CybersecurityU.S. Cyber Challenge hacking competition announces winners

Last Friday morning, seven teams competed in the U.S. Cyber Challenge (USCC) Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competition at Southern Utah University (SUU) in Cedar City, Utah. After four hours of hacking into systems and answering trivia questions, Team Dragon came out on top. Team members include Aric Forrest, Stacy Hubert, Kenneth Long, and Ben Carothers. The competition was the final activity from last week’s U.S. Cyber Challenge Western Regional Cyber Camp. During the course of the 5-day program, campers participated in an executive roundtable, ethics panel, job fair, resume workshop, and classes including penetration testing and packet crafting. The Capture-the-Flag competition was designed by Michigan Cyber Range (MCR), a project by Merit Network, and specifically tested the campers on what they learned this week at the camp.

An award ceremony following the CTF competition, Dr. Rob Robertson, chairman of the Computer Science and Information Systems Department at SUU, and Karen S. Evans, founder and national director of USCC, highlighted the demand in the job market for the cybersecurity skills the USCC participants demonstrated.

“After a week of intense training, it was amazing to see all the campers put their skills to the test in yesterday’s competition,” stated Robertson. “Seeing how they strategize, discuss their strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately work together as a cohesive team to try and win is extremely satisfying. These are our future leaders in cybersecurity.”

USCC notes that camp participants were invited to the USCC program if they achieved a competitive score in April’s online Cyber Quest competition. Although each of them were invited based upon their individual abilities, one of the program’s goals is to coach them in team skills that will be a major strength in the workplace.

This summer, USCC hosted three week-long camps in Delaware, Illinois, and Utah. USCC notes that the camps are an integral part of the USCC mission to identify and develop cybersecurity talent in order to reduce the nation’s cybersecurity workforce gap.