Students Gain Hands-On Cybersecurity Experience in Competition

A team of six students from St. John’s University’s College of Professional Studies put their cybersecurity knowledge to the test by competing in the US Department of Energy’s annual CyberForce Competition at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee from November 30 through December 1.

The competition is held at seven national laboratories across the country. The St. John’s team placed fifth at Oak Ridge, and 25th overall. A total of 69 universities and colleges participated; local competitors included New York University, Columbia University, the US Military Academy at West Point, and Suffolk County Community College.

Juan M. Otero, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Mathematics and Science, served as the team’s faculty mentor. Students were tasked with defending their infrastructure from attacks by “Red” teams composed of industry cyber professionals. Through the competition's interactive, energy-focused scenario, teams were challenged to protect their servers and virtual machines, as well as their physical, simulated, industrial control system.

The competition encourages teams to employ unique defense strategies and techniques in safeguarding their cyber assets. Teams are scored on their innovative ideas and develop a working defense to continuously maintain system operations and avoid service disruptions.

“It was an exciting event that allowed us to utilize everything we have learned at St. John’s,” said Anish Bachu ’18CPS, a graduate assistant who coached the team. “Industrial control systems, unlike other computerized hardware, have implications on physical processes, especially in terms of critical infrastructure. By attending this cyber defense competition, the St. John’s team gained a greater appreciation for the complexities of supervisory control and data acquisition systems. At the lab, we also had the opportunity to visit Summit, which is considered to be the world’s most powerful and smartest scientific supercomputer.”

Anish graduated from St. John’s in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in Cyber Security Systems and is currently working on his Master of Business Administration degree in Information Systems.