The cyber domain is a crucial part of Australia’s national security and defence. This includes protecting our nation’s critical infrastructure against cyber-attacks from malicious actors and criminal syndicates.
Each year, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) Cyber Skills Association runs the Cyber Skills Challenge (CSC), an invite-only event that brings cyber enthusiasts together from across ADF, Australia’s international partners, and the Australian cyber community. During the event, participants undertake various challenges to develop their knowledge and test their skills in a virtual 'Capture-the-Flag' tournament.
House of Kitch was approached to bring the event to life with a creative concept and branding across a spectrum of mediums including graphic design, video production, online promotion, merchandise, and crucially - the development of an interactive multimedia platform used within the event itself to ‘gamify’ the CSC attendee experience.
The Cyber Skills Challenge was focused on ‘operational technology’, with participants undertaking exercises to build their knowledge to protect infrastructure systems such as energy grids, logistics networks and satellite communications.
The creative concept centred around an interactive world map, stylised as early-90s computer game ‘pixel art’, where each continent represented a different series of challenges for the cyber participants to undertake and conquer. With each continent populated with national icons, critical infrastructure, and local urban legends, the ‘Legends of the OT (Operational Technology) Universe’ concept brought a sense of playfulness and a nod to gamer culture to the event.
Embracing the challenge to rapidly develop a solution, House of Kitch quickly took an agile ‘Avengers’ approach to achieve success, assembling a team with diverse skills to tackle the project requirements simultaneously. Cyber security is a serious topic, however, engaging audiences through creative storytelling is crucial to attracting and inspiring the best minds in the field.
