Blockchain Technology as the Solution To Electoral Fraud: Graduate Students Around the World Compete in Kaspersky Lab Cybersecurity Case Study Competition, Hosted by The Economist's Which MBA? Site

Competition offers $10,000 grand prize to the university team that uses the technology behind bitcoin to design a digital voting system that fixes issues of reliability and accessibility

News provided by

The Economist

Oct 20, 2016, 11:00 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 20, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Imagine a national election in which there was certainty that every vote had been counted and that no barriers had stood in the way of citizens casting their vote. Blockchain systems, the technology behind bitcoin, may be the key.

Nineteen teams of graduate students from universities around the world have proposed how to build digital electoral systems that achieve precisely such goals in the Kaspersky Lab Cybersecurity Case Study Competition, hosted by The Economist's Which MBA? site.

"Digital technologies are playing an increasingly significant role in our lives, and it's very important to ensure our IT environment is safe and secure, both now and in the future. However, that's not so easy, given that there's a general shortage of expertise in cybersecurity: there simply aren't enough specialists in this field to bring tangible change towards better security across the world. That's why it's so important to educate and inspire the next generation of experts – who need to be better and greater in number than earlier generations like mine. And the very ambitious task of trying to create a secure blockchain-based digital voting system is an ideal place to start for the future stars of the industry," said Eugene Kaspersky, Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab.

To compete for the prize, each team submitted written and video proposals to solve the problem highlighted in the case study challenge. The submissions are hosted on The Economist's Which MBA? site.

The competition awards a total of $21,000 in prize money to the winning teams. The first-place team will be awarded a $10,000 grand prize. Second place will take home $5,000, and third place will receive $3,000 in prize money. Those top three teams will be selected by Kaspersky Lab, one of the world's fastest-growing cybersecurity companies and the largest that is privately-owned. There will also be a People's Choice award of $3,000, given to the team whose proposal receives the most votes from the public. Winners will be announced in December of 2016.

The 19 teams hail from:

California State Polytechnic University
Champlain College Online
City University of New York
DePaul University
Drexel University
Edinburgh Napier University
Florida Institute of Technology
George Mason University
Maryland Cybersecurity Center
New York University
Newcastle University
Northeastern University
Plymouth University
Rutgers Graduate School
Saint Peter's University
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University College London
University of Maryland
Queen's University Belfast

To cast your vote in the case study competition, visit economist.com/cyberthreats.

About Which MBA? (economist.com/whichmba)
Which MBA? is a division of The Economist Newspaper Group which offers a suite of online products serving both prospective MBA students and business schools. Our consumer products for prospective students include a GMAT preparation course, annual MBA rankings, and content on Economist.com. Which MBA? offers multi-media advertising solutions for business schools ranging from online MBA fairs, to traditional online and print mediums, to custom white-label lead generation tools.

About The Economist (economist.com)
With a growing global circulation (more than 1.5 million including both print and digital) and a reputation for insightful analysis and perspective on every aspect of world events, The Economist is one of the most widely recognized and well-read current affairs publications.

About Kaspersky Lab (kaspersky.com)
Kaspersky Lab is a global cybersecurity company founded in 1997. Kaspersky Lab's deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company's comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky Lab technologies and we help 270,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

SOURCE The Economist