Cybersecurity Center Events and Competitions

As noted on their website, “The mission of the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) system is to provide institutions with an information assurance or computer security curriculum a controlled, competitive environment to assess their student's depth of understanding and operational competency in managing the challenges inherent in protecting a corporate network infrastructure and business information systems.”

Each year, Purdue Global is honored to have a team of students motivated and prepared to represent the school with their skills. On February 4, 2023, a robust team of eight cybersecurity students attending Purdue Global competed along with several other teams in this year’s Midwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (MWCCDC) state qualifying event. The diverse team included freshmen, sophomores, seniors, and one graduate student. They each joined the competition remotely from locations across the country.

Students demonstrate a wide variety of skills to participate in this event. Foundationally, they are expected to apply the theory and practical skills they have studied in their courses. Their combined technical, communication, and problem-solving skills are essential. Their ability to function effectively as a team working in a remote environment (as is the industry norm), is also put to the test. In addition, since this is a timed event, the team’s prioritization and time management skills are critical to their success.

The 2023 MWCCDC competition was held remotely. The following schools participated at the state level:

• Indiana Institute of Technology (placed first)
• Purdue University (placed second)
• Purdue Global
• Purdue University Northwest
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
• Vincennes University

Purdue Global’s team participated virtually, all day on February 4, 2023. The photo below is everyone at home ready to start the competition day.

Purdue Global Students Compete in CyberForce Competition

The CyberForce Competition was held Friday, November 4, 2022, and Saturday, November 5, 2022. The Department of Energy (DOE), through the CyberForce Competition™, has worked to increase hands-on cyber education, awareness of the critical infrastructure, and a basic understanding of cybersecurity within a real world scenario. The competition is unique as it uses critical infrastructure focused scenarios with very realistic components.

The scenarios used in the competition have an energy focus and look at real-world constraints and lifelike anomalies such as the lack of budget, system specifications, and permission controls necessary to address the situation. The competition requires students to apply their own defense techniques to protect the organization’s assets. Participants are scored based on the effectiveness and innovation of their chosen strategies. The event is also structured such that the teams must not only secure the environment, but also maintain its normal daily operations and functions for the users.

The Purdue Global team was formed with several graduate and undergraduate students, including: Jacob Mack, Stephen Paull, Matthew Davis, Jacob Calleon, Margaret Medina, and a few others who supported the team behind the scenes. The team performance was scored from many different perspectives, and the team performed well in several categories. For example:

• The blue team scoring, which measures the team’s ability to keep services active, was quite good, with the team earning more than 1,500 points of an available score of 2,000. This activity simulates what is expected of a security professional in the workplace—to keep the business functioning and to do so in a secure manner.
• Another example of the scoring system was the required C-Suite Panel Brief, in which the team had to present a video summary of the tasks performed. The team’s score indicated a very strong overall technical understanding.

This CyberForce event is just one example of the opportunities available for students who are excited and ready to put their skills to the test in a realistic simulated environment. Students who participate in these events are also observed by hiring managers from industry and government entities as they shop for the best talent.

For more information about CyberForce, see their website: https://cyberforce.energy.gov/cyberforce-competition/

Purdue Global undergraduate and graduate students combined their efforts to demonstrate their exceptional skills and compete in the Maryland Innovation and Security Institute (MISI) Hack the Port, Executive Leadership Forum (ELF) Edition, July 26–28, 2022. The students and their coach traveled to the event at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) in Gulfport, Mississippi. This comprehensive cyber exercise included a red team/blue team style event, in which the teams experienced simulated attacks on critical infrastructure at maritime facilities.

The team of five online students traveled from all over the country to participate in the event. Undergraduate cybersecurity students Nick Huser and Michael Staats made the trip from Indiana. Jacob Mack, a graduate cybersecurity management student, came from New York, and undergraduate cybersecurity student Andres Coronado traveled across the country from New Mexico. The final team member, a recent graduate, made the journey from California. The team was supported by their faculty coach, Donald McCracken, PhD, from North Carolina, who joined the group in Mississippi.

After the rigorous event, the team was recognized and awarded with a silver medal/second place blue team trophy for their performance. These competitions enable students at all levels to put their academic learning to the test and hone their hands-on skills. This was also a great opportunity for students to connect with each other, meet students from other universities, and expand their personal networks.

The spring 2022 NCL season’s top Purdue Global team, PUGosaurus-ft-the-pterohacktyls, ranked 93 out of 3,658 teams, placing them in the 98th percentile. In addition, the team PGIP-Technology ranked 334, placing them in the 91st percentile.

In the individual games, Purdue Global’s MentalForklift ranked 8th place out of 6,010 individual players, landing him in the 100th percentile with a total of 2,700 points out of a possible 3,000, which is his best season yet!

Several other top performers who continue to improve each season are listed below, and it's great to see some first-timers taking a shot as well:

• Ted Gransbury: 2,010 points
• Jaime Fernandez: 1,615
• Sean Van de Voorde: 1,370 points
• Robin Clark: 980
• Stephen Paul: 915
• Ashley MacDonald: 405
• Nick Huser: 335
• Neil Edmund: 145

Also notable is that Purdue Global ranked 25th in the nation in the Cyber Power Rankings: https://cyberskyline.com/data/power-ranking/spring-2022-national.

In the fall 2021 NCL competition, the top Purdue Global team of cybersecurity and IT students, PUGosaurus ft the PteroHACKtyls, ranked 48 out of 3,910 teams, placing the team in the 99th percentile nationally. Purdue Global’s PUG Cyberbullies ranked 334 out of the 3,910 teams, landing them in the 92nd percentile nationally. Team Lintomu (all first-time NCL players) also competed this season and ranked 801, placing them in the respectable 80th percentile.

In the individual games, Purdue Global’s Sean Van de Voorde ranked 117 out of 6,480 players, earning gold again this year and placing in the 99th percentile nationally. Ted Gransbury ran a close second, placing 194, in the 98th percentile. The maximum points that can be earned in the individual game is 3,000. Purdue Global’s top competitors listed by total points are below:

• Sean Van de Voorde: 2,435 points
• Ted Gransbury: 2,220 points
• Joe Bechtold: 1,860 points
• MentalForklift: 1,820 points
• Nick Huser: 890 points
• George Karrys: 865 points
• William Hansen: 760 points
• Tremayne Durham: 755 points
• Robin Clark: 1,010 points
• Carla Lewis: 525 points

In the spring 2021 NCL competition, the top Purdue Global team of cybersecurity and IT students, Locking Stitch, ranked 81 out of 922 teams, placing the team in the 92nd percentile nationally. Purdue Global’s PUG Hacks ranked 138 out of 922 teams, which lands them in the 86th percentile nationally. Team PUG also competed and ranked 418, placing them in the respectable 55th percentile. Special kudos to Professor Gustavo Gomez for all of his support with the competition. 

In the individual games, Purdue Global’s MentalForklift ranked 55 out of 4,180 players, earning gold yet again this year. The maximum points that can be earned in the individual game is 3,000. Purdue Global’s top 10 competitors listed by total points are below:

• MentalForklift: 2,215 points
• Sean Van de Voorde: 1,280 points
• Ted Gransbury: 1,125 points
• Ellen McCullough: 1,070 points
• Robin Clark: 905 points
• Joseph Bechtold: 855 points
• Carla Lewis: 635 points
• Nathan Maerk: 580
• Brandon Yopp: 580
• Barbs Spaghet: 480
• Quin Geans: 65 points

In the fall 2020 NCL season, the Purdue Global cybersecurity and IT students formed four teams to compete in the NCL event, with two teams placing in the top 100. The top team, Locking Stitch@Purdue Global, ranked 58 overall among 957 teams. In addition, Ode to Code@Purdue Global ranked 97.

In the individual games, Purdue Global’s MentalForklift team ranked 46 out of 6,011 players, earning gold again this year. In addition, Matt Watson ranked 63 out of 6,011 competitors, also earning gold. The maximum points that can be earned in the individual game is 3,000. Below are Purdue Global’s top competitors listed by total points:

• MentalForklift: 2,285 points
• Matt Watson: 2,205 points
• Bre’Ona Williams 1,705 points
• Ted Gransbury: 1,645 points
• Daniel Smith: 1,385 points
• Sal Martinez: 1,245 points
• Sean Van de Voorde: 1,150 points
• Ellen McCullough 950 points
• David Randle: 720 points
• Jacob Calleon: 720 points
• Carla Lewis: 715 points
• Robin Clark: 650 points
• Nick Huser: 645 points
• Robert Randle: 490 points
• Barbs Spaghet: 435 points
• Theresa McFarlane: 430 points

The Purdue Global cybersecurity and IT students ranked 41 overall out of more than 300 teams competing in the Spring 2020 NCL Competition. In individual games, Purdue Global’s MentalForklift ranked 61 out of 5,357 competitors, earning gold, while the PGP-Purdue Global Players also earned gold in the team games.

The talented cybersecurity and IT students of Purdue Global competed against seven other teams in their second Midwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition state qualifying event in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on February 8, 2020.

Teams in the competition worked together to detect and defend against cyberattacks while using their IT skills. Dean Jeffrey Buck stated, “The Purdue Global team excelled in a number of categories and earned designation as top performer in areas such as Palo Alto tech support, network traffic baseline, and credentialing response.”

View photos of Purdue Global students participating in the event.

A team of students from Purdue University’s Global School of Business and Information Technology competed in the 2019 Midwest Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) state qualifying event at Ivy Tech Community College in Indiana. The team went on to compete in the 2019 NCL Spring Season.

HackIN is a hardware/firmware reverse engineering event where teams compete to provide cyber incident response in a real-world scenario. While role-playing as members of an elite security research team, HackIN participants provided cyber incident response and were challenged to identify and solve cybersecurity issues using software (and sometimes hardware) solutions.

Learn More About HackIN