UNC students win cyber defense competition

Good news for the University of North Carolina (this is not about the teams the Tar heels drew in their NCAA’s March Madness bracket). For the second time in four years, a team of students from the Department of Software and Information Systems at the University of North Carolina’s Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics won the Southeastern Region Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. Among those competing were the reigning regional champions from the University of Louisville, Kennesaw State University, Mercer University, and Northern Kentucky University. The competition was held 8-10 Marchat Kennesaw State University near Atlanta.

“This is quite an honor for our students, the College of Computing and Informatics, and the University as a whole,” said the Bill Chu, interim dean of the College of Computing and Informatics (CCI). “This victory is a direct reflection of the Department of Software and Information Systems innovative curriculum, which allows for strong hands-on exercises and student involvement in information assurance research. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

The cyber defense competition allows teams of college students to apply their information assurance and information technology education in a competitive environment. The competitions are unique because they focus on business operations and incorporate the operational aspect of managing and protecting an existing network infrastructure.

In 2006 another team of students from UNC Charlotte’s Department of Software and Information Systems won the first ever National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC), which is sponsored by DHS. They defeated several teams from around the country including a team of cadets representing the five military academies. The NCCDC this year will be held on 17-19 April on the University of Texas at San Antonio campus.

UNC Charlotte’s College of Computing and Informatics Information Assurance program was one of the first in the country to be designated by the National Security Agency (NSA) as a National Center of Academic Excellence (CAE) in Information Assurance “Research” for academic years 2008-2013. CCI’s Information Assurance program has also been designated by the NSA as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance “Education” since 2001.