AntiguaRecon student Emmanual Chiddick Attends OAS event and Receives the 2023 OAS Cyberwoman Challenge Award
Last July, Emmanuel Chiddick, a 19 year old from Antigua, entered the 2023 OAS Cyberwoman Challenge, Caribbean Edition, an online competition designed to test one’s cybersecurity knowledge and skills. She was randomly paired with two other young ladies, Ms. Kinesha Williams of the Bahamas and Ms. Judith Sarjeant of Barbados. They would be a team for the next 6 hours.
The competition tested a range of skills. According to Emmanuel, “We worked to solve numerous challenges related to risk reduction and cloud infrastructure. We raced against the clock to procure as many points as possible and after each challenge, all of the ladies regrouped to view a presentation on the key concepts of that challenge.”
They entered as separate individuals who did not know each other, but emerged as the winning team with friendships forged from success. All three are now heading to the Bahamas next week to receive their well earned award as the 2023 CyberWomen Challenge winners.
This was no small feat. Just 6 months before Emmanuel had no cybersecurity experience. She had interest, but no skills.
Emmanuel joined AntiguaRecon in February of 2023. Since that time she has been learning ethical hacking skills from doing vulnerability analyses of websites, to fnding and exploiting weaknesses in server confgurations.
Her goal, along with her other 13 team mates, is to take the CompTIA Pentest+certifcation. CompTIA is a well known certifcation provider for cybersecurity and IT feld in general.
AntiguaRecon was founded by Adam Dennis and it opened its doors in January of 2022. In Adam’s words, “I founded AntiguaRecon as a way to develop skills that young Antiguans can use to fnd jobs in the cybersecurity feld while still living here in Antigua. I strongly believe that Antigua can develop a technology culture from which its young people can beneft much like India and other countries do today. For AntiguaRecon, we’re seeking to build a program that creates cybersecurity professionals who can nearshore their skills to the US and Canada, as well as fnd work around the region. Toward that latter end, we’re currently working with a recruiter from Trinidad who is interested in promoting our students. It’s a good frst start.”.
AntiguaRecon does not work alone. Its doors are open due to fnancial support from organizations such as Island Academy, Sagicor, and SurgeMetrix. As Adam says, “these organizations share the same vision for Antigua that we do. What makes us even stronger is that we work with cybersecurity experts from around the world who support our students.”
Emmanuel earned respect when she and her colleagues won the OAS’s competition. Expect to see another press release about a few more of AntiguaRecon students in the coming days who are making names for themselves in outside competitions…
Hard and smart work creates results. Emmanuel is proof of this by her success. Emmanuel returns today from her trip to the Bahamas to receive her award. We ask everyone to encourage Emmanuel and AntiguaRecon’s other students in their quest for excellence in cybersecurity.
If any companies are interested in discussing their risk profle, or wish to conduct a simulated phishing test of their staff, please contact Adam Dennis at the number above.
Advertise with the mоѕt vіѕіtеd nеwѕ ѕіtе іn Antigua!
We offer fully customizable and flexible digital marketing packages.
Contact us at [email protected]
