Posted on October 18, 2016 by Joanna Carver

Cyber security students from The University of Texas at San Antonio have been named finalists in the 2016 National Cyber Analyst Challenge.
National Cyber Analyst Challenge

National Cyber Analyst Challenge

“This is an interesting competition because it is industry-sponsored, academically administered, provides cash prizes to students and advancing schools, and includes training,” said Nicole Beebe, Ph.D. ’07, Melvin Lachman Distinguished Professor and associate professor of cyber security. “The students will benefit from the professional training they receive from Lockheed Martin on cyber analysis as part of the competition.”

Competing for the first year, the UTSA team included Erin Allred, cyber security; Justin Copeland, cyber security; Joe Mireles, computer science; Jesse Munos, cyber security; and Catherine Telles, cyber security.

In the first round of the competition, students received a data set highlighting a fictitious cyber incident. To advance, teams had to present a report that analyzed the incident and provided recommendations.

The top 10 teams will participate in the national competition at the end of this month in Virginia. The winning team will be chosen by a panel of industry experts and receive $25,000. UTSA received a $6,000 award to participate in the finals of the challenge to support student travel.

Finalists included UTSA, Carnegie Mellon University, Howard University, Iowa State University, Penn State University, Syracuse University, Temple University, University of Maryland, University of South Florida and Villanova.

The National Cyber Analyst Challenge is a joint initiative by Leidos and the Institute for Business and Information Technology at Temple University. The goal of the challenge is to support the development of students pursuing cyber-related degrees.

Wendy Frost—

Please send your comments to: wendy.frost@utsa.edu

— Joanna Carver