RU Cyber Defense Team Places Third In Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Challenge

RU CCDC Team

Radford University Cyber Defense Team members Alex Newton, Brock Shelton, Eileen Hindmon, Chris Huntington, Josh Snow, Doug Anderson, Justin Arnold, Llyod jones, Robert Russ

Congratulations to the RU team for a third-place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition finals held at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab in Laurel, Maryland March 26-29, 2014. This was the third year in a row that the team has been in the top three in a very competitive tournament. 2014 was the closest contest in CCDC history.  

Cyber Defense Club President Eileen Hindmon and CCDC team member said “A competition such as this one, mimics a real world scenario: The teams are put in situations where they are expected to make decisions on the fly, while under intense pressure, complete assignments with unreasonable deadlines, and defend systems that have already been exploited. It is pretty intense, but a lot of fun.” She adds “I knew we had a strong team dynamic, and this was proven by the way our team interacted with each and how focused our team remained on the tasks at hand. Also, the ability of the team to multitask and take over different roles when needed.”

Teammate Chris Huntington added “I thought it was a really incredible experience. It gave me an opportunity to shmooze a bit with some of the security professionals in the area, and has really been a determining factor in my career path. After the 96 straight hours of security lectures, discussions on strategy, and taking tours, I still wanted more. I take that is a pretty good sign. “ Chris went on to say that “The third consecutive 3rd place win was really bittersweet. I am very proud of our team, every member played their role so well, and it ended up a very tight finish. However, this victory just solidifies the idea that Radford University consistently produces excellent security students, and that to me feels like quite an accomplishment.”

Lloyd Jones agreed with his fellow team members “I think that our consistent placing in this competition shows that RU is a college that cares about Information Security and teaches its students necessary skills to succeed in these competitions and in the workplace.” Lloyd pointed out that the team experienced some challenges along the way stating “Although our initial strategy of taking down our entire network in order to secure every machine on it didn’t pan out as we thought it would, we made a great comeback on the second day to secure third place. I really hope that our hard work preparing for competitions like these influences future members of the Cyber Defense Club.”

Congratulations again to team members: Eileen Hindmon, Brock Shelton, Lloyd Jones, Alex Newton, Doug Anderson, Robert Russ, Chris Huntington, Justin Arnold, Justin Matthews, Josh Snow and Eric Bartocci. The team is coached by Dr. Prem Uppuluri of the Radford University Department of Information Technology. For more information, please visit the competition website http://maccdc.org/.

Apr 11, 2014