UMaine to compete in qualifying round of regional cybersecurity contest
The University of Maine will compete in a qualifying round of the Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NECCDC) on Saturday, Jan. 23.
The UMaine Cyber Defense Team is one of 14 teams from around the region scheduled to take part in the virtual competition. UMaine also will host the 2016 NECCDC for a third time March 11–13.
According to the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, the contest simulates security operations for a small company. Teams must quickly familiarize themselves with network systems and software before beginning to defend against attacks while also providing customer service to users.
Last year, the UMaine Cyber Defense Team was one of 10 colleges to compete in the regional contest that was hosted by Syracuse and the School of Information Studies (iSchool). The team earned a spot after placing fifth in a qualifying round with 13 other schools.
Team members participating in the contest are John Woodill (captain) of Cranbury, New Jersey; Ben Grooms of Madison, Maine; Lucas Ashbaugh of South Portland, Maine; Avery Dunn of Dayton, Maine; Greg Antonellis of Harwich, Massachusetts; Mitch Vezina of Springvale, Maine; Ted Farnsworth of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; and Dayton Arey of Milbridge, Maine. Alternates are Matt Loewen of Farmington, Maine and Alina Ramazanova of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. George Markowsky, professor of computer science at UMaine, is the team’s faculty adviser.
More about the competition is online.