Microsoft has had to halt its Gatekeeper Test online security competition because the system being used was flawed, allowing entrants to manipulate their scores.
The Gatekeeper Test is run out of the Dutch city of Amsterdam by a third-party vendor and is aimed at developing the security skills of IT professionals in 19 countries in the European, Middle East and Africa region.
This year is the first time South African entrants were able to login to take part and the competition has only been running for two days.
"We have had to halt the competition due to technical errors," says Colin Erasmus, Microsoft SA technology manager. "It will be re-started sometime in the near future. We aim to preserve the integrity of the scores already posted."
The competition was intended to run from 2 May to 14 May, with entrants having to answer two questions per day.
One entrant says the technical issues included the system`s inability to accept the right answer. He says competitors could backspace and re-answer questions, and so could manipulate their scores.
"After two days some people already at 1 750 points, when the maximum they could have achieved was 350 points per day," he says.
The competition has already drawn criticism for being too Microsoft-centric.
"Four out of the six questions were Microsoft-related and only two were generic. This confirmed my worst fears about it when the competition was first announced," says Karel Rode, a founding member of the Security Special Interest Group.
Erasmus says there is no definite date when the competition will resume.
"It is a great disappointment for all of us."
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