OSU’s student-led team advances to national cyber defense competition

Monday, March 25, 2013

Information Security Assurance Club (ISAC) students (front row) Steven Haddock, Michael Smith, David Waters, Corey Hadley, (back row) Chase Freeman, Zach Taylor, Clayton Griffith, and Eric Osmus, compete in eight-hour virtual cyber defense competition, advancing them to national competition in Marc — Information Security Assurance Club (ISAC) students (front row) Steven Haddock, Michael Smith, David Waters, Corey Hadley, (back row) Chase Freeman, Zach Taylor, Clayton Griffith, and Eric Osmus, compete in eight-hour virtual cyber defense competition, advancing them to national competition.

Oklahoma State University students competed in the 2013 Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) Southwest Region Competition recently, qualifying for the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NCCDC) to be held April 19-21 in San Antonio.

The eight-man team of Information Security Assurance Club (ISAC) students Chase Freeman, Clayton Griffith, Steven Haddock, Corey Hadley, Eric Osmus, Michael Smith, Zach Taylor and David Waters competed during an eight-hour regional competition at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.

The competition requires teams of students to maintain a mock business network of computers while a team of computer security professionals are attacking it.

“I am really excited about the team qualifying for national competition. This means national recognition is given to our students. The exposure opens them up for many more opportunities,” said Jim Burkman, OSU ISAC advisor and clinical assistant professor of MSIS in the Spears School of Business.

By qualifying for the national competition, each member of the ISAC team is automatically included in the NCCDC Alumni program, which offers internships and full-time employment opportunities in the information assurance field.

ISAC and the CCDC team are generously supported by corporate sponsorships from ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, Chesapeake, Deloitte and InterWorks.

For more information about the club, visit isac.okstate.edu or contact Burkman at jim.burkman@okstate.edu, (405) 744-5142. For more information about the National Cyber Defense Competition, visit nationalccdc.org.