Campus Hackathon in Munich
Netcentric sponsored the recent Campus Hackathon in Munich following our core value "Make Netcentric a Fun Place to Work". Check out the impressive results.
Last weekend Netcentric sponsored the Campus Hackathon following our core value "Make Netcentric a Fun Place to Work".
So what is a "Hackathon"? Basically, it is all about developing a feature until it is finished. Yes, that means you don't go home till you've got it done! Several teams took this very seriously and coded all night long. Pizza and coffee helped a lot. :)
The Campus Hackathon followed some simple rules:
- Choose any topic in the area of data privacy.
- Implement a working prototype within 24 hours.
- Present your solution.
The participants had the freedom to choose the technologies they wanted to use.
Let's take a look at the solutions they came up with!
Android App to Provide a Fake Login
Did you know that US border authorities might ask you to unlock your phone for their security check? Some of the Hackathon's participants found a way to bypass this check. A custom login screen for Android shows a fake interface when entering a special PIN. This includes a fake email app and fake contacts app. All including generated fake data. The phone stays in locked mode while giving the appearance you are accessing real data.
Chrome Plugin to Prevent Phishing
We all know the dangers of phising emails to get you on pages that look like your banking website, for example. Their goal is to get your private password. The developed plugin uses Google spell check if the domain name is likely to be the wrong one and intercepts the loading of the page. This way the user is warned before being tricked and taken advantage of.
Java Application to Encrypt Cloud Data
This team implemented a small sync app in Java that can be used to encrypt data before uploading to the cloud. The app has a file listener so changes on local/cloud are automatically replicated.
Chrome Plugin to Display Ranking of SSL Connections
You know when you access a secure website then you see a lock icon in your browser address bar? What you don't know is if the page uses outdated protocol versions or is vulnerable to attacks such as Heartbleed. This plugin uses an external service to rank the security of the connection and displays it as status icon.
Chrome Plugin to Scan Terms and Conditions
Everybody accepts terms and conditions for various services without even reading them. This plugin provides an easy way to scan a page for known critical parts. For example, "terms and conditions can be changed any time without notice". It uses Elasticsearch to find critical parts and marks them on the page.
We were impressed by the creative and truly useful solutions developed in such a short time. Congratulations to all the participants for their great work!