Computer Hackers Don’t Stand a Chance Against UMaine’s Cyber Team

Contacts: George Markowsky, (207) 581-3940 or Aimee Dolloff, (207) 581-3777

 

Computer Hackers Don’t Stand a Chance Against UMaine’s Cyber Team

ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine Cybersecurity Team proved that computer hackers don’t stand a chance against them at the 2010 Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

The team came in second place in a field of nine teams during the competition, which was hosted by UMaine March 5-7.

Northeastern University was declared the winner and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) came in third.

This is only the second year UMaine has competed and after coming in fifth last year, George Markowsky, chair of UMaine’s Computer Science Department, says there’s a lot to be proud of.

“Because we were hosting the competition we were not able to devote much effort to coaching the team,” he says. “The team primarily organized itself and held its own practices.

UMaine’s team included Joseph Fasulo, junior, Portland; Chris Battista, senior, Hampden, Conn.; Lucas Wood, sophomore, Vassalboro; Sean Edwards, freshman, Gorham; Ed Ropple, senior, Casco; Avner Maiberg, junior, Sedgwick; Emma Strubell, sophomore, Portland; Brian Jackson, freshman, Waterboro; and Travis Christianson, senior, Exeter, N.H.

Three teams of volunteers have been organized to help carry out the competition. The Red Team consists of individuals highly skilled in cyber attack. Their task it to create as much havoc as possible for the competitors (referred to as the Blue Team).

The White Team includes volunteers with a strong background in information technology. Each Blue Team is assigned two members of the White Team who monitor their activity and ensure the rules are being followed.

The third group is the Black Team whose members are highly skilled networking and infrastructure. They build and monitor the competition network.

“Cyber security is becoming an ever more important part of our national security efforts and this competition is one of most important events in training future generations,” says Markowsky.

Throughout the three-day event, participants had the chance to listen to several industry professionals talk about the industry, and were assured that there are currently 60,000 to 100,000 positions in cybersecurity that currently are vacant.

“The U.S. Government is coming out with major initiatives in this area and there will be lots of jobs and opportunities in this area in the foreseeable future,” says Markowsky.

During the first two days of the competition, the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Research & Development Division was on hand. His department provided substantial financial support.

There also was a large contingent from Boeing – about a dozen people – and the company made a substantial financial contribution and pledged support for future competitions.

The event also included a presentation by keynote speaker Nicholas J.Percoco, Senior Vice President of SpiderLabs Trustwave. Percoco has 14 years of information security experience and in his current position has performed more than 500 computer incident response and forensic investigations globally, as well as thousands of penetration and application security tests for clients.

His presentation prior to Sunday’s award ceremony was titled “Analysis of Cybersecurity Incidents in 2009.”

The field of nine teams participating in the event (in alphabetical order) was:

Alfred State University

Champlain College

Harvard

Northeastern University

Polytechnic Institute of NYU

Rochester Institute of Technology

Stevens Institute of Technology

SUNY Oswego

University of Maine

UMaine now will begin preparing to host the high school cybersecurity competition, which will be held on campus Saturday, March 20, 2010.

The University of Maine, founded in 1865, is the state’s premier public university, located in the town of Orono. It is among the most comprehensive higher education institutions in the Northeast and attracts students from across the U.S. and more than 60 countries. It currently enrolls 12,000 total undergraduate and graduate students who can directly participate in groundbreaking research working with world-class scholars. Students are offered 88 bachelor’s degree programs, 64 master’s degree programs, 25 doctoral programs and one of the oldest and most prestigious honors programs in the U.S. The university promotes environmental stewardship on its campus, with substantial efforts aimed at conserving energy, recycling and adhering to green building standards in new construction. For more information about the University of Maine visit http://www.umaine.edu