FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(contact Megan Cooper cerocmedia@tntech.edu, (931) 372-3519 for more information) September 28, 2023
COOKEVILLE, TN – The Cybersecurity Education, Research, and Outreach Center (CEROC) is pleased to announce that its CTF competition team took first place at the 2023 InfoSec Nashville CTF. A total of ten teams (five participants per team) competed in the event, representing a mix of industry members and colleges.
“Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions allow students to exercise a wealth of skillsets as the tasks cover several different areas of cybersecurity. Our students continue to demonstrate their diversity of skill in competitions of this type,” stated Eric Brown, Associate Director for Workforce Development at CEROC.
This is the 7th year Tennessee Tech has been a part of the InfoSec Nashville community. CEROC students/staff have served in ambassador and presenter roles. This year represented the first time that CEROC students have been able to participate in a competition associated with the conference. Organized by the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Middle Tennessee Chapter, InfoSec Nashville is an annual cybersecurity conference focusing on current trends and technology in cybersecurity in the industry and government sectors. The CTF competition was hosted by Hack the Box, a popular cybersecurity upskilling platform used worldwide.
“I am incredibly proud of this team’s performance. Our students train throughout the year in CTF, defensive, and offensive cybersecurity through student clubs. These students, from all academic levels, clearly demonstrate the student talent pool at Tennessee Tech who will enter the cyber workforce as defenders of our critical infrastructure and systems,” Jeremy Potts, a cyber range engineer with CEROC.
CEROC: Cybersecurity Education, Research and Outreach Center at Tennessee Tech University is a center of excellence in the College of Engineering focused on K-20 cybersecurity education programs, research in emerging cybersecurity topics, and outreach programs to stakeholders in academia, government, and industry. CEROC is an NSA-designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (NCAE-C CD) and host of the first and largest CyberCorps SFS program in the State of Tennessee. Tennessee Tech is also the home of the Golden Eagle Cyber Certificate program, a dual enrollment program allowing high school students to take college-level cybersecurity courses contributing to their post-secondary work. More information about CEROC and its programs can be found at https://www.tntech.edu/ceroc or by emailing ceroc@tntech.edu.