UMBC Cyber Dawgs are named CyberForce national champions

UMBC’s Cyber Defense Team, known as the Cyber Dawgs, has emerged the national champion team in the U.S. Department of Energy’s fifth annual CyberForce Competition. The Cyber Dawgs earned first place overall out of more than 100 teams from universities across the country.

Ten national laboratories hosted competing teams this year, November 15 – 16. UMBC competed at the Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago, Illinois, while other teams traveled to sites like the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Washington state and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Competing teams hailed from a broad range of institutions, including Virginia Tech, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M and the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The competition tasks students with defending critical energy infrastructure during simulated cyberattacks. The scenarios are designed to be realistic, focused on water and power systems and including real-world constraints, such as insufficient budget for system upkeep and limited information on system needs. During the competition, “red teams,” including industry professionals, attack the system, while the students work to ensure that the infrastructure is available to their customers, or “green teams,” who test system usability.

The teams receive points based on how successfully they address attacks, while still allowing users to access the infrastructure they need. The teams are also awarded points for innovative defense tactics and ideas. This year’s competition saw several leading teams with neck-and-neck scores until the final round, when UMBC’s Cyber Dawgs pulled ahead for the victory.

The competition offers students a unique opportunity to develop their cybersecurity skills in relation to critical infrastructure, and have hands-on experience in a realistic cyberattack situation.

“The CyberForce competition is the most unique of our annual events, allowing us to experiment with network configurations to defend an industrial control system against adversaries while playing the roles of an IT organization,” explains RJ Joyce ’18, M.S. ’20, computer science, a member of the winning team. “The hard work, dedication, and creativity that each member brought to the team lifted us from a regional win last year to a national win this year.”

In addition to Joyce, last weekend’s winning team included Anna Staats ’20, computer science; Drew Barrett ’20, computer science; Grant Spencer ’20, computer science; Cyrus Bonyadi, Ph.D. ’23, computer science; and Seamus Burke ’20, computer science.

“The team’s second national championship in three years shows the enthusiasm, grit, and tenacity of our students in demonstrating their technical cyber expertise in a competitive arena,” says Rick Forno, senior lecturer of computer science and assistant director of UMBC’s Center for Cybersecurity.

Forno advises the Cyber Dawgs with Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering. “It’s an awesome thing not just for the team and university,” he says, “but for each competitor individually, as they prepare to enter the cybersecurity workforce after graduation.”

UMBC students have a strong record in state and national competition. In 2018, UMBC computer science and information systems students won the top prize at the Maryland Cyber Challenge. A year earlier, the UMBC Cyber Dawgs won the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

Adapted from a UMBC News article by Megan Hanks.

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Cyberdawgs place first out of 105 teams in DOE’s 5th CyberForce Competition

Congratulations to the UMBC CyberDawgs team for their first place finish in a field of 105 collegiate teams in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fifth Annual CyberForce Competition. The distributed event was held at ten of the DOE’s National Laboratories and challenged 105 teams to defend a simulated energy infrastructure from cyber-attacks.

The took place on November 15 and 16 with the goal of bolstering the U.S. cybersecurity workforce by extending skill-building opportunities for students, offering memorable hands-on experiences and highlighting the crucial role this field plays in preserving national energy security. The Cyberdawgs participated at the Argonne National Laboratory site in Illinois.

During the competition, teams competed to defend their simulated infrastructure from attacks by adversarial ​“red teams” composed of industry professionals, all while maintaining service for their ​“green team” customers, played by volunteers. The scenarios included simulated industrial control system components, real-world anomalies and constraints, and interaction with users of the systems.

Teams were scored on their success in protecting the infrastructure against attacks while ensuring the usability of the system, with additional points awarded for innovative ideas and defenses.

The team that competed in this year’s competition was chosen from members of the CyberDawgs student group, composed of students from a variety of majors who share a common interest in computer and network security. No prior experience is required to join and any UMBC students who want to learn more about cybersecurity and learn new skills in the field are encouraged to subscribe to its mailing list and attend meetings.

The CyberDawgs group is advised by CSEE faculty Charles Nicholas and Richard Forno.

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Name: Kulsoom Rizvi

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Discover Financial Services

Position Title: Business Technology Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s): Computer Science

Current Class Level: Senior

Work Term: Summer 2019

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.

This summer I interned at Discover Financial Services where I was placed on the web platform team. Every day I worked with my mentor and the rest of the team to learn how to design the backend web systems using newly adapted technologies. I spent a lot of time learning the different frameworks and technology needed to create secure code to ensure the financial institution is protecting user credentials and sensitive information. I also worked with security applications to incorporate tools needed to encrypt and tightly control access to sensitive information.

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?

I obtained my internship through the UMBC Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) sponsorship which enabled me to attend the WE18 Conference and Career Fair in Minneapolis!

During the 3 day conference, I got the chance to interview with many innovative companies, and in the end I decided to accept Discover’s offer.

Leading up to the Career Fair in Minneapolis, I practiced my behavioral and technical interview skills through online resources and by attending on-campus Career Center events with various companies.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization? 

I really enjoyed Discover’s culture of enthusiasm for mentoring and especially how approachable everyone is. As a group and individually, the interns got to speak to the CEO, CIO, as well as VP’s and directors. I took full advantage of this by reaching out to executives and other engineers  to improve my networking skills and develop my career path. The best part was learning technology that I would otherwise not have been exposed to and apply that knowledge to projects that the team is working on! But, the biggest takeaway from the summer has been learning that I am able to overcome self-doubt and fear of failure, an issue among women in technology!

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

The projects I worked on helped the company adopt and transition to new technology to help improve customer experience and security.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience? 

If you want to work for a company that leads in innovation, you have to first believe in yourself, practice and prepare, and then put yourself out there (it’s scary but totally worth it!). Get your resume reviewed by professionals and take advantage of recruiters on-campus to seek career advice - they’re in the industry and have plenty insight! Lastly, join an engineering/STEM organization to learn more about the field and network with engineers who will help you develop your career and advocate for you!

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