{"id":137809,"date":"2023-11-07T12:40:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T17:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=137809"},"modified":"2023-11-09T09:16:10","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T14:16:10","slug":"ucf-earns-4th-cyberforce-national-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-earns-4th-cyberforce-national-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Earns 4th CyberForce National Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

UCF is becoming a cybersecurity<\/a> dynasty. A UCF student team defeated more than 94 teams from across the country last weekend to win the university\u2019s fourth U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CyberForce Competition. This year marks the UCF Collegiate Cyber Defense Club’s third consecutive win, and the university also placed first in 2018.<\/p>\n

Also competing in the in-person competition in St. Charles, Illinois, another team of UCF students took fourth place. Each team included six students, many of whom are studying computer science<\/a>, cyber security and privacy<\/a>, digital forensics <\/a>and information technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

CyberForce addresses the U.S. government\u2019s goal to promote cybersecurity workforce development by helping to build a pipeline of cyber professional candidates to enter the operational technology cybersecurity workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cCyberForce helps our students strengthen the skills and confidence they need to be thoroughly prepared for successful careers after they graduate,\u201d says the team\u2019s faculty advisor and head coach Tom Nedorost.<\/p>\n

Proof that the UCF students are prepared to become key players in the industry of cybersecurity, this year\u2019s competitors have interned with such firms as Amazon, IBM, KPMG, Palo Alto Networks, Planate and Texas Instruments, and many are on pace to continue working for them after graduation.<\/p>\n

UCF is a powerhouse for cyber defense programs<\/a> and is designated as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Research. In 2021, the U.S. National Science Foundation awarded a $2.9 million grant to provide cybersecurity scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students. UCF also houses a Cyber Security and Privacy Research Faculty Cluster Initiative, which examines a breadth of interdisciplinary areas.<\/p>\n

The CyberForce Competition is sponsored by the DOE\u2019s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) and managed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). It started in 2016 to provide students with hands-on cybersecurity experience through interactive, energy cyber-focused scenarios.<\/p>\n

In an increasingly digitized world, a skilled cybersecurity workforce becomes even more valuable to industry and the U.S. energy sector.<\/p>\n

The Collegiate Cyber Defense Club at UCF, known as Hack@UCF, boasts 312 members.<\/p>\n

The annual CyberForce Competition uses a hands-on security approach to engage students in emergency scenarios, and challenges students to safeguard the nation\u2019s critical energy sector. This year, the scenario involved students working for a distributed energy resource (DER) management company.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s winning teams consisted of the following students:<\/p>\n

Team A  (first place)<\/strong><\/em>
\nJeffrey DiVincent \u201923<\/strong> (team captain)
\nZachary Groome
\nMatthew McKeever
\nCaitlin Whitehead
\nCameron Whitehead
\nCaleb Wisley<\/p>\n

Team B  (fourth place)
\n<\/strong><\/em>Harrison Keating (team captain)
\nMilo Gilad
\nColton Knight
\nNoah Magill
\nCaleb Sjostedt
\nAndrew Terry<\/p>\n