Student Cyber Security Team Scores Major Win!

The Cyber Security student team from San Bernardino Valley College (SBVC) vanquished teams from other community colleges, as well as four-year colleges, in order to advance to the Western Regional Cyber Defense Competition. The only other community college to advance was Mt. SAC, a college three times larger than SBVC who had the opportunity to practice with Cal Poly Pomona. Competitors traveled from California, Nevada and Arizona to have their shot at the win. “The kids deserve all the credit,” says SBVC instructor, Dr. Roger Powell, “and in the next round they will face much bigger and more potent competition, including UC Berkeley.” There are a total of eight regional competitions around the country. One winning team from each region will advance to the national finals. In the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC), student teams (Blue Team) are asked to administrate and protect a business network while meeting business requirements, all while being attacked by an attacking team (Red Team). The competition, which dates back to 2004, is sponsored by major corporations as well as government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security. Henry Hua, Dean of Mathematics, Business & Computer Technology, adds, “The competition rules allow 25% of the teams to be graduate students, so getting to the finals will be a supreme test. No matter how it turns out, our students look at the entire event as a valuable learning experience, and it will certainly look good to a prospective future employer.” The regionals will be held March 27th-30th, at the Pomona Sheraton Fairplex Conference Center.