The NetRL-RISE team, comprising students and researchers from the Computer Science Department of the University of Cyprus and the RISE research Center has participated in the 1st Cybersecurity Cyberdefence Hackathon and was awarded the second prize.

The team developed the NATIONAL GUARD SECURE CHAT APP – NGSC, a Cypriot secure instant messaging app for the National Guard. The solution creates a smartphone app, which removes any uncertainty with respect to security by using local (instead of cloud) servers, avoiding third-party services, and encrypting communication with any algorithms chosen by the organization.

Innovative aspects of the application is the philosophy of sending messages to users within a specific geographic area and the ease of creating groups based on the hierarchy of the service using it. The same app can be used by all Security Forces, besides the National Guard, like the Police Force, Fire Service, and Civil Service.

The Team participants were Paris Constantinides, Andronikos Charalambous, Andreas Charalambous, Iacovos Ioannou, and Dr Christiana Ioannou, under the guidance and supervision of Dr. Vasos Vassiliou, Ass. Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Research Group Leader at RISE.