A four-member UCCS student cybersecurity team won an inaugural Capture the Flag Challenge at the Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association Rocky Mountain Cyberspace Symposium.
The competition took place at the Broadmoor Hotel Feb. 6-9.
Capture the flag competitions utilize challenges assigned to teams with points awarded when the team, for example, breaks into a website. Solutions are usually in the form of flags which are strings of text similar to “CTF{a1827461b3c12ade}.”
PeakChaos, a student club focused on cybersecurity, won the competition over teams representing Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado College, the U.S. Air Force Academy and Colorado Technical University.
PeakChaos members were:
- Spencer Powell, Greeley senior majoring in computer science. Team president.
- Carlos Guerra, Colorado Springs senior majoring in philosophy and computer science.
- Wayne Havey, Colorado Springs senior majoring in computer science.
- Adam Barker, Colorado Springs, a 2016 computer science graduate.
“At the College of Engineering and Applied Science, we stress the importance of a complete educational experience, which includes not only educational knowledge, but the application of that knowledge to relevant experiences,” R. “Dan” Dandapani, dean, College of Engineering and Applied Science, said. “We all understand the important role cybersecurity plays in today’s society. We thank AFCEA for providing the Capture the Flag Challenge for our students, and we are extremely proud of their performance,”
Harry Raduege, Jr, Lt. General, USAF (Ret), Chairman of the Center for Cyber Innovation at Deloitte, said:
“The UCCS cybersecurity student team distinguished themselves among five top universities in winning the inaugural Deloitte-sponsored “Capture the Flag” cybersecurity challenge during the annual AFCEA Cybersecurity Symposium, proving that UCCS cybersecurity students are true champions!”
For their efforts, PeakChaos team members received Apple iPad minis.
— Sue McClernan, College of Engineering
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