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The George Mason University team Mason Competitive Cyber scored first, second, and fourth place at the Cyberforge 2024 competition held on February 11-12. During the two-day conference students heard from industry professionals and enhanced their cyberskills by competing in the Capture the Flag (CTF) competition.
“Winning a Virginia-wide competition is pretty good news by itself,” said Cyber Security Engineering Department Chair Paulo Costa. “CyberForge is especially important due to the quality of the teams, the level of effort every team and associated organizations/universities put into it, and the impact it has in the Virginia cybersecurity space."
Costa consider this one of the two most important competitions in the area. The other is Virginia Military Institute’s Cyber Fusion event happening later this month on February 23-24.
The Cyberforge event featured companies such as MITRE, CCI, G2OPS, HAK5, CompTIA, Virginia Cyber Range, WiCyS, TCM Security, and more. The Mason students competed against top collegiate teams and industry professionals from around Virginia. Students value competitions as these events allow them to meet talented students and industry professionals outside their home institution.
The team won multiple different prizes, including but not limited to Canakit raspberry pi 5 kits, CompTIA vouchers, and HAK5 gift cards, but they are most proud of the winner’s plaque, which they hope to display in the department’s office.
The event was hosted by the Coastal Virginia Cybersecurity Student Association (CVCSA), Coastal Virginia Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (COVA CCI), and a local college/university's cybersecurity club.