College Sends Cyber Team to Mid-Atlantic Competition

Pictured (left to right): Michael Dougherty, Torrell Tindall, Aaron Wooten, Cory Church, Lisa Barrett, Trey Huffman

The College’s Department of Technology Systems and its Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering (ATMAE) cyber defense team attended the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MACCDC) March 31 through April 1 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. MACCDC is an annual competitive event that has been running since 2006 and provides Mid-Atlantic universities and community colleges a hands-on environment where students can learn skills in information assurance.

This year’s competition focused on the Internet of Things (IoT).  Some examples of IoT devices include smart locks, connected light bulbs and thermostats. For the competition, each team worked as an information technology department of We-B-Smart, a theoretical IoT company. The goal for each team was to defend We-B-Smart against a team of professional penetration testers whose main priority was to attack and compromise each competing teams system. The teams spent 13 hours in the two days of competition attempting to keep their system up and running.

The main sponsor for the MACCDC is the National Cyberwatch Center. Other sponsors included Raytheon, NSA, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The college’s team of Information and Computer Technology majors participated as the “black team” supporting the competition logistics. Responsibilities included setting up and taking down the equipment, running and terminating cables, setting up VoIP phones, setting up and helping sponsors, and maintaining the hospitality room.  Other responsibilities included checking-in teams and enforcing access control to the event area. ICT senior, Aaron Wooten, took on the role of administrative assistant for the acting CEO of the fictitious company, We-B-Smart, during the team captain interviews.

Faculty Advisor for the cyber defense team is Dr. Phil Lunsford, and the Faculty Advisor for ATMAE is Amy Frank who also attended and worked at the competition.