On Friday, October 4, 2024, Danville Community College hosted its 3rd Annual 'CyberKnights Showdown' cybersecurity competition. The 3-hour event was held on the DCC campus, followed by an award ceremony to recognize the winners.
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Pictured Left to Right: Sam Ricardo - Hack & Quill; Jayden Smith - ChalkEaters; Kris Carlson - ChalkEaters; Alaina Cash - Hack & Quill; Blake Trembley - Wingmen; Derek Marlowe |
"The 'CyberKnights Showdown' highlights the immense potential in our high school students when it comes to cybersecurity," said Dr. Jerry Wallace, President of DCC. "These young individuals represent the future of one of the most critical fields of our time, and it's an honor to see them excel here at DCC."
Students from Pittsylvania Career & Technical Center (PCTC) and Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC) Career Tech Academy (CTA) competed on two-person teams in a capture-the-flag style event in DCC’s Cyber Center of Excellence, located in the Temple Building.
"We're so grateful for our partners at PCTC and SVHEC-CTA that help make this event possible," said Melissa Mann, Dean of Career & Technical Education. " All of the planning and orchestration that go into the competition takes a village of support from our sponsors and industry partners."
Categories of the competition included Open Source Intelligence Gathering (OSINT), Forensic Analysis, Web Exploitation, Steganography, Cryptography, Network Traffic Analysis, Reverse Engineering, and Encryption.
“Our goal with this competition is to inspire and challenge students, showing them that cybersecurity is not only a technical field but also one where they can make a real-world impact,” said Steve Carrigan, Assistant Professor of Information Technology and the organizer of the competition. “The level of creativity and problem-solving demonstrated today has been nothing short of impressive.”
The 'CyberKnights Showdown' is made possible by local sponsors in the Cybersecurity and Information Technology industries. This year's sponsors include Microsoft, Rapid7, River City Systems, Inc., TekaByte, and the Danville Community College Educational Foundation.
“Virginia has the biggest cybersecurity talent gap in the nation. We know that strong local education partners are vital to help address this gap by spurring innovation and opportunity in our region,” said Jeremy Satterfield, Microsoft TechSpark Manager, Virginia. “Competitions like this one showcase why we’re so proud of our local students and why we’re committed to helping them develop their immense potential in the field of cybersecurity.”
At the conclusion of the 3-hour competition, which ran from 9am - 12pm, scores were tallied and the competitors made their way to Oliver Hall on the DCC Campus to learn which team came out on top. Awards and prizes were presented to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place teams.
Winning Teams:
FIRST PLACE: ChalkEaters - Jayden Smith, Kris Carlson
SECOND PLACE: Wingmen - Derek Marlowe, Blake Trembley
THIRD PLACE: Hack & Quill - Alaina Cash, Sam Ricardo
Each winner received a Lenovo Laptop donated by the Danville Community College Educational Foundation and a commemorative medal.
For more information about Cybersecurity and Information Technology Programs at DCC, visit: www.danville.edu.
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