This project is now in update mode. Check back regularly to see how things are progressing.
Berke1337 Cyber Security Club Fundraiser
Berke1337 (pronounced "berk-leet") is UC Berkeley's only student-run cybersecurity club where students who are interested in cybersecurity can come to develop their skills by participating in a wide array of competitions, learn more about the field and industry through weekly meetings, technical talks, workshops and guest speakers, and make connections and network with like-minded students.
Berke1337 officers pose at one of the computers in our meeting roomThe current incarnation of Berke1337 has existed since 2022, after being a smaller, more competition-focused group before going on hiatus during the pandemic. Being a club that requires no rigorous application process to join, we want to reach as many students as possible to expand the general involvement in security at Berkeley, but a serious lack of funding has caused us to hit several roadblocks along the way.
Our planned uses for any funds we raiseChiefly, a handful of the competitions we participate in require fees to participate in, and in order to facilitate greater student engagement and impact we try to cover as much of these fees as reasonably possible. In Fall 2023, as a trial, we funded over a dozen students’ participation in the National Cyber League and were very impressed by the results--multiple members placed within the top 5% out of 8,000 competitors nationwide. When we have the resources to fund student engagement and success, our members get to reap the benefits.
Berke1337 officers at RSA Conference in April 2023Also, in order to further fund our members’ professional development we are trying to improve our ability to fund transportation and attendance fees for industry conferences. In the past year our members have been to RSA Conference, the NSF Cybersecurity Summit, and the Glass Firewall Conference to name a few, providing invaluable networking and professional development opportunities. Some conferences have costs to attend, as well as related transportation costs for our members--additional funding would allow us to expand this even further and give even more students a chance to participate.
Aside from participating in other cybersecurity competitions (often called CTFs--”Capture the Flag”-style competitions), we aspire to create one of our own. This CTF would have some associated costs for hosting and potential prizes, and additional funding here would allow us to improve Berkeley’s presence and prominence in the cybersecurity education realm and give our members a unique opportunity to not just compete in but also design challenges in a specialization of their choice.
Finally, any remaining funding we would use to improve our outreach and meetings--for example, by providing perks to entice even more people to join and various supplies to make our weekly meetings more hands-on. As an example, in Fall 2023 we were able to have a meeting on physical security using lockpicking tools to demonstrate an important aspect of penetration testing to our members--being able to do these kinds of hands-on activities will enrich our members’ experiences even more!
Berke1337 members at a Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity event in December 2023Thank you for supporting student-led cybersecurity education at Cal! For more information or if you have any questions, please reach out to us at officers@berke1337.berkeley.edu or owent@berkeley.edu.
$10
Your name on our site!
We will put your name on our club's site forever as a thank you for supporting us!
$20
A thank you from our officers!
We will send you a thank you video from our officers for supporting our mission to further cybersecurity education!
$30
Your logo on our stuff!
We will put your company's or organization's logo on our site and in our slide decks as a thank you for supporting us!
$50
Your name or logo in our CTF!
We will use your name or logo as part of a puzzle in our public cybersecurity challenge! Details to be discussed with recipients after the end of the campaign.
$150
Sponsor our whole CTF!
We will make you our primary sponsor for the Berke1337 CTF and put your name or logo prominently throughout the whole competition! Details to be discussed with the recipient after the end of the campaign.
