The
Baldwin
Wallace
University
Cybersecurity
Team
won
their
eighth
Ohio
Qualifier
for
the
Midwest
Regional
Collegiate
Cyber
Defense
Competition
(CCDC).
This
real-world
experience
tests
the
team's
ability
to
secure
and
maintain
a
corporate
network
while
preparing
students
for
challenges
they
will
encounter
in
their
future
careers.
The BW CyberSec Team was one of seven teams to compete in the CCDC Ohio Qualifier. Through problem-solving, troubleshooting and teamwork, they out-performed second-place University of Akron and third-place The Ohio State University, claiming first place in the competition and earning their spot in the Midwest Regional CCDC Competition, March 13-14, 2020. A win would qualify them for one of ten spots available and a second chance to compete for the National CCDC title in April.
The
strong
start
to
spring
competition
comes
on
the
heels
of
another
successful
fall,
which
included
two
first-place
wins.
Out of 106 teams to compete nationwide, the BW CyberSec Team won the regional first-place spot in the U.S. Department of Energy CyberForce Competition. The DOE's competition prepares students to defend industrial control systems within a realistic cyber-physical infrastructure. Teams are tasked with defending one energy system - a solar generation facility, electric substation, data center or manufacturing plant - while communicating with the other three to monitor and maintain the integrity of the system as a whole.
The University at Buffalo Lockdown Cybersecurity Competition, a "hack and defend" cyber defense event, places a team of student defenders against a team of student hackers. While very similar to the CCDC, this event focuses on learning how well the defender team protected the enterprise-like systems from the hacker team attacks. The BW team of Lauren Driscoll '22, Ian Walton '20, Chris Midkiff '20, Meredith Kasper '20 and Joshua Neubecker '20 took first place in the event.
BW's Kenneth Atchinson, associate professor and advisor to the BW CyberSec Team, helps students hone their skills against cybersecurity competitors. In recognition of his significant and impactful contribution of talent, time, product and process in the past year, he was awarded the 2019 Information Security Summit Sentry of the Year Award for Security Industry Impact and Innovation.