On Saturday, February 15, 2025, the IUP Hackathon Team participated in the Nation Center of Academic Excellence – Northeast Cyber Competition. The team secured a first-place finish in the CTF section and ninth place overall against 12 other cyber teams from US colleges and universities.
The IUP Hackathon Team included Thomas McGillan, Camden Cluck, Brad McCunn, Dylan Timbrook, Dominic Gadagno, Carina Warr, Evan Crooks, James Saylor, and Owen Schneider. Crooks said, “The morning started very productively, and a lot of our members handled the pressure and tension of navigating the competition’s infrastructure very well. We had all taken time over the semester to prepare for the variety of operating systems and potential vulnerabilities that the competition proctors were planning on throwing our way, and we took actions early on to prevent infiltration by shutting down services, disabling root access, and closing unnecessary ports on all our VMs (among a variety of other things).”
The CAE-NE Hackathon is an annual event for college students that provides an opportunity to gain valuable experience in competitive cybersecurity events and increase cybersecurity skills through teamwork and real-world challenges. Each team is tasked with securing a computer system against attacks, and points are awarded based on speed and security. The competition is split into two categories of defense: CTF and Service.
Crooks said, “We demonstrated great communication, and many of our members came out of the competition surprised by how much they were able to contribute—especially in the CTF category. Our team placed first overall in the CTF section, which is certainly worth celebrating. I think our team learned a lot from this experience and have become better for having done the competition.”
Waleed Farag, director of the IUP Institute for Cyber Security and faculty advisor of the Cybersecurity Club, said, “I am proud of my students for the collaboration and innovation they showed during the competition. Events like these, which are primarily open to Centers of Academic Excellence, provide students with a wonderful opportunity to gain hands-on experience and expand their skills in real-world scenarios.”
Twelve cyber teams from various universities in the northeastern region participated in the event, including Pennsylvania State University, Robert Morris University, and Syracuse University.