APU students excel at Maybank Digital Hackathon

Imagine a security operations team grappling with thousands of alerts streaming in from system scans, cloud configurations and infrastructure checks. Each warning appears urgent, yet not all pose equal risk. In such a high-pressure environment, genuinely critical threats can easily be buried under layers of noise, delaying response times and exposing organisations to serious vulnerabilities.

This was the real-world challenge tackled by students from Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU) during the Maybank Hackathon 2025 – Group Technology & Digital (GTD 2025), held on 22 November 2025. Competing in an industry-driven setting, the students rose to the occasion with a solution that not only impressed judges but swept the top award categories.

Tackling security noise with intelligent prioritisation

At the heart of APU students’ success was an intelligent DevSecOps assistant designed to analyse security findings across the entire development pipeline. Rather than treating every alert as equal, the system consolidates data from code analysis, dependency scanning and infrastructure assessments, then identifies what truly matters.

By transforming fragmented security data into contextual insights, the solution enables development and security teams to move from reactive firefighting to confident, prioritised action. The approach reflects a deep understanding of real-world operational pressures faced by financial institutions and large enterprises, where speed, accuracy and clarity are critical.

The concept resonated strongly with judges from Maybank’s Group Technology & Digital division, earning APU students exceptional recognition across all top award categories—an achievement that underscored both technical strength and practical relevance.

High-impact industry–academia collaboration

Fully sponsored by Maybank and hosted on APU’s campus, the hackathon was a collaborative internal initiative that brought together students from various academic programmes to design technology-driven solutions for the financial and digital technology sector. Following a rigorous preliminary round, 12 finalist teams were shortlisted and invited to the closing and award ceremony on 8 December 2025 at Menara Maybank.

The competition was judged exclusively by Maybank industry professionals, with teams evaluated on innovation, technical feasibility, business value, real-world applicability, presentation quality and teamwork. The format mirrored authentic industry expectations, making the hackathon a powerful experiential learning platform.

Maybank’s leadership present at the ceremony included senior figures from its Group Technology & Digital division, reinforcing the institution’s commitment to nurturing future-ready digital talent through meaningful industry engagement.

Building industry-ready cybersecurity talent

Students from APU’s School of Technology delivered standout performances. Team Byte-Sized emerged as Champion, followed by Team Tartarus / SentinelX as First Runner-Up and Team McShield / Maybank2Everyone as Second Runner-Up. Their collective success reflected not only technical excellence, but also the ability to articulate complex problems, collaborate under pressure and communicate with confidence.

For Syafieqah Binti Ahmad Shukri from the champion team, the victory marked a defining milestone. “Winning this hackathon is a meaningful milestone for our team, as it reflects the strength of our hard work, collaboration and shared passion for cybersecurity,” she said, adding that the experience pushed them to translate ideas into practical solutions for real-world challenges.

First runner-up Aida Batrisya Binti Ramlee highlighted the role of mentorship, noting: “This accomplishment confirms our perseverance and cooperation. Our mentor emphasised that being an expert is not about what you say about yourself but what you truly know.”

Reflecting on the broader impact, Associate Professor Dr Thang Ka Fei, Senior Head of APU’s School of Technology, said: “This achievement is about cultivating professionals who can think critically, build responsibly, and solve problems that matter.”