Cyber Security Center of Academic Excellence

The 2026 NCAE Cyber Games 
Event Registration goes live December 1, 2025
Learn more: www.ncaecybergames.org

The FBI Honors Internship Program 
Applications open April 14th, 2025
Internships start in Summer 2026
Click here to get more info and to apply!

Secure Your Future in Cybersecurity
The US Department of Defense (DoD) Cyber Service Academy offers a unique opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students in cybersecurity to receive financial support and hands-on experience through structured internships with the US Department of Defense. Eligible students can receive up to $32,000 in scholarships, including allowances for books, room and board, and more!
The application opens on November 1, 2024, and the deadline is February 1, 2025.
Fact Sheet 

• Clary, W. G.; Dick, G; Akbulut, A; Van Slyke, C. “The After Times: Desire to Continue with Distance Learning Post Pandemic,” Communications of the AIS  2022   
• AA Steyn, C van Slyke, G Dick, H Twinomurinzi, L  Amusa "Student intentions to continue with distance learning post-COVID: An empirical analysis" Plos one, 2024
• AI Tools Building Cybercrime & Defenses- A Kamruzzaman, K Thakur, S Mahbub
  IEEE- 2024 International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Computer, Data Sciences and Applications (ACDSA)
  DOI: 10.1109/ACDSA59508.2024.10467401 
• A Systematic Review on Deep-Learning-Based Phishing Email Detection
  K Thakur , M Ali, M Obaidat, A Kamruzzaman
  MDPI Electronics
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics12214545
• Dynamic routing approach for enhancing source location privacy in wireless sensor networks 
  G Kumar, RS Rathore, K Thakur, A Almadhor, SAA Biabani, S Chander
  Springer Wireless Networks 29 (6), 2591-2607
  DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11276-023-03322-8
• Schmeelk, S. &  Dragos, D. (2024) A Global Cybersecurity Embedded Course: Student Learnings and Curricular Design IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Washington, D.C., USA, 2024
• Mitigating Autonomous Vehicle GPS Spoofing Attacks through Scene Text Observations, JE DeBello, E Troja, LM Truong, 2023 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON)
• Teaching effective and Gamified Cybersecurity using the metaverse: Challenges and opportunities, E Troja, JE DeBello, LM Truong, 2023 IEEE World Engineering Education Conference (EDUNINE)
• Mitigating Autonomous Vehicle GPS Spoofing Attacks through Scene Text Observations, E Troja, J Debello, N Yadav, M Aliasgari, LM Truong, J Worden, Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2023 
• S. Schmeelk, K. Thakur, M. L. Ali, D. M. Dragos, A. Al-Hayajneh and B. R. Pramana, "Top Reported Data Security Risks in the Age of COVID-19," 2021 IEEE 12th Annual Ubiquitous Computing, Electronics & Mobile Communication Conference (UEMCON), 2021, pp. 0204-0208, https://doi.org/10.1109/UEMCON53757.2021.9666573
• Schmeelk, S., and Tao, L. A Case Study of Mobile Health Applications: The OWASP Risk of Insufficient Cryptography. Journal of Computer Science Research, [S.l.], v. 4, n. 1, feb. 2022. ISSN 2630-5151. doi:https://doi.org/10.30564/jcsr.v4i1.4271.
• Schmeelk, S., Dogo, M. S., Peng, Y., & Patra, B. G. (2022). Classifying Cyber-Risky Clinical Notes by Employing Natural Language Processing. Proceedings of the ... Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2022, 4140–4146. https://doi.org/10.24251/hicss.2022.505
• Laura M. Truong, and Erald Troja, and Nikhil Yadav, and Syed Bukhari, and Mehradad Aliasgari Personalized Outsourced Privacy-Preserving Database Updates for Crowd-Sensed Dynamic Spectrum Access. IEEE MELECON22
• Laura M. Truong, and Erald Troja, and Nikhil Yadav, and Mehradad Aliasgari Machine Learning Architecture for Signature-Based IoT Intrusion Detection in Smart Energy Grids. IEEE MELECON22
• Joan DeBello E., and Suzanna Schmeelk, and Denise Dragos, and Laura M. Truong, and Erald Troja Teaching effective Cybersecurity through Escape the Classroom Paradigm. IEEE EDUCON22, pages 111–117, 2022
• Erald Troja, Joan DeBello E., and Nicole Roman. Teaching Efficient Computer Science and Cybersecurity Courses Amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic. IEEE EDUCON21, pages 95–109, 2021
• Suzanna Schmeelk, Denise Dragos, and Joan Debello. What can we learn about Healthcare it Risk from Hitech? Risk Lessons Learned from the US HHS OCR Breach Portal. In Proceedings of the 54th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, page 3993, 2021
• Erald Troja and Ice Lin. Fraud-resilient Privacy-Preserving Crowd-Sensing for Dynamic Spectrum Access. IEEE VTC21, pages 24234–24248, 2021
• Erald Troja, Nikhil Yadav, Ice Lin, and Nhie U Diep.Privacy-Preserving Crowd-Sensing for Dynamic Spectrum Access with Malicious Workers. IEEE Access, 9:24234–24248, 2021
• Denise Dragos and Suzanna Schmeelk. What are they reporting? Examining Student Cybersecurity Course Surveys Through the Lens of Machine Learning. In 2020 19th IEEE International Conference on Machine Learning and Applications (ICMLA), pages 961–964. IEEE, 2020
• Suzanna Schmeelk. Creating a Standardized Risk Assessment Framework Library for Healthcare Information Technology. In Proceedings of the 53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2020
• Suzanna Schmeelk and Lixin Tao. Mobile Cyber-assurance Informed through Knowledge Graph Construction: the Owasp Threat of Insecure Communications. International Journal of Internet of Things and Cyber-Assurance, 1(3-4):317–337, 2020
• Spiridon Bakiras, Erald Troja, Xiaohua Xu, and Juliano Fischer Naves.Secure and Anonymous Communications over Delay Tolerant Networks. IEEE Access, 8(1):88158–88169, 2020
• Suzanna Schmeelk. Mitigating Bring Your Own Device Risks by Static Analysis Empowered by Knowledge Graphs from Open Web Application Security Project. PhD thesis, Pace University, 2020
• Erald Troja and Joshua Gitter. Privacy-preserving Crowd-sensing for Dynamic Spectrum Access. In MILCOM 2019-2019 IEEE Military Communications Conference (MILCOM), pages 1–6. IEEE, 2019
• Suzanna Schmeelk. Where are We Looking for Security Concerns? Understanding Android Security Static Analysis. In Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference, pages 467–483. Springer, 2019
• Suzanna Schmeelk. Where is the risk? Analysis of Government Reported Patient Medical Data Breaches. In IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence-Companion Volume, pages 269–272, 2019
• Suzanna Schmeelk. Network Protocol Security: A Linear Bitwise Protocol Transformation. In Intelligent Computing-Proceedings of the Computing Conference, pages 751–770. Springer, 2019
• Erald Troja and Spiridon Bakiras.Optimizing Privacy-Preserving DSA for Mobile Clients. Ad Hoc Networks, 59:71–85, 2017
• Spiridon Bakiras, Erald Troja, and Xiaohua Xu. An Anonymous Messaging System for Delay Tolerant Networks. In 2017 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), pages 1–6. IEEE, 2017

The following events have been made possible through the coordination of St. John's ACM Student Chapter which is moderated by Dr. Joan E. DeBello.

All events from Fall 2022 onward are posted on the SJU ACM Chapter website. Please click here to view the latest information.

The following students are all members of the St. John's ACM Student Chapter which is moderated by Dr. Joan E. DeBello.  They have been selected to represent St. John's University into hands-on Cybersecurity competitions.  The Cybersecurity Team is mentored by Rahul S. Karnik and Dr. Erald Troja.  For information on how to join St. John's ACM Student Chapter please contact Dr. Joan E. DeBello or Dr. Erald Troja.  

Team Captain

David I. Rosoff 
[email protected]

I'm a senior at St. John's majoring in Cyber Security Systems. I am also Vice President of the St. John's ACM Student Chapter and Captain of the SJU CyberStorm. I'm a beginner musician and I have a passion for all things cyber!

Team Competitors

Brandon Singh
[email protected]

My name is Brandon Singh, and I am a Senior at St. John's University studying Computer Science with a concentration in Cyber Security. My journey into Technology and Cyber Security was a segue from my original field of study, Financial Technology or FinTech. As I broadened my horizons, the intrigue with computers and the IT field continued to grow. The Cyber Security team has given me the opportunity to expand my learning, continue to grow my skills, while proving my capabilities alongside my peers. Creating new connections within the team and extended groups has given me the opportunity to grow both my social and professional network. I will be looking to continue with my Graduate Degree upon completion of my current program. Outside of my computer science skills, I am passionate about architectural design and construction, as well as algorithm development.
 

Aashish R. Jaimungal 
[email protected]

I'm Aashish and I'm currently a Junior majoring in Cyber Security Systems. I'm a Proud member of SJU ACM chapter and SJU Cyber. My passion for Cyber is what led me to participate in these competitions. I'm currently working on the Security+ certification and learning all about Linux . Outside of the classroom, I enjoy reading comics and drawing.
 

Geovani D. Tzul Lopez 
[email protected]

My name is Geovani Tzul, but I go by Geo. I'm currently a sophomore studying Computer Science. I was introduced to cybersecurity during my freshman year and quickly became captivated by areas such as web exploitation, penetration testing, and working with Linux. I'm eager to expand my knowledge and explore fields beyond my major! 
 

Tomas J. Santos Yciano 
[email protected]

I’m Tomas Santos Yciano, a Junior in the BS/MS Fast Track Program for Computer Science and Data Science at St. John’s University. As the President of the SJU ACM Student Chapter and a Mentor/Network Leader in the R.I.S.E. Network, I am passionate about fostering growth and collaboration within the tech community. I’ve gained hands-on experience as a Launch National Technology Intern at EY and as a Software Engineer Intern at Headstarter. I recently joined the SJU Cyber Team to expand my knowledge in cybersecurity, aiming to better support ACM members in this field while enhancing my own expertise for a well-rounded career in tech.

St. John’s University Information Security and Compliance