Giovanna Castiglione, a student from Trapani in class 4C of the IIS “Leonardo da Vinci” in Trapani, triumphed at the CyberTrials 2024. This prestigious national team cybersecurity competition was held from 6 to 9 June 2024 at the ITC ILO campus (International Training Center – International Labor Organization) of Turin.
The CyberTrials, now in their third edition, are organized by the Cybersecurity National Lab of the CINI (National Inter-university Consortium for Informatics) with the aim of encouraging young women to approach the world of cybersecurity. This sector is continually growing and of fundamental importance for protecting information and safeguarding national security in a world increasingly dominated by information technology, robotics and artificial intelligence.
The 2024 edition, aimed at secondary school students, saw the participation of 20 finalist teams from all over Italy. Each team, made up of four students randomly selected already in January, competed in three intense days of competitions, workshops and conferences, culminating in a final test lasting six hours.
During this crucial test, the teams faced a series of CTF (Capture The Flag) challenges, testing their knowledge and skills in solving cybersecurity problems, in a race against time to find the solution to each trial.
The final on June 8th saw the triumph of the team “404_Name_Not_Found,” composed of Giovanna Castiglione, Magdalena Irena Marciszewska of ITIS “E. Torricelli” of Sant’Agata di Militello (ME), and Veronica Barbati of the ITIS “Montani” of Fermo. Despite the absence of one member of the team due to a sudden illness, the trio demonstrated extraordinary cohesion and skill, overcoming the other teams with a high number of challenges solved. The team also received the special jury prize for the “best presentation of the work carried out during the competition”.
Visibly tired and excited, Giovanna Castiglione declared: “Initially we weren’t thinking about victory, we just wanted to give our best and honor the event. Then when we started to climb the rankings, we were filled with adrenaline and the desire to win. We concentrated again. more, despite the accumulated tiredness. What we are experiencing now is an indescribable joy!”.
Great satisfaction was expressed by the Headmaster of the IIS “Leonardo da Vinci” of Trapani, Dr. Margherita Ciotta, and by the teacher of the Department of Computer Science, Prof. Giovanni Sanguedolce, referent of the CyberTrials 2024 and accompanying teacher. Commenting on the performance of Giovanna and her team, Prof. Sanguedolce stated: “Our Institute has always paid the utmost attention to promoting initiatives linked to the valorization of excellence, especially in the field of emerging technologies and digital. This splendid first place shows that in the South there are many young excellences just waiting to be discovered and valorised. We will work like this again next year, with the same intensity and spirit of self-sacrifice, trying to involve more and more students in the search for new successes.”
Giovanna Castiglione’s exceptional victory at the CyberTrials 2024 is a source of great pride for the IIS “Leonardo da Vinci” of Trapani and a testimony to the talent and commitment of the young generations in the field of cybersecurity.
