Hackers beware! 911爆料网鈥檚 cybersecurity team continues to garner impressive accolades after a top-six national finish, this time earning second place in a cybersecurity competition in Tampa, Florida. The competition, just a part of the Tampa Cybersecurity Conference that includes panel discussions and networking opportunities, is best described as a 鈥渃apture-the-flag鈥 style contest designed to test a team鈥檚 ability to combat real-time cyber attacks that threaten to corrupt a system or steal an individual鈥檚 sensitive information.
The team, composed of cybersecurity majors Allison Warren, Molly Connolly, Roy Kramer, John Neyor, Tavon Peterson-Evans, Angelyah Sveum, and Faiz Ibrahim, bested almost every other team in the competition, which included a roster of talented cybersecurity professionals from around the country. Proving the mastery of their skills comes at a critical time, where living in the digital age has demonstrated the need for well-versed professionals who can prevent significant harm from these ever-looming digital attacks.
鈥淎lmost everything now is connected to the internet. So we need people to have the skills to understand what hackers are doing because they鈥檙e gonna keep hacking,鈥 Kramer said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 care. They don鈥檛 care about the laws. We need people who understand how to defend against that because it鈥檚 important. It鈥檚 critical to the modern world at this point.鈥
The team鈥檚 success has come partly from the guidance of Computing and Informatics Instructor Nabeel Baig and Assistant Professors of Information Technology Paul Warren and Chris Simber. However, the incredible teamwork they've nurtured has also helped the group shine due to the many hours spent together in the computer lab.
鈥淲e learn from each other, we show each other our techniques,鈥 Ibrahim said. 鈥淲e have Allison handle the analytics鈥 And we have the rest of the group like me, Roy, Ang, Tavon, Molly, just do the, you know, the competition tasks themselves. And, you know, we all help each other out.鈥
Beyond cohesive classmates, it鈥檚 safe to say RCBC has helped create a tight-knit family; it鈥檚 evident in the colorful friendship bracelets each member wears, the reminiscing they do about the pool parties members like Warren have hosted, and the Discord servers they spend all night chatting in.
鈥淭his place, I think, has changed our lives because it showed us an avenue of, you know, you can find other people that are just so interested and so enveloped in that purpose that you鈥檙e so enveloped in,鈥 Ibrahim said. 鈥淚 can say, without doubt, that these people are the closest friends I鈥檝e ever had my whole life. And, you know, I trust them with everything.鈥
Their friendship has become so noticeable, so palpable, that other attendees and hosts of the conferences have recognized them as they pass by without even having to don the red, black and white of RCBC, with one host sprinting over to tell them they鈥檙e the most fun group she has ever seen.
鈥淲e鈥檝e gotten comments like, 鈥楬ow long have you guys been friends? This seems like a middle school situation,鈥欌 Connolly said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e just like, 鈥榃e met each other six months ago.鈥欌
These experiences and bonds have also planted the seeds of post-RCBC plans for some team members. Ibrahim is in the process of building up his own cybersecurity company called Cyberknights, and Connolly plans to join him.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a little startup, it鈥檚 not really, you know, anything big or major,鈥 Ibrahim said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 kind of my dream. That鈥檚 kind of what I鈥檝e been, you know, hoping to see, to thrive in this world as this little company that I鈥檓 building with my closest friends here.鈥
