During Raytheon visit, Gov. Northam praises UVA's Cyber Defense Team for winning national award
During Raytheon visit, Gov. Northam praises UVAs Cyber Defense Team for winning national award
By Nathaniel Cline, ncline@loudountimes.com Jul 10, 2018 Updated 16 hrs ago
Powerhouse defense contractor Raytheon and students from the University of Virginia received praise from Gov. Ralph Northam Tuesday during his visit to Raytheon's offices in Dulles. ... Raytheon staff gave a tour to the governor and introduced him to the University of Virginias Cyber Defense Team -- the champion of the National Collegiate Cyber Defense competition. ... Its just wonderful for you all to have sponsored this competition. And to the UVA students that have participated, congratulations for a job well done, said Northam (D).
More than 230 teams entered the cyber defense competition, but only 10 regional finalists earned a spot in Aprils nationals in Orlando. Virginia competed against teams from the University of Alaska, Buffalo, Washington, Seattle, Central Florida, Baylor, Indiana Tech, Dakota State, Utah Valley University and California State University Northridge. ... In March, the UVA team earned a spot in nationals after defeating last years national champion, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. UMBC dethroned Central Florida that won titles in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Our students were focused and diligent in preparing for this challenge, because they are passionate about becoming leaders in cybersecurity, Kevin Skadron, chairman of the Computer Science Department in UVAs School of Engineering and Applied Science, said in a prepared statement. It is a testament to their talent, and the support they received from Professor Ibrahim, that they won the national title the first year they participated.
Virginia earned the highest score while posing as a professional cybersecurity team defending Volitech, a fictional biotech companys network. The team earned points for keeping their networks running, repelling hackers, handling continuous technical tasks and explaining security breaches and how to fix them. ... Virginia earned the NCCDC Alamo Cup and an opportunity to tour some of the nations top research and national cybersecurity sites with event partner Raytheon.