UC Santa Cruz trio takes third at 2026 Mistral AI hackathon with cybersecurity platform
UC Santa Cruz trio takes third at 2026 Mistral AI hackathon with cybersecurity platform
Publish Date: 2026-03-25 09:36:00
Source Domain: news.ucsc.edu
A team of UC Santa Cruz students and an alumnus earned third place at the 2026 Mistral AI Worldwide Hackathon in San Francisco for developing an artificial intelligence-powered cybersecurity solution to help companies prevent phishing attacks.
Anthony Lamas (B.S. ‘26, computer science), Ivan Severinov (B.S. ‘26, computer science), and Daniel Perlove (B.S. ‘25, applied mathematics and computer engineering) built Canard Security, a voice phishing simulation platform that runs test calls with employees to detect vulnerabilities before real cyberattacks occur.
From left to right: Anthony Lamas (B.S. ‘26, computer science), Ivan Severinov (B.S. ‘26, computer science), and Daniel Perlove (B.S. ‘25, applied mathematics and computer engineering)
“We were competing against YC founders, Google DeepMind researchers, Meta product managers, and other AI experts,” Lamas said. “Most participants were already working in industry or doing advanced research. It was a really interesting experience being one of the youngest people in the room.”
The invite-only hackathon took place simultaneously in cities around the world, including Paris, London, and Tokyo. Around 70 teams competed at the San Francisco event, where participants had 36 hours to build projects using models developed by Mistral AI, a company known for its high-performing, open-source large language models.
Leading technology companies including Amazon and Nvidia sponsored the event. The UC Santa Cruz team received $500 in cash and $1,000 in credits to use Mistral AI models.
The team developed Canard Security in response to growing cybersecurity breaches, which can cost companies millions of dollars. The platform focuses on “vishing,” or voice phishing, a form of social engineering in which attackers attempt to extract sensitive information over the phone.
“It takes a really exceptional hacker to break into a company’s systems,” Severinov said. “But…
