Youths rewarded for exhibiting IT knowledge
The National Information Technology Authority of Uganda (NITA-U) has awarded millions of shillings in cash to young people that took part in the Cybersecurity Quiz dubbed ‘NITA-U Festive Quiz.’
For two weeks now, individuals have won Shs 500,000 from participating and winning the quiz with groups of at least 5 bagging Shs 3,000,000 for group entries.
According to Arnold Mangeni, the director of Information Security at NITAU, the quiz runs two questions on different cyber security themes each week targeting the individual entrants and the group participants.
The quiz targets online users on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube basing on the most engagements and voting by fellow users.
When a question is posted, the top 2 answers with the most engagement each win Shs 500,000 (and a gift hamper) and the Shs 3,000,000 (and a gift hamper) goes to the group entrants.
“The groups of 5 submit a video discussing a selected theme for that week. To be more inclusive, we have set strict guidelines to ensure that among the group of 5 there’s at least a female. Groups that submit all male participants don’t meet the criteria for winning,” Mangeni said.
Andrew Mugisha and Bwire Ian Jeremiah were the first week individual winners and they both walked away with Shs 500,000 cash and goodies from NITA-U.
A group consisting of Amanya Brian, Tugume Hastings, Natseli Godfrey, Murangira Boris and Namilo Habibah emerged winners in the group category and took the Shs 3,000,000 week one grand prize.
The 5 shared a short video demonstrating the importance of phone security like passwords and the risks associated with it.
In week two, the task for the individual entrants was to give a description of malware while highlighting the types of malware people should avoid. The group task was to recreate a Tendo animation (that had been shared prior) about hacking in a local language of their choice.
Janat Kwagala and Sarah Namiiro won the individual prizes while the group of Kenneth Kasasira, Ndyamuhaki Barham, Mugisha Simon, Ajo Clement and Mugenyi Suleiman
won Shs 3,000,000 prize.
The Quiz winners for Week 3 contest will be announced on Friday 10th December, 2021 ahead of the final week that goes into the festive season.
“I believe in Santa now. I thought he was just in stories and I had always wished for him to check in on me. NITA-U came in the form of Santa this year for me and I am grateful. On top of providing me an opportunity to grasp Cybersecurity and teach my peers, I got cash to celebrate my Christmas,” Kenneth Kasasira, one of the winners said.
With the ongoing Cyber Security Awareness Campaign Be Safe Online, NITA-U pledges to continue to deliver on its promise of safeguarding the Ugandan people every step of the way.
