Rabat – Moroccan cybersecurity specialist Rayan Ait Tahar has achieved a new global record by qualifying for the final stage of the prestigious American competition “President’s Cup Cybersecurity Competition.”
The 12-year-old Moroccan child made it to the final round of the cybersecurity competition, which will take place on February 27. The competition is held every five years and is run by the American Cybersecurity Institute, known as CISA.
CISA is the government’s premier federal cybersecurity organization and the National Coordinator for Critical Infrastructure Security, tasked with lowering threats to the US’ physical and digital infrastructure.
The official American institution sent Ait Tahar a letter on Saturday informing him of the “good” news of his qualification for the final round. In its letter, CISA congratulated him on becoming the first Moroccan child of his age to reach such a very advanced level of a cybersecurity competition.
Such competitions host participants from different nationalities across the globe, most of which are American, Russian, and Jewish, while the total number of participants can rach approximately 58,000, Ait Tahar said in a statement to the Moroccan daily SNRT News.
The young prodigy went on to explain that only the top students from particular robotics schools are eligible to compete in this prestigious tournament.
This is not the first time that Ait Tahar impressed on the global stage. The Moroccan child previously won a cybersecurity competition in Canada, which entitled him to an invitation to a new competition in the North American country on March 27.
Ait Tahar began his scientific career in school by learning the fundamentals of robotics, before pursuing the field of programming. With this training, he was able to improve his performance and embark on an exciting journey into cybersecurity by identifying vulnerabilities in websites and programs.
“I started participating in global competitions remotely as a personal challenge, and I became fond of this field,” Ait Tahar told the news agency during the interview.
The boy’s hacking skills helped him win global tournaments at an early age and propelled him into the cybersecurity profession. For security purposes, he was able to change the logo on the website of popular soccer star Neymar.
“They didn’t believe it at first, so they asked me for a report of what I did and that allowed me to win the first prize of $72,000,” Ait Tahar explained. However, he did not receive the prize because of his young age.
But the young child does not care much about money, as his father confirmed, stressing that keeping up with his son requires great efforts, especially in the field of legal protection.
