May 27, 2025
Students from three New York City metropolitan area high schools visited St. John’s University on Wednesday, May 6, for a Capture the Flag cybersecurity competition held in St. Augustine Hall.
Students from nearby Archbishop Molloy High School and Thomas A. Edison Career and Technical Education High School joined students from Mineola (NY) High School in a race to solve digital puzzles with a large screen displaying real-time progress throughout the four-hour competition.
Participants found the competition to be challenging and exciting. Lizeth Suarez of Archbishop Molloy said she appreciated the chance to learn in an active setting.
“The event was very hands-on and interactive, which is what I was looking forward to,” Lizeth said. “I was excited to take part in something active instead of just learning in a classroom.”
Sai Bhoi of Thomas Edison said the experience expanded his view of the cybersecurity industry. “It was a real mind-opening experience for me; it opened my mind to cybersecurity and what it offers,” Sai said. “It was a fun learning experience.”
The event highlighted the ongoing impact of the Sanford family on cybersecurity education at St. John’s. Linda S. Sanford ’74ED, ’98HON, an emeritus member of the University’s Board of Trustees and a former IBM executive, helped establish the Sanford Family Cyber Security Lab in St. Augustine Hall to support the education of potential cybersecurity professionals, including students from local high schools.
Capture the Flag challenges participants to uncover “flags”—secret text strings—embedded inside cybersecurity puzzles. Players are challenged to apply ethical hacking skills to solve real time problems in cryptography, forensics, reverse engineering, and web security. As players outwit their opponents, they earn points, with the highest-scoring teams winning.
Thomas Edison teams swept the top three positions. First place went to the team of Ryan Khan, Bryan Lochan, and Tanav Malhotra. Second place went to the team of Felipe Guardado, Sudipto Halder, and Yaalavan Thivakaran. Third place went to Sai Bhoi and Shivaditya Dutta.
More important than the final standings, the competition introduced the visiting students to the fast-paced, collaborative nature of cybersecurity work while allowing them to experience St. John’s campus life first-hand. St. John’s students served as mentors, helping participants work through challenges in areas such as forensics and open intelligence.
Erald Troja, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Division of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Science at The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies (CCPS), said the competition is part of the University’s outreach efforts through its Cyber Security Center of Academic Excellence, where he serves as a director. “We want to plant that seed early and give students a chance to see what this field can offer,” Dr. Troja said.
Joan E. DeBello, Ed.D., Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science and Chair, Division of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Science at CCPS, said the event also created meaningful connections between visiting students and the St. John’s community.
“This event is a great engagement opportunity for the high school students to meet some of our St. John’s ACM Student Chapter members,” Dr. DeBello said. “The high school students get to explore our campus, meet with our faculty, and work with our students.”
Gianni Faruzzo, a third-year Cyber Security Systems major and captain of the University’s Cyberstorm team, said that helping at the event offered her a chance to encourage younger students to explore the field. “I think it is a great opportunity,” she said. “The fact that these high school students can have an event like this gives them insight into what they might want to do when they finally get to college.”