Kaspersky Lab’s International Competition ‘CyberSecurity for the Next Generation’ Kicks Off in North America with Call for Papers

The North American Cup Highlights NYU-Poly’s 9^th Annual Cyber Security Awareness Week Student-Led Challenges

Woburn, MA – August 22, 2012 –Kaspersky Lab, a leading developer of secure content and threat management solutions, announces the start of the regional stage of its international student competition ‘CyberSecurity for the Next Generation 2013’. The first round, the North American Cup, is now accepting paper submissions from students.

Since its launch last year, the North American Cup has been held in partnership with the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) Cyber Security Awareness Week (CSAW). The NYU-Poly CSAW challenges are among the oldest and broadest student-led competitions, and are designed to encourage awareness of the increasing threats to privacy and security issues for individuals, governments, business and smart infrastructure.

Kaspersky Lab’s North American Cup at the CSAW annual competition is a unique platform. It brings together young professionals and researchers, IT security experts and professors, and decision makers from the IT business and media from all over the world in a collaborative and creative environment. The event provides the opportunity to present and discuss the most burning issues relating to global cybercrime. The conference will offer young researchers a unique opportunity to present their original research and at the same time improve their knowledge of IT security. Participants will showcase their projects and open themselves to potential new and attractive career opportunities in IT security.

Bachelors, Masters and Ph.D. students from higher education institutions and graduate schools based in the USA and Canada are welcome to enter. Participation is free of charge. To participate applicants need to:

1)    Register at the official conference site: http://www.kaspersky.com/educational-events.
2)    Submit their research paper by October 16, 2012
3)    Prepare a 10 minute presentation (if chosen as a finalist to participate at the conference)

This year’ topics are:

• Emerging threats for emerging platforms -- Embedded systems; Mobile security (Android, IOS, Windows Phone); Windows 8, Mac OS & other operating systems, etc.
• Securing cloud, virtual & ‘big-data’ infrastructure -- Mail services; Storage services; Social networks, etc.
• Future protection technologies -- Proactive detection technologies; Filtering technologies; Web application security, etc.
• Securing corporate infrastructure -- Combating advanced persistent threats (APTS)/targeted attacks; Vulnerabilities, exploits; Rootkits/bootkits; Botnets; DDoS attacks; Network security, etc.
• Security education -- Tools and resources to raise and promote IT security awareness

A program committee consisting of Kaspersky Lab experts, IT security professors and decision-makers from IT business and media will review all papers. The authors of the most interesting and innovative cybersecurity projects will be invited to the conference at NYU-Poly on November 15-17, 2012. The conference is held in a very friendly, creative and supportive atmosphere and promises to be an unforgettable experience.

Kaspersky Lab will cover all participants’ travel and accommodation expenses.

The winners will receive generous cash prizes as well as an invitation to attend and compete in the international final conference, bringing together the best-of-the-best from across the globe. Regional competitions are held in North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific & Middle East and Africa, and Russia & the CIS. The championship stage of this year’s conference will take place in the United Kingdom in May 2013.

For further information about the conference, please visit: http://www.kaspersky.com/about/events/educational-events or http://www.facebook.com/KasperskyConference

To contact the event coordinators, please send your correspondence to: studconf-america@kaspersky.com.

About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for consumers, SMBs and enterprises. The company currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

*The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2010. The rating was published in the IDC report Worldwide IT Security Products 2011-2015 Forecast and 2010 Vendor Shares – December 2011. The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2010.

About NYU-Poly
Polytechnic Institute of New York University (formerly Polytechnic University), an affiliated institute of New York University, is a comprehensive school of engineering, applied sciences, technology and research, and is rooted in a 158-year tradition of invention, innovation and entrepreneurship: i²e. The institution, founded in 1854, is the nation’s second-oldest private engineering school. In addition to its main campus in New York City at MetroTech Center in downtown Brooklyn, it also offers programs at sites throughout the region, around the globe and remotely through NYUe-Poly. NYU-Poly is an integral part of NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU Shanghai and the NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP) in downtown Brooklyn. For more information, visit www.poly.edu. To learn more about CSAW, visit http://www.poly.edu/csaw2012.