The UT San Antonio College of AI, Cyber and Computing team recently competed at the virtual National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC), the leading college-level event in the United States focused on cyber defense.
During this rigorous competition, the student team took on the role of administrators for a simulated commercial network, working to keep systems operational, responding to business-related requests and defending against real, professional attackers.
The UT San Antonio team earned a sixth-place finish at the National CCDC on April 24–25, gaining valuable insights into their strengths, gaps and what it will take to return stronger.
UT San Antonio’s squad won the regional competition last month at the Southwest CCDC at the University of Tulsa to earn a spot in the National CCDC. The multi-day event included a 16-hour competition that tested technical skill, teamwork, communication and endurance.
Team captain Derya Yavuz Ionescu led the UT San Antonio group that competed at nationals, which included Fardeen Bhimani, William Anderson, Nolan Chatten, Kyle Rabago, Bennett Jones, Nathan Nieman and Rylan Dean. Kevin Gomez and Leonid Lender served as alternates on the team, participating in all practices and training sessions.
Recalling the event, Ionescu said there were many different fires burning at the same time, but she was proud of the way the team worked well together and allocated their responsibilities effectively. One of the most difficult periods occurred when primary identity systems were taken offline, forcing the group to rebuild from scratch while business requests continued to come in.
“Everyone has a compiled list of action items to perform the moment we get our hands on the keyboard, and we have done countless practices and mock competitions in our computer lab to get used to working under stress and managing many network assets,” she said, adding that team communication is also vital during competition to ensure everyone understands what is expected from one another.
After months of training and achieving top regional recognition, the experience at the National CCDC provided the team with clear direction for improvement to become the nation’s best. Their biggest recurring lesson, Ionescu said, was to put together a more robust, consistent defense.
“We had strong layers in some places and thin coverage in others,” Ionescu said. “In technical terms, the team will need to practice and do more work on network-level monitoring and tighter firewall segmentation to ensure our network is properly protected, at least for an extended period of time.”
Recognized as one of the top-ranked cybersecurity programs in the U.S., UT San Antonio prepares its graduates to make a meaningful impact as they safeguard organizations, communities and national interests. With this in mind, Ionescu added that the team aims to further develop its business acumen and language skills, which will not only help them perform better in future competitions, but will also be beneficial to each individual as they potentially pursue careers in cybersecurity.
“Our team’s goal will be to build upon the foundation that our hard work has laid out this season to make it even further through the rankings,” Ionescu said.
