“It is my wish to see a thriving community of cybersecurity enthusiasts in Malta. However, I have started to lose hope,” said the 21-year-old Times of Malta“I am seriously considering opportunities abroad as it makes me feel like I am doing what I love in Malta.”

Although no charges have been filed, the investigation is ongoing and their equipment is still in the hands of the police, which is causing great concern among the students.

“We have not heard anything from the police about the investigation and there is no case pending against me or any of my friends,” he said. “I don’t think we did anything wrong, so why am I being excluded?”

He added that the ongoing investigations could potentially exclude her from participating in future competitions, as the age limit for the ECSC is 25.

Grigolo, who took part in the national competition for the second time, expressed his frustration, especially with Debono.

“It’s not fair, especially to my friend Michael,” he said. “He was guaranteed a place, whereas with Luke and me, the authorities could argue that they wouldn’t shortlist us during the boot camp because they would follow the rules of the qualification process. That still doesn’t make sense, since we’re top three.”

He said the thought of facing trial had put a psychological strain on them.

“I couldn’t believe it and was very disappointed in them, although I thought I should have seen it coming,” said Björn Scerri, adding that the trio should have been informed before the competition began. “There is not even an open case against me or my friends. I thought the principle ‘innocent until proven guilty’ applies here,” the 23-year-old continued.

MITA considers suspension after investigation is completed

In response to questions, a MITA spokesman said the agency would reconsider the suspension after the investigation was completed.

“Our ethical values, which we live by every day, were upheld by the three winners. First, a meeting took place between the agency and the people involved.”

She explained that the decision on whether MITA will send a Maltese delegation to the international event will be taken at a later date and that the final decision will be made on site after the bootcamp.

Police did not respond to questions about the investigation.

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