Highline’s Cyberforce team competed against a staggering 107 schools this past weekend, at a competition annually held by the US Department of Energy. Students competed for accolades, networking opportunities, and valuable internships, though everyone went home with a rich experience in cybersecurity.

Each year the competition reflects a different scenario – this year it was ensuring smart meters and that everything behind the scenes was kept operational. Jordyn Ceplina and her team secured their website and database, fixing over 40 anomalies, all the while proudly representing their team and campus.

The different Cyberforce teams are given challenges based on real-world scenarios, and three separate challenges every hour, related to how systems can be breached. Out of 107 competing teams, Highline achieved 30th place.

For those uninitiated into the vernacular of cybersecurity, here is a quick synopsis of what this looks like. Cyberforce student and competitor Ceplina gave the Thunderword a peek behind the curtain of last weekend’s competition held by the Department of Energy.

“We train for competitions by going over past documentation… We use our virtual machines to build a network and secure it [which] would help us [during] the competition”, Ceplina explained. Though the competitions are rife with jargon, you’ll find it’s not unlike other sports.

Ceplina emphasized the importance of “seeing everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, then building a game plan [from there]. The most important part is that everyone knows this is a learning experience above all else, and that helps keep it fun.”

In the true spirit of academia, Ceplina finds great value in lessons learned, as she and her team prepare for the future. She heralds the team’s “abundance of new information and tools” as one of the most notable victories, looking forward to the National Cyber League spring team game, which will be held in March 2024.