Temple University’s CARE Lab Opens Registration for the 7th Annual Social Engineering Competition

November 12, 2026

The 2027 competition explores where AI, human behavior, and cyber-physical systems meet, with $15,000 in prizes across high school, undergraduate, and graduate tracks.

The CARE Lab at Temple University is excited to announce its 7th Annual Social Engineering Competition (SEC) — and once again, we're taking things to the next level!

2027 Theme: Social Engineering, AI, and Cyber-Physical Systems

This year's competition explores how artificial intelligence, human behavior, and cyber deception intersect in increasingly connected environments.

Open to high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from ALL disciplines, the competition offers an exciting opportunity to develop practical cybersecurity skills in a hands-on, ethical, and fully simulated environment.

What will the 2027 SEC entail?

Participants will tackle a fictional medical production facility scenario, exploring how social engineering can expose vulnerabilities in organizations that rely on interconnected digital and physical systems.

Students will apply four key techniques:

OSINT: Gather and analyze publicly available information related to the simulated organization and its employees.
Impersonation: Develop convincing personas and pretexts to impersonate fictional employees and other simulated identities.
Voice Cloning: Use AI tools to create cloned voices of fictional employees for use in simulated social engineering scenarios.
Vishing: Conduct simulated voice-based phishing interactions using deception, persuasion, and AI-generated voices.

The entire competition takes place in a controlled simulation. The company, employees, identities, and interactions are fictional, and no real organizations or individuals will be targeted.

Beyond the challenge, students will debrief simulated clients on their findings and recommend strategies to strengthen organizational security.

Partnership with OWASP Philadelphia

We're excited to collaborate again with OWASP Philadelphia, bringing industry expertise and real-world perspectives to the competition.

Prizes for EACH Track!

Thanks to the generous support of the Glenn W. Bailey Foundation:

1st Place: $3,500
2nd Place: $1,000
3rd Place: $500

That's $15,000 in total prizes across all three tracks!

Important Dates

Registration: November 9 – December 7, 2026 (closes at 12 PM ET)

Competition Dates: