The winners of the inaugural ASEAN-Australia
Codeathon which sought innovative solutions to combat cybercrime were announced
on 16 March.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre
(AUSTRAC), Australia’s financial intelligence, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism
financing agency, hosted the 32-hour Codeathon in the lead up to the
ASEAN-Australia Special Summit 2018. It brought together more than 100
technology specialists and innovators from 10 nations, including industry
leaders and government partners, to address the problems of terrorism
financing, money laundering and cyber threats.
The six challenges presented to the participants to solve in
32 hours and the respective team winners were as below:
- Using big data to combat terrorism financing – CyberEye
- Disrupting money launderers, terrorists and cyber criminals
across ASEAN – GoTrack - Exploiting financial data to gain insights into crime and
terrorism risks – Project Iceberg - Applying artificial intelligence to improve AML/CTF
compliance and suspicious matter reporting – Project Vision - Applying blockchain technologies to improve financial
services, AML compliance or secure intelligence sharing – CryptoCollect – A
project by The Cyber Six - Collaboration and knowledge sharing to combat cybercrime,
money laundering and terrorism – The Longreach Platform
Project Iceberg won the top prize for the most innovative
digital solution to combat terrorism financing and cyber security risks.
Minister for Law Enforcement and Cyber Security Angus Taylor
said the Codeathon drives innovation in national security, harnessing the
knowledge and capability of industry and government.
“Terrorism financing is an evolving challenge, so fighting
it requires innovative and sophisticated solutions that advance faster than the
criminals do,” Mr Taylor said.
“To be truly effective in tackling cybercrime and terrorism
financing, international collaboration that leverages expertise and new technology
across various business sectors is vital.”
The judging panel included Tony Sheehan, the Commonwealth Counter-Terrorism Coordinator; Dr Maria Milosavljevic, Chief Information Security Officer, NSW Government; Dr Alex Johnston, Head of Technology, Thomson Reuters Australia; Alex Scandurra, CEO, Stone and Chalk; Paul Xuereb, Secretary, Blockchain Association of Australia; Leanne Fry, Chief Innovation Officer, AUSTRAC; and Dr John Moss, National Manager Intelligence, AUSTRAC.
AUSTRAC CEO Nicole Rose PSM said the judging panel found
that all winners demonstrated genuine innovation and originality.
“It was incredible to see such a diverse group of people
from different industries and nations come together to collaborate and partner
to address these common challenges in our region,” she said.