Springboro build ‘unhackable’ app contest, wins contest

A team of four students from Springboro High School on Wednesday took home the top $2,500 prize in the Miami Valley Teen Coding Challenge at Sinclair Community College.

Fifteen teams from Ponitz, Miami Valley CTC, Springboro, Centerville, and Hamilton high schools were given 12 weeks to create and code a security app which they presented before judges at the #Unhackable: Keeping it Secure challenge, presented by AT&T and Sinclair.

Robert Skrinak, Ojas Anand, Dakota Stange, and Tyler Jehle, who made up team “Global Hacker Networks of the Worlds,” won the challenge with their app, Lock Alert.

“Our app would create a firewall to actually change what you are allowed to input into your computer, as well as encrypt your hard drive so that none of your files can make it out of your computer,” said Skirnak.

Other teams presented apps for password protection, email security, health care, travel, and more.

“The biggest surprise I had was just all the variety of ideas that were put forth and some of the marketing ideas,” said AT&T external affairs director Mark Romito.

Sinclair Community College president Steven Johnson said he was proud of the hard work from all the students.

“Our health care systems, our educational systems, our civic systems, our government systems have to be protected,” Johnson said.

Security measures that are necessary now, said Skrinak.

“It’s important because information gets stolen all the time and it’s just and epidemic in America and worldwide that we want to fix,” said Skrinak.

His team plans to continue to develop and redesign the Lock Alert app in hopes of one day releasing it to the public.

This was the first #Unhackable challenge in the Miami Valley area and organizers said they are hoping to do it again next year.

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