HackTheFeed

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Inspiration

With billions of dollars lost to cybercrime every year, HackTheFeed was inspired by the overwhelming need for technological literacy in the modern world. By keeping up-to-date on the latest technological trends, consumers and companies alike can better equip themselves to handle attacks on all surface vectors.

Our team was inspired to create HackTheFeed by the growing need for cybersecurity awareness and education in today's world. With the increasing number of cyber attacks and data breaches, it is crucial for individuals and organizations to stay informed and up-to-date on the latest cybersecurity news and best practices.

We believe that information is power, and through HackTheFeed, we aim to provide a platform for users to easily access and subscribe to relevant cybersecurity news and updates. By using Microsoft Ecosystem of platforms, we have built a personalized platform that enables any non-Microsoft application to publish tasks, information, and communications to an individual, ensuring a simple view of all relevant information.

Moreover, we understand that cybersecurity is not a popular field compared to other similar fields, and people do not speak enough about it. Therefore, our project will help spread information about the latest cybersecurity news and potentially attract new people to the cybersecurity world. We believe that with the power of technology and the collective effort of individuals and organizations, we can create a safer digital world for everyone.

We are passionate about cybersecurity and are dedicated to making a positive impact on society through our project. We are excited to present HackTheFeed to the judges of the hackathon and demonstrate how our platform can contribute to a safer and more informed world.

What it does

HackTheFeed is a boosted RSS feed aggregator. It takes your favourite (or soon-to-be) cybersecurity news sources and lets you pick and choose which ones you want to see. With real-time updates from WebSockets and lightning-fast RSS updates, HackTheFeed fights for the top spot in the game. Furthermore, you can attach notes to every post, client-side encrypted with a proprietary algorithm, of course. That means we can never know what you've written about us... we hope it's lots of good things!

How we built it

First, we built up the back end. This consisted of two servers: Fastify and socket.io. Fastify is used to handle requests to our API (namely, api.hackthefeed.com), while socket.io handles websocket connections (from api.hackthefeed.com/socket). With built-in schema support, Fastify was an elegant solution to our problem. Then, we started building up a repertoire of RSS feeds, which are then fetched and parsed every 5 minutes. This data is fed into our PostgreSQL database using the Prisma ORM.

Prisma also powers our notes, feeds, subscriptions, and authentication! From there, we got to work on the frontend.

Flowbite was a perfect component framework and suited our needs beautifully, as it comes with tables, buttons, and modals (among other treats).

Challenges we ran into

During the development of our project, HackTheFeed, our team faced several challenges that pushed us out of our comfort zones and tested our technical skills.

One of the major challenges we faced was configuring NGINX and fixing DNS issues with Cloudflare. We had to spend a considerable amount of time researching and troubleshooting to get these components to work together properly. This was particularly difficult because we were working remotely, and it was challenging to coordinate our efforts and make sure that everyone was on the same page.

In addition to technical challenges, our team also had to deal with scheduling issues. Two of our teammates were doing online classes during the hackathon and had to balance their coursework with their contributions to the project. One of our team members also had an eight-hour shift during the hackathon, which made it difficult for him to be available at all times. Despite these obstacles, our team was able to work together and remain focused on the project.

Another significant challenge we encountered was stepping out of our comfort zones. As a team, we were comfortable working with certain technologies and programming languages, but we had to learn new tools and technologies to complete this project successfully. This involved a steep learning curve, but we were determined to rise to the challenge and make our project a success.

Despite these challenges, we remained committed to the project and persevered through the obstacles we faced. Our teamwork and determination paid off, and we were able to deliver a project that we are proud of. We believe that our project, HackTheFeed, will help spread awareness about cybersecurity and potentially attract new people to this field.

Overall, our experience during the hackathon was challenging, but it was also incredibly rewarding. We learned new skills, worked collaboratively as a team, and accomplished something that we are proud of. We hope that our project will inspire other teams to tackle challenging problems and push themselves out of their comfort zones to achieve great things.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

As a team, we are incredibly proud of the accomplishment we have achieved with our project. We believe that our project not only meets the requirements of both the Canadian Tire Challenge and the Best Cybersecurity Project Challenge but also provides a valuable and unique service to users. One of the things we are most proud of is the level of personalization we were able to achieve with our platform. We understand that different users have different needs, and we made sure to provide customization options that would allow users to tailor their experience to their specific needs. This level of personalization allows our platform to stand out from other similar platforms in the market.

We thought implementing the Microsoft OAuth flow with Microsoft Azure Active Directory would have been much more difficult than it really was. Without an OAuth library in sight, we managed to create the authentication endpoints, redirects, and requests needed to fully support workspace and personal Microsoft accounts for use in HackTheFeed.

Additionally, we are proud of the security measures we have implemented to ensure that our users' data is protected. We understand the importance of cybersecurity and made sure to prioritize it throughout the development process. From the 256-bit encryption and HTTPS protocol to the use of SHA-512 to store passwords, we have taken every measure possible to ensure that our users' data is safe and secure.

Another accomplishment we are proud of is our integration of Microsoft Graph API and Microsoft Login. This integration not only allowed us to meet the requirements of the Canadian Tire Challenge but also added an extra layer of convenience and security for our users. With this integration, users can easily log in using their Microsoft account and access their email directly from our platform, making it a one-stop-shop for all their communication needs.

Lastly, we are proud of the impact our project could have on the cybersecurity community. We believe that our platform could help raise awareness and educate users on the importance of cybersecurity while also providing them with the latest cybersecurity news and updates. By doing so, we hope to contribute to making the digital world a safer place.

Overall, we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished with our project, and we hope to inspire the judges with our dedication, innovation, and passion for cybersecurity and personalized platforms.

What we learned

Our team learned so much from creating this project! Firstly, we learned how to leverage the Microsoft Ecosystem of platforms, including Microsoft Login and the Microsoft Graph API, to create a personalized platform that enables non-Microsoft applications to publish tasks, information, and communications to individuals. This was a great opportunity for us to gain experience working with these platforms and to explore their capabilities for building powerful and flexible applications.

In addition, we gained valuable experience in building a cybersecurity project, which allowed us to educate users on important cybersecurity topics and improve the security of existing systems. This is a critical field that is often overlooked, and we believe that our project can play an important role in spreading awareness and attracting new people to the cybersecurity world.

We also learned how to build a robust and scalable system that can handle a large volume of data and traffic. Our RSS feed aggregator uses a webhook server, API, and database to efficiently scrape and process RSS feeds, and we used NGINX to monitor the network and ensure that the system is running smoothly. We also implemented strong security measures, including 256-bit encryption using the HTTPS protocol and a login system using SHA-512 to store passwords.

Overall, we believe that our project is incredibly important because it can help spread awareness about cybersecurity, educate users on important topics, and improve the security of existing systems. The fact that our project is built on the Microsoft Ecosystem of platforms means that it is highly customizable and can be tailored to meet the specific needs of different users and organizations. We are confident that our project has the potential to make a real impact in the cybersecurity world, and we are excited to continue developing and refining it in the future.

What's next for HackTheFeed

We are excited about the potential for this project and its future development. There are many ways that we can continue to improve the platform and make it more appealing to users.

One area we plan to focus on is expanding the number of RSS feeds we collect and incorporate into the platform. We believe that by providing a more comprehensive view of cybersecurity news and developments, we can attract a larger user base and provide even more value to our current users.

In addition, we are looking at ways to improve the front-end experience of the platform. We plan to work with UI/UX designers to create a more engaging and intuitive user interface that will encourage users to spend more time on the site and engage with the content. We believe that by creating a visually appealing platform that is easy to use, we can attract a wider audience and make a more significant impact on the cybersecurity industry.

Another area we plan to focus on is expanding our educational content. We believe that cybersecurity is a critical issue that affects everyone, and we want to do our part to educate and inform the public. We are planning to launch a series of educational resources, including webinars, online courses, and informative articles, that will help users better understand cybersecurity and protect themselves online.

Finally, we are looking at ways to incentivize users to engage with the platform and spread the word about our project. We believe that by offering rewards for referrals, creating a community around the platform, and partnering with other organizations in the cybersecurity industry, we can build a strong and engaged user base that will help us achieve our mission of making the internet a safer place for everyone.

Overall, we are excited about the future of HackTheFeed and believe that with continued investment and development, we can make a significant impact on the cybersecurity industry. Thank you for considering our project for the Hackathon and we look forward to sharing our progress with you in the future.